World Cup: Upamecano and Olise help France advance to semi-final | OneFootball

France reached the World Cup semi-final for the third time in the row after their 2-0 victory over Morocco. FC Bayern's Dayot Upamecano and Michael Olise played the entire game as the 2022 finalists are yet to concede a goal in the knockout stages.

Yassine Bounou (Bono) had a flawless first-half in Morocco’s goal that included an early save from Upamecano's close-range header. France dominated the entire half, but they were largely frustrated by Morocco's defensive approach like the duel with Paraguay.

Kylian Mbappe scored the only goal of that tie from penalty-kick, but he missed one here around the half-hour mark. The Real Madrid superstar won the chance himself when former FC Bayern defender Noussair Mazraoui mistimed his challenge inside the box.

However, his weak effort was easily saved by Bono after he had to wait over three minutes for VAR to confirm the decision. France also came close to breaking the deadlock when Lucas Digne hit the crossbar from range at the stroke of half-time.

Without FC Bayern's new signing Ismael Saibari, Morocco looked toothless in the final third despite a better start after the break. And, ten minutes later, Les Bleus regained their control to push for the opening goal. That did come with yet another moment of brilliance from Mbappe at the hour mark.

The French captain scored with an unstoppable curler to become the second player with at least 20 goals in World Cup history. He also tied Lionel Messi in this edition’s scoring chart with eight as he continue his bid to win back-to-back Golden Boots. Amazingly, including six this term, 17 of his goals in the competition scored in the second-half of games.

Mohamed Ouahbi responded to Morocco going behind by making his first substitutions as Stuttgart’s Bilal El Khannouss and Ayyoub Bouaddi left their places. In a frustrating day for the Atlas Lions, the latter made history as he was the second youngest to play a World Cup quarter-final after Pele.

Nonetheless, France quickly doubled their advantage as Bono failed to keep out Ousmane Dembélé's effort, with Mbappé adding an assist to his all-important goal before being substituted following a knock. His celebration at full-time suggests there are going to be no concerns ahead of the semi-final, while Olise also avoided a yellow card that would have brought a suspension.

Morocco's first shot on target registered in the 82nd minute when Mike Maignan denied Azzedine Ounahi, who netted a brace in the Round of 16 win over Canada. Saibari will now hope to recover in time for the start of Bayern's pre-season after his successful World Cup campaign.

France will face either Spain or Belgium as it's now confirmed there will be at least one European team in the 2026 World Cup final. Didier Deschamps’ team reached the semi-final in each of the last three tournaments after their quarter-final defeat to eventual winners Germany in 2014. Morocco once again knocked out of the competition by France after their semi-final defeat by the similar scoreline in Qatar.