Didier Deschamps praised France’s consistency and tournament nous after Les Bleus marched into their third consecutive World Cup semi-final, ending Morocco’s historic run in Boston.
A tense quarter-final clash was blown wide open in the second half, with goals from Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele sealing a comfortable 2-0 victory for the tournament favourites.
Mbappe missed a penalty in a goalless first half before scoring a brilliant eighth goal of the tournament to put him top of the golden boot race.
“That’s three (semi-finals) in a row — it’s good,” France coach Deschamps said. “It seems logical and natural, but you still have to get the job done. It was tricky, the penalty… when it’s Kylian. He never has any doubts.”
“But we’re exactly where we wanted to be,” said Deschamps, who substituted Mbappe late in the game after a knock to his ankle. “We’re taking another step forward today, finding ourselves in the final four once again. It shows we’re right there in the mix.”
In a repeat of the 2022 World Cup semi-final, France, who have now kept clean sheets in all three knockout matches, looked the hungrier throughout with Morocco, aiming for a second straight last-four spot, badly missing injured forward Ismael Saibari, and failing to get a shot on target until the 84th minute.
Mbappé bounced back from a first-half penalty miss – which saw his effort saved by Yassine Bounou – to break the deadlock with a brilliant individual effort on the hour mark before Dembélé struck just six minutes later to put the tie to bed.
“We are very disappointed, we wanted to advance,” said Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi.
“We have to recognise that France is a great team with excellent players. France had the better scoring opportunities. We lacked ideas and freshness, and we have to accept this defeat.
“Today France were stronger but we are able to compete and progress and maybe eliminate them in four years’ time,” Ouahbi said. Morocco are co-hosting the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
For France, the focus instantly turns to recovery and preparing for a blockbuster semi-final clash against either Spain or Belgium in Dallas on Tuesday evening. Despite a late ankle scare, Mbappé remains entirely focused on driving Les Bleus to a historic third global crown.
“A mission? I don’t know but we can’t afford to let up,” Mbappe said.
“There’s still a long way to go, and what lies ahead is even tougher, but we’ll recover well.”
