France, a two-time FIFA World Cup winner, continues to be one of the title favourites as it secured a semifinal berth after beating Morocco in the quarters, riding on goals from Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.
Boasting a quality bench in addition to a dangerous starting line-up, Les Blues are the only ones in the final four to have won all their games in regulation time at this World Cup.
They will face European champion Spain for a spot in the final, with their matchup being a repeat fixture of the EURO 2024 semifinal. Ahead of France vs Spain, Sportstar looks at how France reached the semifinal.
Mbappe struck twice to lead France to a dominant victory as he became his country’s highest goalscorer of all time. Although the African side had looked the stronger team in the first half, the second period was a different matter as class ultimately proved the difference for Les Blues.
Inevitably, it was captain Mbappe who broke the deadlock, unlocking the Senegalese defence in the 66th minute and providing a neat finish. Substitute Bradley Barcola added a second, and Mbappe broke Olivier Giroud’s record with his 58th France goal, thanks to a scorching strike from outside the box deep into added time, seconds after Ibrahim Mbaye’s consolation strike for Senegal.
Mbappe scored his second double of the tournament, and Dembele added a third as France eased into the last 32 with the 3-0 victory in the first match of this World Cup affected beset by weather stoppage.
The match in Philadelphia resumed after a delay of almost two hours caused by thunderstorms and lightning at halftime. Players returned to the pitch for a 20-minute warm-up at 7:30 pm local time, with France leading 1-0 after a 14th-minute goal by Mbappe.
Mbappe, on his 100th international appearance, combined with Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele to end Iraq’s ambitions to qualify for the round of 32.
Dembele scored a first-half hat-trick as France ensured top spot in its World Cup group with a ruthless 4–1 win over a second-string Norway, which, like the French, had already qualified for the next round of the tournament.
The winger scored three times in the space of 25 minutes in the first period to send the 2018 world champion and 2022 runner-up into the Round of 32 with a spring in their step.
France uncorked a Champagne performance to sweep Sweden aside 3-0 with a display of attacking verve and precision and book its place in the last 16.
Mbappe rattled the post just after the half-hour mark and finally broke the deadlock on 45 minutes when, from a pass by Dembele, he jinked and skipped and slammed a right-foot shot past Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.
France recalibrated its slide-rule precision after the break when Bradley Barcola lofted the ball past the Swedish goalkeeper to double its lead in the 53rd minute. Twenty minutes later, Mbappe had his second, clipping the ball past the keeper from a deft through-ball from Michael Olise.
The scoreline flattered Sweden. France’s flamboyant attack might have reached double figures were it not for the woodwork and a series of near-misses measured in millimetres.
The South American underdog proved that good old-fashioned grit and a few questionable tactics can still rattle football’s elite. Paraguay, making its first World Cup appearance since 2010, stuck to its tried-and-tested formula, adopting a cautious approach designed to frustrate one of the tournament favourites.
For over an hour, its game plan worked to perfection as it limited clear-cut chances despite France controlling over 75 per cent of possession, until Mbappe’s VAR-awarded penalty sealed the result of the match.
France captain Kylian Mbappe missed a penalty but curled in a superb goal on the hour as France struck twice in six minutes to brush aside Morocco 2-0 on Thursday and book their spot in the World Cup semi-finals.
Mbappe, who at 27 became the youngest player to rack up 20 World Cup appearances, also bagged his 20th World Cup goal with a curling shot from just inside the box before Ousmane Dembele added another six minutes later with a low drive to set up a last-four meeting with Belgium or Spain.
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.
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Published on Jul 14, 2026