France — Morocco

France 2–0 Morocco. Quarter-final. Gillette Stadium, Foxborough. The scoreline looks clean. The game was anything but. Here is the paradox: France dominated the chances, Morocco dominated the ball. Les Bleus finished with xG of 3.04. Morocco? A whisper — 0.14. Five shots total, one on target, zero big chances. By every attacking metric, a mismatch. And yet for sixty minutes the scoreboard read zero-zero, and Morocco looked capable of nicking something on the break. That tension is exactly what made the first half worth every second. France's problem was glaring: five big chances created, five big chances missed. A full hand of gilt-edged opportunities squandered before the breakthrough. Against a better-organised attack, this match ends very differently. Then came the 60th minute. Mbappé finally converted, and it broke Morocco's shape entirely. Six minutes later, Ousmane Dembélé — the evening's standout, rated 8.6 — added the second. Dembélé was unplayable in bursts: that low-centre-of-gravity dribbling style that makes defenders look like they are running in sand. When he is in this mood, few full-backs on the planet have an answer. Morocco's credit must be stated plainly: Yassine Bounou was exceptional. Six saves, a rating of 8.24 — he kept his side alive through the first hour almost single-handedly. Without him this scoreline reads 4–0 given that xG. The defensive structure held, the press was organised, and 52% possession with 86% pass accuracy showed this was no parking-the-bus side. They had a plan. The plan just had no end product. The VAR moment at minute 25 will fuel debate: a penalty awarded to France after a challenge on Mbappé. Was contact sufficient? Was Mbappé's movement into the challenge a factor? Referee Tello Figueroa gave it. You decide. On FootLegion, the goals of your nation live forever — no VAR, no quarter-final exit can take them away. Two questions for the comments: Was France genuinely good tonight, or did Morocco simply exhaust themselves defending? And with five big chances missed in a quarter-final — can this team really go all the way?