• France is going to the semifinal: Kylian Mbappé broke the deadlock and Ousmane Dembélé struck a few minutes later to give France all it needed for a 2-0 win over Morocco and book a place in the semifinal.
• The Golden Boot race: With his opener, Mbappé is now level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot race this year. This was his 20th World Cup goal overall.
• Spain or Belgium loom next: France will match up against the winner of La Roja vs. the Red Devils, which is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
• Sigue toda nuestra cobertura en español aquí con CNNE.
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Read below for more news and analysis from France’s 2-0 win over Morocco in the World Cup quarterfinals.
Well, as a Spaniard, I both expected this to happen and dreaded it happening.
If you’ve been following France the entire World Cup, you saw this coming. I said earlier that Les Bleus feel inevitable and, much like Thanos, they really do have a sense of purpose that a lot of other teams this tournament have not had.
From the get-go today, France pushed the issue against a stout and proud Moroccan defense. While Yassine Bounou and the Atlas Lions defiantly held off for an hour of play, the wall finally fell under the attack of the titans that are Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé.
While Morocco did fall quite convincingly today, it did a continent proud as the final African representative in the World Cup, showing tenacity, grit and some free-flowing soccer throughout this edition of the greatest sports tournament on earth. The team has firmly established itself as part of the game’s elite and we will see the Atlas Lions back on the biggest stages.
Les Bleus, meanwhile, march into the semifinals looking to contest their third World Cup final in a row – an almost unfathomable achievement in itself before you realize that they were one penalty shootout away from a possible three-peat – and it doesn’t even look like they’ve really ever gotten out of second gear this tournament. Yes, Paraguay pushed France to the limit physically, but it never really looked like the Albirroja was knocking out this juggernaut.
We have yet to see the limit of this French side, perhaps because it hasn’t found a suitable opponent yet, but if it does indeed end up playing Spain on July 14 in Arlington, Texas (a repeat of the 2024 Euros semifinal that La Roja won 2-1), we might yet see the most dazzling of heights of any team ever at a World Cup.
Now, all attention turns to Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium to see if Spain can hold up its end of the bargain and make it to the Lone Star State on Tuesday.
All of France will now turn their attention to tomorrow’s quarterfinal matchup between Spain and Belgium.
Spain go into the game as favorites and a win for La Roja could set up a mouth-watering rematch of the 2024 European Championship semifinal against the winners from today.
Goals from Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo gave Spain a 2-1 win on that occasion as Luis de la Fuente’s side overturned an early deficit.
More recently, Spain and France played out a thriller in the 2025 Nations League semifinal. Spain picked up a 5-4 win in that one, with Yamal scoring a brace.
Belgium’s recent record against France, however, is far from favorable.
The Red Devils have lost five on the bounce against France including a 1-0 loss in the 2024 European Championships and another 1-0 defeat in the 2018 World Cup semifinal.
Belgium will be hoping it can right the wrongs from its time in Russia eight years ago with revenge against France this time round – if they beat Spain that is.
It’s safe to say France will be cheering on Belgium for this one tomorrow.
It couldn’t have been more straightforward for France in the end.
Les Bleus dominated from the first whistle and just had to wait until the second half to score two goals in the space of six minutes.
But just as everything looked to be running smoothly, star man Kylian Mbappé went down. You could see the attacker was wincing a bit and looked straight across to his manger who was rapidly sorting out a replacement from the bench.
It didn’t look too worrying but Mbappé did limp off the pitch and was seen with an ice pack around his ankle. Hopefully, it was just precautionary.
Morocco barely laid a glove on their opponents, bringing to an end a campaign that had promised so much.
It’s easy to forget that in getting this far, the Atlas Lions became the first African team to qualify for the quarter-finals in successive World Cups but that’ll be little consolation to Mohamed Ouahbi’s side who had hoped to build on their stunning 2022 campaign.
They depart the competition as Africa’s last remaining representative but there’s no denying that the future of the game in the country looks bright.
The investment and buy-in from the government is there, their talented youngsters will only continue to grow in maturity and stature in the coming years and with the North Africans co-hosting the 2030 edition of the tournament, the prospects bode well.
France continues its march towards the World Cup final with what turned out to be a pretty straightforward quarterfinal against Morocco.
Goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé wrapped up a 2-0 win as Les Bleus go through to the semifinals, where they will play either Spain or Belgium.
There’s been a lot of controversy the last few days regarding the refereeing at the World Cup and supposed favoritism shown towards certain teams.
Egypt, most prominently, took massive issue with the string of questionable decisions and inconsistencies around the use of the video assistant referee (VAR) in its 3-2 loss to Argentina on Tuesday. Pharaohs winger Mostafa Ziko even went as far to call it a “fix.”
The conspiracy theories on social media went into overdrive regarding today’s match as the entire refereeing crew is Argentine. Given France is likely to be the toughest opponent for Argentina in a theoretical defense of its title, many said it was evidence that FIFA favored the Albiceleste and the crew was dispatched to help Morocco win. Well, that has now obviously been proven wrong.
The crew has been very professional and done quite a good job at allowing the players to play without doing too much to make themselves the center of attention (absurdly long VAR check ahead of Kylian Mbappé’s penalty take aside).
As FIFA referee boss Pierluigi Collina – perhaps the most famous referee in soccer history – said earlier, “We are not influenced by anyone.”
“Of course, constructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport,” he added. “Nobody can question the integrity of the FIFA World Cup match officials.”
Quite right. Log off your X account and just enjoy the matches, guys and gals.
It’s been 83 minutes coming but finally Morocco records its first shot on target in the match.
Captain Achraf Hakimi works the ball to Azzedine Ounahi but his shot is comfortably palmed away by the French goalkeeper.
The resulting corner kick is flicked into the side netting by Neil El Aynaoui.
Just a reminder that Kylian Mbappé’s effort today is his 20th World Cup goal.
It’s also his eighth of the tournament, which draws him level with Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot race this year.
He’s off with about 15 minutes left to go in this one, hopefully just resting up for the semifinal. But the attacker didn’t look entirely comfortable when walking off the pitch.
Sometimes you need a bit of luck and Morocco was almost gifted a way back into this game.
Chemsdine Talbi swings the ball into the box, French centre back Dayot Upamecano takes a wild swing at it and the ball very nearly ends up in the back of his own goal.
It loops just over the crossbar and the resulting corner comes to nothing.
Mohamed Ouahbi has wasted little time in reacting to those scintillating Mbappé and Dembélé strikes.
Off goes the largely ineffecutal Bilal El Khannouss along with midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi.
On come super sub Soufiane Rahimi and the vastly experienced Sofyan Amrabat.
It’s a double bodyblow for Morocco who quite simply has to wake up or this will be the end of its World Cup journey.
To add insult to injury, centre back Issa Diop has picked up a yellow card, which would rule him out of a semifinal should Morocco get that far.
Right now that feels a long way off.
Morocco began the second half more brightly than it ended the first, with a promising attack in the 48th minute and much more flowing play but, again, couldn’t make much of it. The Atlas Lions midfield had begun to play much better and subsequently allowed Morocco much more possession in the French half.
But despite all that, France still had the better chances and the dam finally broke through Kylian Mbappé’s fantastic shot in the 60th minute. Just six minutes later, Ousmane Dembélé made it 2-0 with yet another great shot.
Morocco now has a massive hill to climb, which feels near impossible given its showing so far.
We’ve had the second-half hydration break and we’re back into things now.
Ousmane Dembélé doubles France’s lead.
It was a brilliant bit of play by the French attacker. He picked the ball up and drove directly at the heart of Morocco’s retreating defense.
Just like Mbappé moments before, Dembélé was almost invited to shoot and he very much obliged, sending his effort squirming past the Morocco goalkeeper.
This is surely over for Morocco now. But we’ve said that before in this tournament…
What a finish!
Just as people were wondering whether Kylian Mbappé had lost a bit of form, the French star goes and does that.
It was a brilliant finish after the superstar sorted his feet out just inside the box. He then looked up and swept his effort into the far corner.
Morocco is upset after claiming there was a handball in the buildup but the goal stands.
If you’re a Morocco supporter, you may want to look away now.
The xG (expected goals) for Mohamed Ouahbi’s side in that first half was a stunning low of 0.04, according to Opta Stats.
The halftime team talk was much needed and the result has been clearer with the Atlas Lions showing far more attacking intent in the second half.
