Didier Deschamps praised Frances consistency and tournament nous after Les Bleus marched into their third consecutive World Cup semi-final, ending Moroccos 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.Thats three (semi-finals) in a row its 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 its Kylian. He never has any doubts.But were exactly where we wanted to be, said Deschamps, who substituted Mbappe late in the game after a knock to his ankle. Were taking another step forward today, finding ourselves in the final four once again. It shows were 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.Mbapp 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 Dembl 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, Mbapp remains entirely focused on driving Les Bleus to a historic third global crown.A mission? I dont know but we cant afford to let up, Mbappe said.Theres still a long way to go, and what lies ahead is even tougher, but well recover well. Topics Didier Deschamps France National Football Team Kylian Mbapp Morocco National Football Team Add us as a preferred source on Google If you enjoy reading this article, you can help support our independent football journalism by adding 101 Great Goals as a preferred source You Should Also Read France 2-0 Morocco: Mbappe and Dembele do the business for Les Bleus Tom Rostance 9th July, 2026 Mbappe misses penalty as France stutter against Morocco Tom Rostance 9th July, 2026 LIVE France v Morocco: Commentary, updates, goals and stats as Mbappe looks to shoot down African champions Jon Fisher 9th July, 2026 France v Morocco: Line-ups confirmed for opening World Cup quarter final Tom Rostance 9th July, 2026 France v Morocco: World Cup 2026 line-ups, stats and preview, TV channel, live online stream and prediction Jon Fisher 9th July, 2026 World Cup 2026: Quarter-final predictions with Mbappe, Messi, Yamal and Haaland hoping to fire their teams to the last four Jon Fisher 9th July, 2026
