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Second half strikes from Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele earned France a 2-0 win against Morocco in the first quarter of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Thursday.
Mbappe has now tied Argentina captain Lionel Messi on eight goals in the tournament.
The French team also accounted for Morocco’s ouster at the 2022 World Cup thanks to 2-0 win in the semifinals.
It was a game France deservedly won as they were the better side throughout the encounter, bossing possession, goals attempts and shots on target.
Also Read: World Cup 2026: France Have Enough Quality To Overcome Morocco –Petit
Mbappe had the chance to open the scoring in the 28th minute from the penalty spot but saw his effort saved by Yassine Bounou.
But Mbappe made amends in the 60th minute, as he curled the ball beyond the reach of Bounou.
Then six minutes after the opening goal Dembele doubled the lead, after racing towards the opposition and hit a low strike into the bottom corner.
France will now take on Spain or Belgium in the semi-finals. Spain and Belgium will clash in the quarterfinals on Friday.
8 Comments
General Mbappe and the Blue Army march on.
Mbappe recovered from a penalty miss to bag a goal and an assist.
2 quick fire second half goals to put Morocco to bed.
Morocco players surrounded the ref to protest the first Mbappe goal. Of course, Morocco will always protest when they are losing. Protesting is in their DNA. They under performed today. Just one shot on target in the entire game. Not good enough to beat a team like France. The French attacking quartet of Mbappe, Doue, Dembele and Olise was too much for the Atlas Lions. Morocco have their goalie to thank, as the game could have ended with them drowning in goals.
Hakimi should be commended for not tampering with the opponent goalie’s towels this time around. At a point, I really feared for Maignan’s towel, but Hakimi somehow resisted the temptation to grab some towel. The towel grabber didn’t go for the towel today.
So Morocco will be going back home. With their exit, the African challenge at this year’s world cup is officially over.
Mbappe – 8 goals
Messi – 8 goals
Haaland – 7 goals
Kane – 6 goals
Osimhen??????????????????
Oshimen partying in Lagos. And he is going back to the tolotolo league in the new season. Wasted talent.
Hahahaha
Going back to the tolotolo league???
Hahahaha
Haba I thought he will be going to madrid, barca, psg, bayern munich etc like you all claimed???….
Hahahaha
So he asking to be excused from those friendlies and unity cup because he is trying to change club is all a waste???….
Hahahahaha
Dude is really a wasted talent honestly…
His own is even worst than balotelli…
I am glad some of you are beginning to wake up to the truth I have always been preaching…..
Hahahahaha
Or Maybe osimhen is just in a wrong field…
Maybe being a dg, musician or a socialite would have been better for him….
Cos all he does is to attend clubs, parties when his mates are showcasing their talent in their right and chosen field…..
Just this past season after winning the tolotolo league title, dude flew verydarkman, tunde ednut etc to turkey, lodged them in a hotel that charges 7.8 million naira (when converted)per night ..
And they stayed for over a week!!!!!
And there was no referee and CAF to help them to make questionable calls during the match to slow down the opposition as it was the case with Nigeria at afcon..
The Arabs should quickly come back home.
Let the Arab go back to his Arabian country. As for me I am indifferent in morroco matter.
Those guys don’t recon with black Africa.
Morocco were worst. France were far better.
Bayern signed Saibari of Morocco. Reports reveal that he was signed immediately after their first game against Brazil.
Bayern were reportedly looking at Osimhen as an option before the world cup.
Is Saibari better than Osimhen? So why was Saibari signed, and Osimhen left behind?
Before the world cup, who knows Saibari? Now, because of his world cup exploits, he has become a Bayern player.
That’s the platform that playing in a world cup can give a player.
The platform that our own players lost because of peanuts match bonuses.
A good world cup performance would surely have landed many of our players in bigger clubs, with the huge financial rewards that come with that. But they would rather go on strike over match bonuses before a world cup playoff game!
Wrist watch and cup of tea ooo! Una mumu no too much?