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FOXBOROUGH: France captain Kylian Mbappe insisted on Thursday his team were not getting carried away about their chances of winning another World Cup despite reaching the semi-finals thanks to a 2-0 win over Morocco on Thursday.
“I don’t know if you can say we are on a mission. That is the easy term to use. But I think we are aware that the only way to let up is by winning,” Mbappe told French broadcaster M6 after an eventful quarter-final tie in which he had a first-half penalty saved but later opened the scoring.
“We are in the semi-finals and we are very pleased. There is still a long way to go and we are aware that what awaits is going to be even harder, but we are ready,” he added.
“We are ready to confront everything we come up against, so we will recuperate in peace and watch tomorrow’s game to find out who we will face next.”
Mbappe had a hand in Ousmane Dembele’s goal which sealed the win for France at the Gillette Stadium near Boston, before later being substituted after taking a knock to the ankle, and being replaced by Jean-Philippe Mateta.
“I’m fine. I took a knock on the ankle but I’m fine. I think at that point JP was more prepared than me to play the final 15 minutes so I came off.”
He will expect to be fit for the semi-finals which will take place on Tuesday.
France won their first World Cup in 1998 and their second in 2018, before losing the 2022 final on penalties to Argentina.
DESCHAMPS HAILS MBAPPE
France coach Didier Deschamps paid tribute to Mbappe after he scored his eighth goal of the World Cup.
“When it’s Kylian, there’s no problem — he never doubts himself, even though he had another chance before scoring,” Deschamps told French broadcaster M6 after Mbappe netted his 20th World Cup goal in 20 appearances at the tournament.
“I am obviously really proud to be in a third straight semi-final,” Deschamps added in his post-game press conference.
He said his players “never doubted themselves” despite failing to convert a host of chances in the first half, including the penalty that Mbappe squandered.
“It seems logical and natural, but you still have to achieve it,” Deschamps said of reaching another semi-final.
“Obviously, I have great players, otherwise we wouldn’t get there, but it’s good. It was complicated because today, after missing the penalty, and with the chances (we had), we didn’t convert.”
TEAM WILL BOUNCE BACK
On the other hand, Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi promised that his team will bounce back from their exit and keep building as they prepare to co-host the next tournament in 2030.
The Atlas Lions were hoping to at least match their historic run to the semi-finals in Qatar in 2022, but once again their World Cup hopes were ended by Les Bleus.
The 2-0 defeat at the Gillette Stadium near Boston was a repeat of the scoreline when the sides met in the semis four years ago, and Morocco must now turn their attentions towards future challenges after a draining last seven months.
“France are a really great side. We were playing a country who have been to the last two World Cup finals, and they have rarely had as much talent as they do now,” acknowledged Ouahbi. “We know we can compete, and what we want to do is work even harder to try to do even better next time.”
Ouahbi had said on the eve of the game that he would not consider going out in the quarter-finals as a success.
“I think it’s important to do everything to try to win and I think we did try everything,” he added on Thursday. “We want to go even further and win the World Cup, so we are disappointed because we have lost, but we have to accept it.”
Ouahbi insisted the AFCON was the immediate priority, before focusing on the 2030 World Cup which Morocco will co-host alongside Spain and Portugal.
“Before that we have an AFCON and if we want to do well we need to keep building, try to qualify for that and win it,” said the Belgian-born coach. “We have a huge hotbed of talent and a strong federation, so we have everything you could need to keep improving and moving forward.”
Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2026
