France ends Morocco's dream in the FIFA World Cup 2026™ tournament. Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé scored the goals for their side, sending France into World Cup semi-finals. French coach Didier Deschamps says he's proud of Mbappé's extraordinary performance. History for the stirker with 20 goals at a World Cup and his eighth of this tournament, drawing him level with Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot. Join your host Haylena Krishnamoorthy for this episode of World Cup Daily | The 90+ Podcast, as she talks to former Matilda legend and SBS World Cup analyst, Lydia William to break down today's result. What's the psychology behind each penalty? Is Morocco a blueprint for African nations? The Morocco - France match comes with history - but why? What can we expect to see in the matches ahead?
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TRANSCRIPT
ON THE PITCH: FRANCE - MOROCCO MATCH
France are through to the World Cup semi-finals with a 2-nil victory over Morocco.
For Les Bleus, the dream of back-to-back World Cup titles remains alive.
For Morocco, the tournament ends, but not without another chapter in football history.
And perhaps that's what made this match so compelling.
More than 65,000 fans filled Boston Stadium for a quarter-final that always promised plenty.
France came in as the defending champions, stacked with world-class talent and chasing another World Cup title.
Morocco, meanwhile, had already captured hearts around the world.
After beating co-hosts Canada to reach the last eight, they became the final African nation left in the tournament, continuing a journey that's been years in the making.
Their breakthrough actually began back in Qatar in 2022.
It was when Morocco became the first African and Arab-speaking nation to reach a World Cup semi-final, before eventually finishing fourth.
France's recent World Cup memories are just as significant.
Les Bleus were runners-up in 2022 after one of the greatest finals in history against Argentina, and they've arrived at this tournament determined to win.
French coach Didier Deschamps made just one change to his side, bringing Désiré Doué into the attack, while Morocco were without injured midfielder Ismael Saibari.
From the opening whistle, France controlled much of the play, but couldn't find the breakthrough.
Then came the biggest moment of the first half.
After a lengthy VAR review, France were awarded a penalty.
Kylian Mbappé stepped up, and for one of the few times in his international career, he couldn't deliver.
To unpack today's match, I spoke to Australia's longest-serving Matilda - who's competed in two Olympic Games and five World Cups - Lydia Williams.
Lydia, who's also an analyst at SBS for the World Cup has played in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada and won two grand finals with Melbourne City between 2017 and 2020.
"I think it was a difficult match in the first place for Morocco, they lost their striker that they found in Saibiri, and felt they, I think, only registered one shot on target throughout the whole game. It was hot. I think France wanted to dominate and try to get a early goal in the books to kinda, you know, the game was probably gonna be pretty dead after that if they scored. Mbappé got the foul in transition and, stepped up to the penalty after about three minutes, I think, they checked VAR for, so he was kinda standing around for that long."
Saved by Yassine "Bono" Bounou - this marks only the second penalty Mbappé has missed in normal time for France.
"I don't think it was a great penalty at all. Easy save for Bono, to, to make. And then Doué had another chance in the first half to, to capitalise on a goal, but they went into the break 0-0."
She says even with VAR the decisions are still made by referees - and the controversies we've seen at this World Cup around penalties, will always be a gray area.
She talks about Mbappe's penalty today, saying it's hard to know what's a clear cut foul.
But then, Morocco sensed an opportunity.
Captain Achraf Hakimi almost made France pay before half-time, but dragged his effort wide.
The deadlock didn't last much longer.
"Mbappe, simply irrepressible. He insists on his moment, 20 world cup goals for Kylian Mbappé."
Eventually, Mbappé found his moment.
His goal marks his 20th at a World Cup and his eighth of this tournament, drawing him level with Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.
Morocco continued to fight, but France's quality eventually spoke for itself.
Ousmane Dembélé added a second to put the result beyond doubt.
"I think Morocco were happy, but I don't think France were worried at all. I think it was just a matter of time until they did score. And then yeah, into the second half, and they kinda came out like a house on fire. Morocco had a little bit more possession but didn't do anything with it, and then Mbappé scored this absolute ridiculous goal, and, then Dembélé capitalised on that a couple minutes later. So yeah, then from there, the game was, was pretty much done."
Lydia Williams says as far as a penalty goes in, in a shootout or in a game, goalkeepers probably have the upper hand in that.
