World Cup
French firepower was once again the difference, with goals from a pair of stars.
Michael Olise dribbles for France during the World Cup quarterfinal at Boston Stadium. Via Hussein Hammouda/Boston.com
July 9, 2026 | 3:24 PM
7 minutes to read
France defeated Morocco 2-0 in the World Cup quarterfinal at “Boston Stadium” (Gillette Stadium) on Thursday in front of another packed crowd.
Goals from Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembélé were sufficient for the favored French to see off a strong Moroccan side. France now moves onto the semifinals, where they will face either Spain or Belgium.
Here are the takeaways:
Morocco’s lineup decision
Moroccan head coach Mohamed Ouahbi made multiple changes to the team that defeated Canada in the Round of 16. Forward Ismael Saibari went to the bench due to an injury, while center-back Redouane Halhal was also left out of the Starting XI.
The result was a very flat looking formation, effectively a 4-6-0. It also put versatile Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui at center-back.
France, meanwhile, inserted Désiré Doué for Bradley Barcola, but otherwise kept an unchanged lineup from the Round of 16 win over Paraguay.
The first flash point, and a penalty save
After trying to press France for the first five minutes, Morocco dropped into an expected defensive block. The pattern of the game became stuck in a familiar routine: France keeping the ball inside the Moroccan half, but unable to get into the box.
Still, the French created a bevy of chances. Mbappe’s early low shot to the near post was pushed wide by Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou. Multiple crosses also found French heads, but they were unable to score off of any of the efforts.
Just prior to the first hydration break, Mbappe burst into the Moroccan box and was tripped by Mazraoui. It came after a sequence in which Achraf Hakimi was debatably fouled, but the penalty call on the other end stood.
Mbappe, after waiting more than three minutes for a VAR review, then saw his penalty saved by a diving Bounou:
Morocco’s defense stiffened
Perhaps buoyed by Bounou’s penalty save, the Moroccan defense solidified toward the end of the first half.
France continued to keep the ball inside Morocco’s half, but looked increasingly less capable of punching a hole through toward goal.
Even at the start of the second half — and following some possible gamesmanship when Morocco was conspicuously late coming back out from their locker room — the French continued to run into a wall of defense.
The breakthrough, and a quick second goal
Finally, in the 60th minute, a broken sequence that started with Désiré Doué taking the ball down out of the air just outside Morocco’s box resulted in the first goal.
Doué’s touch deflected to Mbappe, who then cut inside and applied a perfect curler to the far post. The ball waited until the last possible moment before bending just inside the far post for a quality goal.
¡¡¡GOLAAAAAZO DE FRANCIA!!! ¡¡¡GOL DE KYLIAN MBAPPÉ!!!
El crack francés firma una tremenda anotación para ponerse 1-0 arriba de Marruecos.
8 goles en la Copa del Mundo 2026… ¡20 en Mundiales! pic.twitter.com/chTfI85gGU
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 9, 2026
Morocco quickly made substitutions to try and respond, but it appeared to simply open up more space for the French attack.
The result was that Dembélé was able to take possession in the 66th minute and charge right down the middle of the Moroccan defense, eventually uncorking a low shot that proved too much for Bounou to save.
France, having doubled their lead, put themselves in an unassailable position given Morocco’s complete inability to generate consistent scoring chances:
¡¡¡CAYÓ EL SEGUNDO!!! ¡¡¡APARECIÓ EL BALÓN DE ORO!!!
Linda definición de Ousmane Dembélé para aumentar la ventaja 2-0 ante Marruecos.
5º gol en la Copa del Mundo 2026. pic.twitter.com/53QtTQUT50
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 9, 2026
The end of the road for “Boston Stadium”
With the final whistle, the curtain officially came down on Foxborough’s glorious summer hosting World Cup games.
After so much (justified) pre-tournament focus on all of the problems and (less justified) apathy regarding the tournament, Boston ended up acquitting itself comparatively well as a host city.
From the first arrival of the Scottish Tartan Army to the dominant French performance in the quarterfinal, Boston soccer fans got to experience almost a month of the World Cup phenomenon.
And for the most part, it was a positive experience for the region. This was helped right until the very end by Mbappe and the thrilling French attack.
With the games over, “Boston Stadium” will officially turn back into the familiar confines of Gillette Stadium (with its artificial turf instead of grass). As the region’s summer of soccer rolls on — the Revolution season resumes on July 22 at home — just keep in mind that fans and media will congregate in Foxborough again in two weeks time…for the start of Patriots training camp.
Stay tuned here for all the updates:
6:00: And that’s the final whistle! France emerge with a 2-0 win, and advance to the semifinals!
5:56: France have worked intelligently to blunt Morocco’s attempts toward goal, and have engineered a few opening of their own on the other end. Even the French bench players are elite. Still 2-0, with only a few minutes of stoppage time to go before they officially clinch a spot in the semifinal.
5:45: France have subbed Mbappe off after he took a particularly tough tackle. Jean-Philippe Mateta is now on in his place. France continue to look threatening on the counter as Morocco (with increasing desperation) try to get forward to try and redress the scoreline. Still 2-0.
