Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Kylian Mbappe put behind a first-half penalty miss to score the opening goal and provide an assist as France entered the semifinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup by defeating Morocco 2-0 in Boston early Friday morning.
Although France dominated proceedings in the first half, they failed to find the back of the net as Morocco keeper Yassine Bounou made sove beautiful saves.
As France piled up pressure, Mbappe was brought down by Nousair Mazraoui brought down inside the box and the 2022 finalists were awarded the penalty. However, Mbappe’s weak shot was saved by Bounou.
France tok the lead in the 60th minute when Mbappe fired a curler from the edge of the box into the far corner past the stretched Moroccan stopper. With this goal, he equaled Lionel Messi’s record of eight goals in the ongoing World Cup.
The two are also in a race to become the all-time World Cup top scorer with Messi; Messi has 21 goals while Mbappe has 20.
Mbappe provided a beautiful assist six minutes later which Dembele converted for his fifth goal of the tournament.
France will now meet the winner of the match between Spain and Belgium in the semifinal in Dallas on Tuesday night.