Brahim Díaz and Azzedine Ounahi made early bursts into the penalty area but crucially neither forced opposing goalkeeper Mike Maignan into a save.
Morocco is still yet to have a shot on target on the French goal.
Kylian Mbappé was through on goal there after a brilliant ball through by Michael Olise.
You’d bet your house on Mbappé scoring but be blazed the shot well over the bar.
If he had scored, though, I think it would have been ruled out for offside anyway.
The second half has begun as France looks to break Morocco’s defense and the Atlas Lions try to find a goal opportunity. The score remains 0-0.
Do your favorite sports podcasts discuss bets on prediction markets? Has betting become a part of how you watch sports with friends? Has betting opened you up to new sports that you didn’t watch before? Tell CNN about how you bet on different games, including the World Cup matches:
Whisper it quietly, but we’re almost approaching the final week of the tournament!
It’s fair to say North America hasn’t disappointed.
From off the field controversy to breathtaking action on it, it’s been hard to take your eyes off it.
We’ve seen players go from virtual unknowns to national heroes, superstars delivering us a thrilling Golden Boot race, nations writing themselves into sporting folklore and a wide-open field of potential winners for the biggest trophy in world soccer.
And through it all The Beautiful Game by CNN Sports has been your trusty companion and one stop shop to guide you through the myriad of action and countless storylines that have and are still to unfold.
So as we enter the final stretch of the tournament why not give our brilliant newsletter a turn!
From our stellar team live on the ground who’ll deliver behind-the-scenes reporting through to our teams around the world with expert analysis, we’ll bring you all the twists and turns as we head to the finale in New Jersey on July, 19.
There hasn’t been much to shout about from Morocco in that first half but one shining light has been Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Why? Becuase the 18-year-old has made two bits of history.
The Lille midfielder has become the second-youngest player to play in a quarterfinal (the youngest incidentally was Pelé in 1958).
And he has become the first ever African player to make five World Cup appearances as a teenager.
Can he make even more history in guiding Morocco to back-to-back World Cup semifinals?
• France is going to the semifinal: Kylian Mbappé broke the deadlock and Ousmane Dembélé struck a few minutes later to give France all it needed for a 2-0 win over Morocco and book a place in the semifinal.
• The Golden Boot race: With his opener, Mbappé is now level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot race this year. This was his 20th World Cup goal overall.
• Spain or Belgium loom next: France will match up against the winner of La Roja vs. the Red Devils, which is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
• Sigue toda nuestra cobertura en español aquí con CNNE.
Sign up for The Beautiful Game by CNN Sports, our daily World Cup newsletter.
Read below for more news and analysis from France’s 2-0 win over Morocco in the World Cup quarterfinals.
Well, as a Spaniard, I both expected this to happen and dreaded it happening.
If you’ve been following France the entire World Cup, you saw this coming. I said earlier that Les Bleus feel inevitable and, much like Thanos, they really do have a sense of purpose that a lot of other teams this tournament have not had.
From the get-go today, France pushed the issue against a stout and proud Moroccan defense. While Yassine Bounou and the Atlas Lions defiantly held off for an hour of play, the wall finally fell under the attack of the titans that are Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé.
While Morocco did fall quite convincingly today, it did a continent proud as the final African representative in the World Cup, showing tenacity, grit and some free-flowing soccer throughout this edition of the greatest sports tournament on earth. The team has firmly established itself as part of the game’s elite and we will see the Atlas Lions back on the biggest stages.
Les Bleus, meanwhile, march into the semifinals looking to contest their third World Cup final in a row – an almost unfathomable achievement in itself before you realize that they were one penalty shootout away from a possible three-peat – and it doesn’t even look like they’ve really ever gotten out of second gear this tournament. Yes, Paraguay pushed France to the limit physically, but it never really looked like the Albirroja was knocking out this juggernaut.
We have yet to see the limit of this French side, perhaps because it hasn’t found a suitable opponent yet, but if it does indeed end up playing Spain on July 14 in Arlington, Texas (a repeat of the 2024 Euros semifinal that La Roja won 2-1), we might yet see the most dazzling of heights of any team ever at a World Cup.
