2018, 2022 and now 2026. France seems to know how to get to the semifinals of the World Cup.
"Three semi-finals in a row, that alone is a good thing. It may seem logical and natural, but you still have to get there," said France national team captain Didier Deschamps after the match.
Against Morocco, however, it took several scoring chances before France broke through. The closest came in the first half when Kylian Mbappé had the chance to give the French the lead from the penalty spot - but the penalty was weak and the tie remained.
Mbappé was substituted after a slap
Just like the first 45 minutes, France started the second half better - and then came the opening goal. Mbappé received the ball just outside the penalty area and slotted it home to make it 1-0. The goal was the 27-year-old's eighth in this World Cup - as many as Argentine Lionel Messi.
A few minutes later, Ousmane Dembélé extended the lead to 2-0, which was also the final score.
Mbappé was substituted in the 77th minute after a scuffle with a Moroccan defender. He was then seen on the bench with an ice pack on his right leg.
"I got a blow to the ankle, but I'm fine," he said afterwards.
At that point, JP (Jean-Philippe Mateta) was in better shape than me to play the last few minutes.
Morocco: "Disappointed"
The defeat against France also means that Morocco is now out of the World Cup. The team had only one shot on goal during the entire quarter-final.
"We are very disappointed. We wanted to move on," said Morocco's national coach Mohamed Ouahbi afterwards.
When we had the ball, our transitions weren't very good and we had to run a little more.
In the semi-finals, France will face the winner of Belgium and Spain.
