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Boston, United States – Not long after, their group was to be overthrown In the World Cup, several Moroccan fans openly agreed to become members of Kylian Mbappe’s club.
Mbappe scored a stunning goal and added another six minutes from time to seal a 2-0 win over France on Thursday, with his side hailed as an “unstoppable force” by Moroccan supporters.
Yaseen Maroufi had no regrets in admitting that while Moroccans were hoping and praying for a different result, they came ready to accept France’s victory.
“France are an unstoppable team because not only do they start with the best 11 players on the pitch, they also boast one of the best players in the tournament,” he said with a shrug as he ran into the game.
“France is the team to beat, and it’s very difficult to beat them at the moment,” he added.
But that’s not how the first quarterfinals of the 2026 tournament started on a hot day in the East Coast US city.
The main theme of the quarterfinal was revenge. I am the final loss of 2022 fresh in their minds, the Moroccans were even hoping to win.
Before the game, there was cautious optimism, hopes built by a small group, faith in a new coach and prayers that the French captain would have a bad day on the field.
And it looked like he was having a bad day when, in the 29th minute, Bape he stepped up to take the penalty and was saved by Moroccan hero Yassine Bounou.
Mbappe’s missed penalty came late, pressured by the movements of the players around the box and the movement of the ball in the area. The star shooter hesitated and hit a weak shot that Bounou happily picked up.
It was a display of tense football in the first half, with both teams seemingly not doing much in front of goal for fear of finding them at the back.
After the half, Morocco seems to have overcome the fear and was the first to break the French half, but the attempt, the only one on target, was saved.
When the Atlas Lions tried to take the game into the French half, they left gaps at the back and, as many teams can testify, space is not what you give to the French.
Suddenly, Mbappe found it easy to break through the Moroccan defense on the left and, in the 60th minute, the move brought a goal for France – and the eighth goal of the World Cup 2026 for their charm.
He soon became the creator of Ousmane Dembele, who scored his team’s second and fifth, making France the only team in the tournament’s history to have two players score five or more goals in the same World Cup.
Mbappe’s dizzying passes around Morocco’s defense did not yield many goals, but as the game progressed, the red team found it difficult to take the game to the 2018 champions.
The first half of the game, which was evenly fought, could have brought hope, but it fell quickly towards the end.
The stadium, which was filled with the chants of “Dima Maghreb” – the anthem of Moroccan football – fell silent.
The French fans, whose chants of “Allez les Bleus” could only be heard when the Moroccans were silent, were happy at the prospect of having a young team that could deliver this trophy and more.
“It was great to see all this French talent,” French-American fan Claude Beyanoun, who watched the game with his son Zach, said.
For the Moroccans, any dreams of this young team to avenge the loss of the famous team of 2022 were swept away by the same goals as four years ago.
The followers let the wind out of their sails and put on sad voices as they left the arena, but there was no hope.
“We didn’t win this one, but we will win the next World Cup at home,” said Hamza, a Morocco fan who gave only one name, referring to the 2030 tournament that will be hosted by Morocco.
“We have to keep losing. This is football. This is life.”