Now, all attention turns to Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium to see if Spain can hold up its end of the bargain and make it to the Lone Star State on Tuesday.
All of France will now turn their attention to tomorrow’s quarterfinal matchup between Spain and Belgium.
Spain go into the game as favorites and a win for La Roja could set up a mouth-watering rematch of the 2024 European Championship semifinal against the winners from today.
Goals from Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo gave Spain a 2-1 win on that occasion as Luis de la Fuente’s side overturned an early deficit.
More recently, Spain and France played out a thriller in the 2025 Nations League semifinal. Spain picked up a 5-4 win in that one, with Yamal scoring a brace.
Belgium’s recent record against France, however, is far from favorable.
The Red Devils have lost five on the bounce against France including a 1-0 loss in the 2024 European Championships and another 1-0 defeat in the 2018 World Cup semifinal.
Belgium will be hoping it can right the wrongs from its time in Russia eight years ago with revenge against France this time round – if they beat Spain that is.
It’s safe to say France will be cheering on Belgium for this one tomorrow.
It couldn’t have been more straightforward for France in the end.
Les Bleus dominated from the first whistle and just had to wait until the second half to score two goals in the space of six minutes.
But just as everything looked to be running smoothly, star man Kylian Mbappé went down. You could see the attacker was wincing a bit and looked straight across to his manger who was rapidly sorting out a replacement from the bench.
It didn’t look too worrying but Mbappé did limp off the pitch and was seen with an ice pack around his ankle. Hopefully, it was just precautionary.
Morocco barely laid a glove on their opponents, bringing to an end a campaign that had promised so much.
It’s easy to forget that in getting this far, the Atlas Lions became the first African team to qualify for the quarter-finals in successive World Cups but that’ll be little consolation to Mohamed Ouahbi’s side who had hoped to build on their stunning 2022 campaign.
They depart the competition as Africa’s last remaining representative but there’s no denying that the future of the game in the country looks bright.
The investment and buy-in from the government is there, their talented youngsters will only continue to grow in maturity and stature in the coming years and with the North Africans co-hosting the 2030 edition of the tournament, the prospects bode well.
France continues its march towards the World Cup final with what turned out to be a pretty straightforward quarterfinal against Morocco.
Goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé wrapped up a 2-0 win as Les Bleus go through to the semifinals, where they will play either Spain or Belgium.
There’s been a lot of controversy the last few days regarding the refereeing at the World Cup and supposed favoritism shown towards certain teams.
Egypt, most prominently, took massive issue with the string of questionable decisions and inconsistencies around the use of the video assistant referee (VAR) in its 3-2 loss to Argentina on Tuesday. Pharaohs winger Mostafa Ziko even went as far to call it a “fix.”
The conspiracy theories on social media went into overdrive regarding today’s match as the entire refereeing crew is Argentine. Given France is likely to be the toughest opponent for Argentina in a theoretical defense of its title, many said it was evidence that FIFA favored the Albiceleste and the crew was dispatched to help Morocco win. Well, that has now obviously been proven wrong.
The crew has been very professional and done quite a good job at allowing the players to play without doing too much to make themselves the center of attention (absurdly long VAR check ahead of Kylian Mbappé’s penalty take aside).
As FIFA referee boss Pierluigi Collina – perhaps the most famous referee in soccer history – said earlier, “We are not influenced by anyone.”
“Of course, constructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport,” he added. “Nobody can question the integrity of the FIFA World Cup match officials.”
Quite right. Log off your X account and just enjoy the matches, guys and gals.
It’s been 83 minutes coming but finally Morocco records its first shot on target in the match.
Captain Achraf Hakimi works the ball to Azzedine Ounahi but his shot is comfortably palmed away by the French goalkeeper.
The resulting corner kick is flicked into the side netting by Neil El Aynaoui.
Just a reminder that Kylian Mbappé’s effort today is his 20th World Cup goal.
It’s also his eighth of the tournament, which draws him level with Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot race this year.
He’s off with about 15 minutes left to go in this one, hopefully just resting up for the semifinal. But the attacker didn’t look entirely comfortable when walking off the pitch.
Sometimes you need a bit of luck and Morocco was almost gifted a way back into this game.
Chemsdine Talbi swings the ball into the box, French centre back Dayot Upamecano takes a wild swing at it and the ball very nearly ends up in the back of his own goal.
