The French national team secured their qualification to the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup after defeating Morocco 2-0 in the quarter-final match, repeating Les Bleus' dominance over the Atlas Lions in World Cup knockout stages. The match witnessed a remarkable performance from Yassine Bounou, despite conceding two goals, as he saved a penalty from Kylian Mbappé, who suffered an injury that worried the French camp over his potential absence from upcoming matches.

The French team imposed their control from the early minutes, and Kylian Mbappé almost opened the scoring in the 4th minute, but Yassine Bounou brilliantly saved his shot, before the Moroccan goalkeeper returned to save a dangerous header from Dayot Upamecano moments later.

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 9, 2026

The French dominance continued with consecutive attempts from Désiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé, while the Moroccan team settled for a few counter-attacks that did not pose a real threat to Mike Maignan's goal.

The most notable moment came in the 25th minute when Argentine referee Facundo Tello awarded a penalty to France after a challenge from Noussair Mazraoui on Kylian Mbappé.

Mbappé stepped up to take the penalty in the 28th minute, but Yassine Bounou continued his brilliance, correctly guessing the right corner and making a superb save, keeping the score level and giving Morocco a significant morale boost.

Yassine Bounou continues to impress, brilliantly saving Kylian Mbappé's penalty pic.twitter.com/b1xfLhKnym

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 9, 2026

Despite the resistance of the Atlas Lions, France continued to press and almost took the lead before the end of the first half, as Lucas Digne hit a powerful shot that struck the crossbar, leaving the first half goalless.

At the start of the second half, French dominance continued until Kylian Mbappé finally unlocked the Moroccan defense in the 60th minute, capitalizing on a well-organized attack and firing a powerful shot into the net, giving his team the lead.

Mohamed Ouhabi responded with several substitutions, bringing on Sofiane Rahimi, Sofyan Amrabat, then Jassim Yassin and Zakaria El Wardi, in search of a comeback, but the French team continued to impose its control over the match.

In the 66th minute, the ball reached Ousmane Dembélé, who dribbled to the edge of the penalty area and shot towards goal, with the ball nestling in the net, scoring the second goal for France.

The match also saw Issa Diop receive a yellow card, while Didier Deschamps was forced to substitute Kylian Mbappé in the 77th minute after he suffered an injury, with Jean-Philippe Mateta coming on in his place. He also brought on Bradley Barcola for Désiré Doué.

In the final minutes, the Moroccan team tried to get back into the game and almost reduced the deficit in the 83rd minute when Azzedine Ounahi fired a powerful shot from outside the box, but Mike Maignan made a brilliant save to keep it out.

A minute later, a header from Nail El Aynaoui went just wide of the post following a corner kick taken by Achraf Hakimi.

On the other side, the French team continued to threaten the goal, as Yassine Bounou saved a one-on-one chance from Bradley Barcola in the 88th minute, before Jean-Philippe Mateta missed a clear opportunity with a header that went over the crossbar from a corner kick follow-up.

Despite six minutes of stoppage time, the score remained unchanged, and the referee blew the final whistle, confirming France's 2-0 victory and their qualification for the 2026 World Cup semi-finals, amid concern over captain Kylian Mbappé's injury.