5:29 GOAL France, 2-0! Ousmane Dembélé drives in and fires it low to the far post. Bounou gets a hand on it, but not enough as the ball drifts into the net to double the French lead.
¡¡¡CAYÓ EL SEGUNDO!!! ¡¡¡APARECIÓ EL BALÓN DE ORO!!!
Linda definición de Ousmane Dembélé para aumentar la ventaja 2-0 ante Marruecos.
5º gol en la Copa del Mundo 2026. pic.twitter.com/53QtTQUT50
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 9, 2026
5:23: GOAL France! Mbappe curls it beautifully to the far corner and the deadlock is finally broken!
¡¡¡GOLAAAAAZO DE FRANCIA!!! ¡¡¡GOL DE KYLIAN MBAPPÉ!!!
El crack francés firma una tremenda anotación para ponerse 1-0 arriba de Marruecos.
8 goles en la Copa del Mundo 2026… ¡20 en Mundiales! pic.twitter.com/chTfI85gGU
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 9, 2026
5:19: Morocco’s defensive structure seems to grow stronger by the minute, through small cracks still appear here and there (Doué just popped up with a quick shot at goal, but it was saved).
5:09: After a slightly longer delay — Morocco certainly took their time getting back onto the field — we are underway for the second half!
4:50: Halftime, 0-0. France still searching for a goal. They’ve clearly been the protagonist, but also Morocco stabilized in the latter half of the opening 45 minutes. See you in 15!
4:47: Lucas Digne hits the crossbar! His shot appeared to be tipped by Bounou, but it’s called a goal kick. France continue to get as close as possible without actually scoring.
4:45: Jaylen Brown is here! He waves to the crowd, who give one of their loudest cheers of the day so far.
4:43: Morocco’s defensive game plan is probably a stressful one for their fans, but so far has proven effective. France have not been very fluid in the attack through 44 minutes.
4:35: Désiré Doué takes the ball from 18-year-old rising Moroccan midfield star Ayyoub Bouaddi and charges down the center. His shot is saved at the near post by Bounou. It’s fairly one-way traffic toward the Moroccan goal, but France are still yet to find an opener.
4:31: We’re now in our beloved hydration break. According to The Guardian, Mbappe had to wait over three minutes standing at the penalty spot befor the VAR review was complete. Controversy already.
4:27: SAVED! Mbappe had to wait a long time for the VAR reivew, and then tries to slide it near post but Bounou saves it! Still 0-0.
4:26: Penalty for France! Mbappe is felled in the box by Noussair Mazraoui. The Moroccans complain that the entire sequence resulted from Achraf Hakimi potentially being fouled himself, but to no avail.
4:24: Despite playing with literally all 11 players behind the ball for most of the half, a French turnover (possibly a foul on Mbappe that was uncalled) leads to a real moment for a Moroccan attack. A foray into the right corner leads to a corner kick, but the precious chance goes begging and France easily clears. Still 0-0.
4:18: The floodgates are creaking a little for Morocco. France continue to probe, and just created another open header on a cross. The ball goes out for a goal kick (it was aimed too high), but France seem to be getting closer.
4:14: Morocco seems content to drop a little deeper now after the opening moments, conceding midfield territory to France. But they are well organized and will make France navigate some tight spaces to find an opening.
4:04: And we have our first chance! In the fourth minute, Kylian Mbappe rips a low shot from just outside the box that is saved. On the ensuing corner, France nearly scores again, but Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou makes another save and it’s cleared. Fast start!
4:02: Right away, Morocco makes it clear they’re not here to park the bus, pressing France even in their own half. Brahim Diaz looks lively, dribbling past two defenders (the second of which he nutmegged) before finding a back-heel pass. Watch that space.
4:00: Kickoff and we’re underway!
3:51: The big flags are out, and the teams are filing in. Anthems shortly, and then it begins.
3:35: Saibari is on the bench for Morocco, who use an otherwise familiar lineup.
3:30: France’s lineup is fairly predictable, with a 4-2-3-1 setup. While pre-tournament prognostications might have foreseen a move toward a 4-3-3, Didier Deschamps has decided to keep using four outright attackers (an exciting choice for neutrals).
3:05: Also from yesterday, Moroccan fans made their voices heard on Boston Common:
2:55: Moroccan fans, possibly trying to get into the spirit of CONCACAF while in North America, attempted to make as much noise as they could outside the French hotel (the Four Seasons Boston) on Wednesday night. Let’s see how much that effects the talented French team:
2:45: Some interesting prematch news is that Moroccan forward Ismael Saibari has been ruled out (possibly due to a lingering hamstring issue from the win over Canada).
Morocco will be without star forward Ismael Saibari for their World Cup quarterfinal with France on Thursday, head coach Mohamed Ouahbi said. pic.twitter.com/t9htdhT2ln
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 9, 2026
2:30: Welcome to another fantastic day of World Cup action here in Foxborough! It’s a scorcher, but both teams should be well prepared for a high-profile contests (and a trip to the World Cup semifinals on the line).
Hayden Bird
Hayden Bird is a sports staff writer for Boston.com, where he has worked since 2016. He covers all things sports in New England.
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