Mbappé and his France teammates dug through a defiant Yassine Bounou masterclass to book their place in the World Cup semifinals, seeing off Morocco 2-0 in a tense quarter-final clash at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Thursday.

For long stretches, it was Bono’s night. The Al Hilal shot-stopper produced a string of important saves through the first half, including a stop on Kylian Mbappé’s first-half penalty attempt, keeping Morocco in the contest despite France dominating possession and territory.

It took until the 60th minute for the deadlock to break, when Mbappé finally found his moment, cutting inside before curling a composed finish beyond Bono’s reach to hand France the lead and equal Lionel Messi’s tally in this year’s Golden Boot race. Six minutes later, Ousmane Dembélé doubled the advantage with a well-taken effort that squeezed past the Moroccan captain, sealing what became a comfortable win on the scoreboard even if the match itself had been anything but straightforward for much of its duration.

Morocco, appearing in back-to-back World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history, pushed for a way back into the game but could never truly test Mike Maignan at the other end, managing no shots on target across the ninety minutes.

Their exit ends a memorable run that included a group-stage draw with Brazil and a dramatic penalty-shootout victory over the Netherlands in the round of 32, though the Atlas Lions will leave the tournament with reputations enhanced, particularly that of Bono, whose penalty-saving record at this World Cup remains one of the standout individual stories of the competition.

For France, the win extends an unbeaten run through six matches without needing extra time, and sets up a semi-final meeting with the winner of Friday’s clash between Spain and Belgium, as Didier Deschamps’ side continue their pursuit of a third consecutive World Cup final.