"I think you do a, a lot of analytics and, I guess practice beforehand as a goalkeeper. There's a lot of videos that you can kinda refer to and get a good idea of what players like to do in certain moments of the match, if it's a penalty shootout versus a game, if it's a game that they're up against and with, with a higher score line, if it's one that they're drawing is the one they're losing, they kinda have, their go-to penalty. So I think you kinda have all that knowledge, and you have the benefit of, you know, seeing your either goalkeeper coach or someone on the sideline that can help direct you if you forget so really, most of the advantage in the way is with the goalkeeper, um, psychologically. Um, and the longer it goes, especially for the example, the, the penalty today, three minutes- I think it, that pressure starts to weigh more on the striker."
Today, both French and Moroccan fans gathered at the Bondi Road Hotel in Sydney, to watch their teams play.
This France supporter told SBS he's hoping for the team to further progress to the finals.
Voxie: "I'm feeling very well, honestly it was an amazing game. We're so happy to be here in Australia, with like so many French people. Like good atmosphere, it's amazing."
Chris Tan: "How's your heart?"
Voxie: "My heart? It's going very well. Thank you, like I think it was a great game, it won't be easy but maybe we can win the World Cup. So let's see, that will be amazing honestly."
Before the match, my colleague Christopher Tan spoke to this Australian cafe owner, Sanah Djebli, who organised a watch party at her North African cafe in Sydney's Surry Hills.
She was born and raised in France, with Algerian and Moroccan background.
Sanah says she was going to support Morocco.
"I can see that for my generation, we are born in France but probably just don't feel French enough, you feel French enough when you are a great soccer player and represent the country internationally, but in modern society I feel like the immigration of African people created this issue where you don't feel French enough but you also don't feel Algerian or Moroccan enough, but you feel in between different cultures and it's really hard for us to find our real and true identity."
OFF THE PITCH: HISTORY AND WC REPRESENTATION
Long before kick-off, it meant more than football.
France ruled Morocco as a protectorate from 1912 until the country gained independence in 1956.
Since then, generations of Moroccan families have settled in France, creating deep cultural and family ties between the two nations.
Lydia Williams again.
"I think, well, a lot of Moroccans are, French-born, play in France, you know, dual heritage of French and, and Moroccan, so automatically they're quite technical, skillful, disciplined players. But I think the way that, Morocco came out in both this World Cup and last World Cup is that they're really tactically disciplined, hard to really break down, and, can frustrate teams and then catch them on the counterattack or, well worked."
Those connections have long been reflected in football, with players, supporters and families often sharing links to both countries.
"But what they do have is, is a lot of, stability in kinda the defensive shape. And I mean, the star of the show really is Hakimi. And this game he was kept quiet, but a lot of the other games, it's him on transition and joining in to kinda overload, lines of, of their midfield and front. So I think, yeah, Morocco are a really fantastic African nation. And the way that they played, I think, is a really good, I guess, blueprint, for African teams to kinda come out with that a bit more tactic, discipline, but then obviously have the X factor in their, their attacking lineup."
Elsewhere, a Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla had earlier criticised French star Kylian Mbappé's heritage and nationality.
It was after France beat Paraguay 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup's Round of 16, where Mbappé scored the only goal of the match.
But the striker hit back, calling her a "despicable woman".
The fallout from those comments has continued to grow.
French President Emmanuel Macron's office says Paraguayan President Santiago Peña has written to him, expressing his support and condemning the remarks.
France's football governing body, the French Football Federation, has also weighed in, describing the comments as "criminal and reprehensible" - a sign of just how seriously the issue is being taken beyond the football world.
The senator has now retracted and apologised, but has also asked for Mbappé to apologise.
Ahead of the matches this weekend, this is what Lydia predicts.
"Belgium needs to find the fire that they had against the US, but I think Spain will be, too strong for them. And then obviously there's, Argentina, and Switzerland. That's gonna be an interesting game. I don't, I think Argentina have probably gone to matches now, going into extra time, which they wouldn't have wished they have. So, if, Switzerland can hold out, the longer it goes, it's gonna be harder for them to, to score."
Speaking after the match, France's coach commended Kylian Mbappé's outstanding performance.
Didier Deschamps says his side would recover and wait to see the outcome of the match between Spain and Belgium, tomorrow.
Lydia Williams says, the England and Norway match is another game to keep an eye out for.
"But obviously I think the, match of the semi, the quarterfinals is the, England, Norway of two really great strikers kind of- going head-to-head. So, that's gonna be a really interesting game. Norway kinda have, again, ridden with the, knocks and bumps throughout the tournament and keep getting results."
So while only one team could progress, this quarter-final was about far more than a place in the semi-finals.
Because every World Cup produces unforgettable goals and unforgettable champions.
But it's the stories behind the teams - the history, the people and the connections they carry - that often leave the biggest impression.
I'll be back with you tomorrow for the latest on Spain against Belgium.
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