Mbappe magic gives Morocco les bleus

Kylian Mbappe shook off a missed penalty kick to score his eighth goal of this year's World Cup, helping France beat Morocco 2-0 at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and reach the semifinals for the third time in a row.

But not before giving Les Bleus a scare, after picking up an injury that had him summoning the bench and leaving the game in the 77th minute. Mbappe said the injury was minor, and he showed no ill effects while celebrating with his team after the whistle.

He was caught by Morocco defender Issa Diop in the 63rd minute, but remained in the game until the 76th, when he dropped to the turf and waved to the sideline.

After the training staff checked on him, Mbappe was subbed off — waving to the crowd as he left — and watched the end of the match from the bench with an ice pack on his right ankle.

"I took a knock to the ankle, but I'm fine," said Mbappe, who was replaced by Jean-Philippe Mateta. "At that point, JP was in better shape than I was to play the final minutes."

As the reigning Golden Boot winner, Mbappe, who in 2018 became only the second teenager after Pele to score in a World Cup final, made up for a first-half penalty miss by scoring in the 60th minute.

It was his 20th goal in 20 World Cup games, and his eighth in this tournament so far, equaling Argentina captain Lionel Messi.

Ousmane Dembele's strike six minutes later ensured the two-time champion's progression to the semifinals scheduled on Tuesday.

Asked if this was his strongest France team yet, Mbappe said it has the most potential.

"But, I always say that the strongest teams are the ones that win," he said.

"I don't see a World Cup next to me, so for now, we're not the strongest team. We're in the semifinals and we're very happy, but there's still a long way to go.

"We realize that what lies ahead is even tougher than what we've been through, but we're ready to face anything," he added.

"There's only one way to relax, and that's by winning. Until we've done that, we don't let up."

France has yet to miss out on a World Cup final with Mbappe in the team, and coach Didier Deschamps hailed his talisman for his irreplaceable impact on the squad.

"When it's Kylian, there's no problem — he never doubts himself, even though he had another chance before scoring," Deschamps told French broadcaster M6.

Mbappe burst onto the global stage by starring in the side that won the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and was then top scorer at the 2022 edition in Qatar with eight goals, including a hat-trick in the final.

"I am obviously really proud to be in a third straight semifinal," Deschamps added.

He said his players "never doubted themselves" despite failing to convert a host of chances in the first half, including Mbappe's miscued penalty attempt.

"Obviously, I have great players, otherwise we wouldn't get there, but it's good. It was complicated today, because of missing the penalty, and with the chances (we had) that we didn't convert," Deschamps said.

Lapse in concentration

Mbappe squandered a chance to put France ahead from the penalty spot against a frustratingly defensive Morocco side in the first half, after he drew a foul from Morocco defender Noussair Mazraoui in the box in the 28th minute.

Keeper Yassine Bounou, a hero in the Atlas Lions' round-of-32 penalty shootout win over the Netherlands, again guessed correctly, diving to his left to deny the French star.

Mbappe said the long delay while the call was being reviewed by the VAR put him off. "It's complicated, because there's some kind of imbroglio," he said. "I let it affect my concentration. That's a scenario I hadn't experienced before."

But, Mbappe delivered at the second time of asking, when he dribbled into the area in the 60th minute, and, seeing a mere sliver of a chance, let loose a rocket that curled around a defender and just inside the right post.

Minutes later, he popped up in midfield to nudge a short ball to Dembele, who went on a charge toward the edge of the box where he unleashed a stinging low shot into the bottom-right corner.

Mbappe's innocuous little touch off to his teammate may prove critical in the Golden Boot race, though.

While Messi also has eight goals and Norway's Erling Haaland has seven heading into their respective quarterfinal matches, Mbappe technically leads the charge because he has more assists, which is the tiebreaker.

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