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16 goals… Mbappe did wonders like Messi, France is the first team to reach the semi-finals

Rahul Kumar | July 10, 2026 10:22 AM CST

Mbappe dominates France's victory (Photo: Getty Images)

France vs Morocco: France defeated Morocco in the first quarter-final of the FIFA World Cup 2026. France won the match played at Boston Stadium 2-0. In this way France became the first team to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Kylian Mbappe once again played a big role in taking France to the semi-finals. Mbappe showed the same performance against Morocco in the quarter-finals as Argentina's star Lionel Messi had shown against Egypt in the Round of 16 match. Both of them scored goals after missing the penalty and took the team to the next round.

France in semi-finals after scoring 16 goals in 6 matches

By defeating Morocco in the quarterfinals, France has also kept its record of 100 percent victory in the FIFA World Cup 2026 equal. France has completed the journey till the semi-finals with 16 goals in 6 matches. This included 3 goals each in the first two matches against Senegal and Iran. After that he scored 4 goals against Norway. Scored 3 goals against Sweden. Won against Paraguay by 1 goal and now defeated Morocco 2-0 in the sixth match.

Mbappe missed a penalty like Messi in the 28th minute.

France scored both goals in the quarter-finals against Morocco in the second half of the match. The first half remained goalless. However, in the 28th minute of the first half, France would have got a 1-0 lead if Mbappe had not missed a penalty like Messi. Just as Messi missed a penalty against Egypt in the Round of 16, similarly Mbappe also missed in the quarter-final match.

WATCH: The sequence showing how Mbappe seemed to have been distracted by the ref's on-and-off orders before he kicked the penalty. #GalaxyS26Ultra https://t.co/3cmGXdQ4QD pic.twitter.com/WK0BaRuHf7
— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) July 9, 2026

Scored a goal like Messi after missing a penalty

But, just 15 minutes after the start of the second half, Mbappe scored a goal in exactly the same manner as Messi did after missing the penalty against Egypt. Mbappe scored that brilliant goal in the 60th minute and gave France a 1-0 lead in the match.

France in semi-finals with 2-0 win

Just 6 minutes after scoring the goal, he made an amazing assist, on which Dembele scored in the Moroccan goalpost and increased France's lead to 2-0. This lead of France remained intact till the end, as a result of which the French team was successful in reaching the semi-finals.

Saket Sharma

The journey that started with the game show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' passed through stops like News Nation, India News, India.com and Editorji. In this connection, I have been associated with TV9 Hindi for the last 5 years. Here too it is my job to tell sports news. I have an understanding of all three worlds, TV, digital and production houses and overall experience of more than a decade. Every day I try to learn something new and do new creative things. Not afraid of failure and not proud of success. I just try to always give my best. This is what I have been doing till date and my intention is the same in future too. Be it sitting at the desk and narrating sports news in your own words or going to the field and capturing it on camera. In simple language, I am a player who brings to you every action happening on the sports field.