Mbappe and Dembele too strong for the Atlas Lions

Sixth game so far for France at this World Cup and sixth win for Les Bleus. Many tried but nobody managed to do anything against this team, which proves, game and game again that they are the best team at this tournament. These players have such individual quality that they manage to overcome all obstacles during the 90 minutes of every match. Today against Morocco, the biggest obstacle for the French was Yassine Bounou, and the Atlas Lions’ keeper saved everything thrown his way for an hour. But he couldn’t do anything against the individual qualities of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele. When nothing was working, these two stars scored some excellent goals and secured a 2-0 win over Morocco and a trip to the semi-finals, where their probable opponent will be Spain. Considering the performances so far, this should be a final before final. 

The Atlas Lions came to the semi-finals at Qatar four years earlier and were stopped by France (also with the same score), and nothing changed much in 2026. Mbappe and co. are still too strong for the African team, which also suffered some injuries throughout the tournament. They played excellent in recent games, but today they only mustered one shot on target, ten minutes before the end, which is way too little for a team like France, They had excellent Bounou who even saved a penalty kick from Mbappe, but the Real striker came back in the second half to score a beauty and give his team a much needed lead.

The first half started with a double chance in the fifth minute. Mbappe tried his shot for the first time tonight but Bounou made his first save of the day, even though the reply showed that Mbappe’s shot would have ended near the bar. The following corner came and Upamecano found himself all alone near the Morocco goal, but his header was saved by Bono. Nothing interesting happened in the next 20 minutes and then Mazraoui made an obvious tackle on Mbappe in the penalty area and referee had to point to the penalty spot. The VAR check took a bit long (three minutes) and it cleary affected the French captain, who missed the shot, or to be precise, took a bad penalty and allowed Yassine Bounou to save it.

The Morocco keeper saved the Atlas Lions again ten minutes later, when Doue exploded into the space, got into the box only too see his shot saved by Bounou. The last big chance France had was in injury time, when Digne took a long distance shot which somehow made a strange turn and hit the crossbar. As for Morocco, their first (and only) shot came after a free kick in the 45th minute. Not to good, but the Atlas Lions were surely happy with the overall score. They finally started something which looked as an offensive approach in the second half, but France soon took over again. Olise’s the first meaningful move in the entire game in the 56th minute resulted with a chance for Mbappe, but apart from being offside, Real’s striker also missed the entire goal. Doue decided to take a long shot in the 55th minute, but Bounou was ready.

And then the five-minute blitzkrieg came and the Morocco keeper could do nothing about it. Mbappe attacked the goal in the 60th minute and found the tightest possible place to put a perfect shot which went to the top left angle for the long-waited lead. But Ballon d’Or winner had to participate as well. Largely unseen for the first hour of the match Ousmane Dembele again proved his class in the 66th minute, when his precise shot from a distance was again unsavable for Bounou. Ayoub Bouaddi made World Cup history, behind Pele as he became the youngest player to ever start in a quarter final of the World Cup, but was subbed after the first goal in Morocco’s attempt to score. It didn’t work and the Atlas Lions finished their participation in this World Cup with only one shot on target in the quarterfinal. France could have scored more until the end, but final score remained 2-0.

WORLD CUP - KNOCKOUT STAGE

Quarter-finals

Thursday

France - Morocco 2-0 (0-0)

/Mbappe 60, Dembele 66/

Friday

22.00: (1.65) Spain (4.00) Belgium (5.50)

Sunday

00.00: (4.00) Norway (3.70) England (1.90)

04.00: (1.75) Argentina (3.50) Switzerland (5.50)

***odds are subject to change***