It loops just over the crossbar and the resulting corner comes to nothing.
Mohamed Ouahbi has wasted little time in reacting to those scintillating Mbappé and Dembélé strikes.
Off goes the largely ineffecutal Bilal El Khannouss along with midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi.
On come super sub Soufiane Rahimi and the vastly experienced Sofyan Amrabat.
It’s a double bodyblow for Morocco who quite simply has to wake up or this will be the end of its World Cup journey.
To add insult to injury, centre back Issa Diop has picked up a yellow card, which would rule him out of a semifinal should Morocco get that far.
Right now that feels a long way off.
Morocco began the second half more brightly than it ended the first, with a promising attack in the 48th minute and much more flowing play but, again, couldn’t make much of it. The Atlas Lions midfield had begun to play much better and subsequently allowed Morocco much more possession in the French half.
But despite all that, France still had the better chances and the dam finally broke through Kylian Mbappé’s fantastic shot in the 60th minute. Just six minutes later, Ousmane Dembélé made it 2-0 with yet another great shot.
Morocco now has a massive hill to climb, which feels near impossible given its showing so far.
We’ve had the second-half hydration break and we’re back into things now.
Ousmane Dembélé doubles France’s lead.
It was a brilliant bit of play by the French attacker. He picked the ball up and drove directly at the heart of Morocco’s retreating defense.
Just like Mbappé moments before, Dembélé was almost invited to shoot and he very much obliged, sending his effort squirming past the Morocco goalkeeper.
This is surely over for Morocco now. But we’ve said that before in this tournament…
What a finish!
Just as people were wondering whether Kylian Mbappé had lost a bit of form, the French star goes and does that.
It was a brilliant finish after the superstar sorted his feet out just inside the box. He then looked up and swept his effort into the far corner.
Morocco is upset after claiming there was a handball in the buildup but the goal stands.
If you’re a Morocco supporter, you may want to look away now.
The xG (expected goals) for Mohamed Ouahbi’s side in that first half was a stunning low of 0.04, according to Opta Stats.
The halftime team talk was much needed and the result has been clearer with the Atlas Lions showing far more attacking intent in the second half.
Brahim Díaz and Azzedine Ounahi made early bursts into the penalty area but crucially neither forced opposing goalkeeper Mike Maignan into a save.
Morocco is still yet to have a shot on target on the French goal.
Kylian Mbappé was through on goal there after a brilliant ball through by Michael Olise.
You’d bet your house on Mbappé scoring but be blazed the shot well over the bar.
If he had scored, though, I think it would have been ruled out for offside anyway.
The second half has begun as France looks to break Morocco’s defense and the Atlas Lions try to find a goal opportunity. The score remains 0-0.
Do your favorite sports podcasts discuss bets on prediction markets? Has betting become a part of how you watch sports with friends? Has betting opened you up to new sports that you didn’t watch before? Tell CNN about how you bet on different games, including the World Cup matches:
Whisper it quietly, but we’re almost approaching the final week of the tournament!
It’s fair to say North America hasn’t disappointed.
From off the field controversy to breathtaking action on it, it’s been hard to take your eyes off it.
We’ve seen players go from virtual unknowns to national heroes, superstars delivering us a thrilling Golden Boot race, nations writing themselves into sporting folklore and a wide-open field of potential winners for the biggest trophy in world soccer.
And through it all The Beautiful Game by CNN Sports has been your trusty companion and one stop shop to guide you through the myriad of action and countless storylines that have and are still to unfold.
So as we enter the final stretch of the tournament why not give our brilliant newsletter a turn!
From our stellar team live on the ground who’ll deliver behind-the-scenes reporting through to our teams around the world with expert analysis, we’ll bring you all the twists and turns as we head to the finale in New Jersey on July, 19.
There hasn’t been much to shout about from Morocco in that first half but one shining light has been Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Why? Becuase the 18-year-old has made two bits of history.
The Lille midfielder has become the second-youngest player to play in a quarterfinal (the youngest incidentally was Pelé in 1958).
And he has become the first ever African player to make five World Cup appearances as a teenager.
Can he make even more history in guiding Morocco to back-to-back World Cup semifinals?
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