FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The nation of France can relax. Kylian Mbappe is fine.
After Mbappe scored his eighth goal of this World Cup and the 20th of his tournament career Thursday, he departed early from France’s 2-0 quarterfinal victory over Morocco but insisted that he’ll be ready to go for next week’s semifinal.
“I have a minor ankle injury, but I’m completely fine,” Mbappe said shortly after the final whistle sealed France’s third consecutive semifinal appearance. “(Jean-Philippe) Mateta was in a better position to play the remaining minutes of the match and was fitter at that moment. That’s all that happened.”
Mbappe left in the 77th minute under his own power, waving with two arms to the crowd in a familiar manner. Only 17 minutes earlier, the 27-year-old superstar scored to keep pace with Argentina’s Lionel Messi once again.
The duo is tied for the tournament lead, and the 39-year-old Messi — for now — has a one-goal advantage for the career World Cup scoring record.
Ousmane Dembele followed six minutes after Mbappe to double the lead. The reigning Ballon d’Or holder had been scoreless in his first 12 career World Cup appearances, but now has five goals in his last five.
Les Bleus will next play on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas, against the winner of Friday’s quarterfinal between Spain and Belgium.
A nation will be on the edge of their seats, likely believing that France can become the third to reach three consecutive World Cup finals.
“I want them to continue watching the games, giving us the strength,” Mbappe said of French fans. “Even though they’re not in the stadium, we feel their energy. And we will try to gather the masses for the next matches.”
Morocco were shut out for the first time this tournament and eliminated by France for a second consecutive World Cup, having also lost 2-0 in the 2022 semifinals. They’re the last African team to exit after nine of 10 qualifiers reached the knockout phase, but only two advanced past the round of 32.
Playing without injured forward Ismael Saibari, the Atlas Lions were second-best for most of the afternoon, only forcing France goalkeeper Mike Maignan into a save from Azzedine Ounahi’s effort from distance in the 83rd minute.
“Of course we need to take stock of the situation if we want to progress; it’s essential,” Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi said. “We cannot just say that we’re happy and proud of what we’ve done. We need to move forward, and in order to do so, we have to be objective and to do some self-criticism.”
Mbappe’s 60th-minute strike from the left side of the penalty arc ended what had been an exasperating hour after seeing his poorly struck first-half penalty saved by Yassine Bounou.
But when he found himself as the recipient of a deflected ball at the top of the 18, he showed no timidity, curling a perfect right-footed effort around defender Issa Diop and narrowly inside Bounou’s left post.
Dembele tacked on six minutes later on a counterattack as Morocco had no choice but to try and send numbers forward.
This time it was Mbappe making a run to the left to clear space. Instead, Dembele unleashed his own right-footed shot from about 20 yards out, and while Bounou got a hand to it, he could not keep it from nestling in the bottom right corner.
“We are exactly where we wanted to be,” France manager Didier Deschamps said. “We will recover well and see who our opponent will be. I imagine there’s a lot of excitement and passion in France. Here, we are in our own bubble, and I am even more so. That’s what we’re here for, and the players have a duty to do everything they can to go as far as possible. We’ve cleared a major hurdle.”
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
