France have set up a World Cup 2026 semi-final with Spain after beating Morocco 2-0 in Boston. Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele scored in the second half, turning a quarter-final that was still level after the break into a clear France win. FIFA's official tournament schedule provides the tournament and semi-final context for the result.
Read the wider context in Spain 2-1 Belgium: Merino's late winner sends Spain into France semi-final.
The result gives France a direct route to Dallas on 14 July. It also puts a concrete storyline behind the scoreline: Mbappe was named Player of the Match by FIFA and then helped decide the tie on the field, with Dembele quickly adding the second goal that ended Morocco's comeback hopes.
A decisive six-minute spell
France did not need a long list of chances to define this quarter-final. Mbappe broke the deadlock in the 60th minute and Dembele made it 2-0 six minutes later. That burst is the key to the report, because it explains why a tight knockout score became a two-goal margin without inventing tactical detail that has not been independently confirmed.
The timing matters as much as the names. Morocco had kept the game level into the second half, but France found the separation before the closing stages. In a one-off quarter-final, that left Morocco chasing two goals rather than simply protecting a narrow position. France did not need to rely on a shootout, extra time, or a late tie-breaker; the score was settled inside normal time.
Morocco's run ends in Boston
Morocco arrived in the last eight after beating Canada 3-0, while France had reached this match with a 1-0 win over Paraguay. Both sides had already cleared the Round of 16, so the quarter-final was an opportunity to turn a strong tournament run into a place in the final four.
That is why the 2-0 result carries more weight than a routine win. Morocco's campaign ends at the quarter-final stage, while France move from one knockout challenge straight into another. The expanded World Cup has a longer path to the last four, and France now have one of the final two matches on their side of the bracket in front of them.
There is no need to reduce Morocco's exit to a generic consolation line. The tournament record is clear: they reached Boston, remained level until the second half, and were beaten by two established France attackers in a six-minute spell. That is the specific event story, not a recycled conclusion about momentum.
Spain are the next test
Spain await after their own 2-1 win over Belgium in Los Angeles. The semi-final in Dallas will bring together two teams that won their quarter-finals in different ways: France created their margin in a short second-half surge, while Spain needed a late winner.
For France, the useful question now is not whether the Morocco win was impressive in isolation. It is whether Mbappe, Dembele, and the rest of the side can carry that decisive edge into a match against Spain with a World Cup final at stake. The answer belongs to the semi-final; the Boston result has already earned France the chance to find it.
*Image: stadium crowd used as World Cup context, not a photograph from this match.*
