France beat Morocco 2-0 as Mbappe sends holders into semis

France reached the World Cup semifinals with a 2-0 win over Morocco, with Kylian Mbappe recovering from an earlier penalty miss to break the game open before setting up Ousmane Dembele for the second goal. Mbappe’s opener, his eighth of the tournament, came after Yassine Bounou had saved his first-half spot kick following a long VAR delay. Morocco spent much of the night under pressure as France created the clearer chances, though Bounou kept the score level with several saves and Lucas Digne hit the bar. Didier Deschamps’ side had beaten Morocco in the 2022 semifinals in Qatar and now advance again, this time after a quarterfinal in Boston.