Even when Kylian Mbappe looked wrong, he looked fantastic again. Mbappé has been emulating Lionel Messi for the past month, and while he did so in a reluctant manner, showing that great players are not immune to missed penalties, he provided the kind of response the legendary Argentine did against Austria and then Egypt. He scored.
And so Moroccan resistance crumbled with a moment of glory. Defeated 2–0 by France in the 2022 semi-finals, they faced the same scoreline in the rematch as Mbappe led France to a third consecutive final. He followed up his goal with his third assist of the tournament, allowing Ousmane Dembele to seal a deserved victory.
Mbappé raised his arm to acknowledge the applause and ended up with an ice pack on his right foot. When he celebrated after the final whistle, it appeared to be a precautionary change rather than a doubt for the Bastille Day semi-finals against Spain or Belgium.
The entire contest may seem part of a wider battle between Mbappe and Messi: for the Golden Ball, the Golden Boot and the World Cup itself. The French captain equalled his Argentinian counterpart with eight goals in the US. His tally now stands at 20 in as many World Cup matches. It would have been at least 21 but for Yassin Bono’s superb performance.
In the first half, the Moroccan goalkeeper threatened to end the reign of Didier Deschamps. Morocco were a threat themselves, but it was one of the best goalkeeping displays of the past month. Bonou is a penalty specialist, as the Netherlands can testify, and he added to his reputation in such situations after makeshift centre-back Nossir Mazraoui tripped Mbappe.
Four days ago in Philadelphia, Mbappe laughed off the Paraguayan provocation. This time, he was booed more by the officials than the opposition as he delayed an unnecessarily long VAR check to confirm the award of the spot-kick. The wait stretched to three minutes and 12 seconds, and, after a frantic run-up, Mbappe’s penalty was a calm onside kick. Bono held it easily.
His rebellion started early. He made two fantastic early saves to keep out Mbappe’s 20-yard shot and Dayot Upamecano’s close-range header. He was fantastic again when Desire Doue robbed Ayoub Bouadi, strolled forward and shot. Just before half-time, he did brilliantly to tip Lucas Digne’s curling shot over the bar.
Mbappe obliged with a curled shot from the edge of the box with minimal backlift.
Yet if it showed it would take something special to beat Bono, Mbappe obliged with a curled shot from the edge of the box with minimal backlift. Morocco complained that Adrien Rabiot had taken over the construction. The finish, though, could not be stopped.
Mbappe was not finished, but the Moroccans were soon eliminated. France has the kind of team where a Ballon d’Or winner can take second billing, and Dembele scored the second goal. His tally of five for the tournament is eclipsed by Mbappe’s eight. Remarkably, Dembele had never scored in a tournament until his previous trip to Boston, when he scored a hat-trick against Norway.
Two of them were assisted by Mbappe. A former Paris Saint-Germain team-mate turned supplier at the third opportunity. The captain first flicked the ball to Dembele and then created room for him to shoot with his driving run. Bono gets a hand to Dembele’s effort but only pushes it into the net.
Morocco could be forgiven for being relieved when Mbappe replaced himself. An attempt to stop him resulted in a fine. Another one brought a booking to Issa Diop. Any contrast between forward Nanpriel and Morocco’s attacking efforts could have been unpleasant, but the absence of the injured Ismail Sibri made it worse.
After taking the game to Brazil and the Netherlands, Morocco adopted a completely different approach against the tournament favourites. Perhaps it was simply a recognition that France was a class apart from the rest. Perhaps they were inspired by Paraguay’s stubbornness. Be that as it may, there was no out-and-out striker. Morocco swarmed the midfield, trying to force out Michael Oleis.
In the process, though, they became very negative. France had 13 shots before Morocco’s first encounter. After an hour, Mohamed Ohabi’s team had an XG of just 0.06. By the time they finally stirred, it was too late. Neil Al Ainoui headed into the side netting after 84 minutes.
The midfielder was born in Nancy, but it was not a day when France resented those among its expatriates representing other countries. Instead, a player with Algerian and Cameroonian heritage ended African involvement in the World Cup.
Morocco was Africa’s first semi-finalist in 2022. He is now his first back-to-back quarter-finalist. But France, and Mbappe, still intend to make a bigger mark in history.
