Mbappe strikes again as France beats Morocco to reach World Cup semi-finals

France captain Kylian Mbappe recovered from having a first-half penalty saved to score a magnificent opener that set Les Bleus on their way to a 2-0 win over Morocco in their World Cup quarter-final showdown in Boston on Thursday.

Mbappe's weak spot-kick was easily saved by Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, but he made up for that by producing a brilliant curling finish to make it 1-0 on the hour mark and put his team in a commanding position. 

That was Mbappe's eighth goal at the tournament before he came off late on and watched the final minutes with an ice pack around his right ankle.

Before exiting, he set up Ousmane Dembele to run through and settle the contest watched by 63,811 at the Gillette Stadium, as France knocked out the Atlas Lions whom they also defeated in the 2018 semi-finals. 

Didier Deschamps' side will now face either European Champions Spain or Belgium in Dallas next Tuesday.

France is looking to reach a third consecutive World Cup final with Deschamps who has been at the helm of the team since 2012. He will step down from his role following the conclusion of the tournament in North America. 

Les Bleus are also looking to claim a third overall title and were the better team on the day as the North Africans struggled for ideas up front without the injured Ismael Saibari. 

At 27-years-old, Mbappe has now taken his overall World Cup goals tally to 20 and many more can be expected from him as barring injury or a loss of form, he is likely to be present at the next tournament in four years' time. Highlights for the Real Madrid forward at this tournament have included braces in group stage games against Senegal, Iraq and then in the last 32 against Sweden. He also scored the only goal of the game via a penalty to lead his nation to a 1-0 win over Paraguay in the last 16.

Morocco would have hoped for a better showing in the World Cup and their elimination means that Africa no longer has any representatives in the tournament.