Foxborough. July 9, 4 PM local. France beat Morocco 2-0 in a World Cup semi-final four years ago and now get another go, a round earlier, at a team that has spent those four years turning that defeat into fuel. Fourteen goals were scored by France at this tournament. Zero competitive wins for Morocco against France ever. One of those numbers feels more useful than the other on Thursday, but Morocco has made a habit of proving people wrong at every stage of this run.
Match Info at a Glance and Key Takeaways
Comparison
France Performance at the World Cup 2026
Won all six. Against Senegal. Iraq. Norway. Sweden. Paraguay. Six different opponents, six wins, fourteen goals, two conceded, one of which was a penalty from the spot. Didier Deschamps has had this squad purring.
Paraguay was different, though. No shots on target in the first half. Forty degrees in Philadelphia. Mbappe's penalty shot made them win. That was the whole match. Doue did something clever with his feet; the defender panicked, foul, penalty, goal. Before that? France was nowhere. Couldn't find a way through, looked frustrated, the kind of game where you wonder if the goal is ever coming. Morocco plays the same way.
Mbappe: 7 goals. 19 World Cup goals career total. One away from Messi's record of 20. Michael Olise: 8 goal involvements across his last 6 France games, 5 assists all coming at this World Cup. Dembele: hat-trick against Norway in the group, 4 goals in total. France carries match-winners from every angle.
Morocco at World Cup 2026
Morocco drew with Brazil. Beat Scotland 1-0. Beat Haiti 4-2. Drew with the Netherlands and won on penalties. Then beat Canada 3-0. Ounahi scored twice in that one. Ten games unbeaten. 34 straight internationals without losing in normal time.
Four of their five games were level at half-time. Ouahbi is the new coach. He changed everything. No more traditional striker. Ounahi and Diaz now play deeper and run in behind instead. Makes opponents uncomfortable. Morocco just makes you suffer for 80 minutes and then punishes one mistake.
Bounou saved the penalty against the Netherlands. That save knocked them out. Hakimi is their right-back. He might be the best right-back in the world right now. Diaz has 4 World Cup assists; no African player has ever had more. This squad is genuinely good. Not just organised. Actually good.
France and Morocco Team News
France - Aurelien Tchouameni missed the Paraguay game due to his thigh injury, leading to Manu Kone starting in midfield again. Marcus Thuram's calf injury is doubtful but might be available off the bench.
Morocco - Ismael Saibari's hamstring injury occurred early against Canada, and he had an MRI scan, which is highly doubtful.l. If he misses this match, Soufiane Rahimi will lead the attack side of the team. Chadi Riad (knee) sat out the Canada match but should be back in the centre of defence on Thursday, pushing Halhal to the bench.
France and Morocco Predicted Lineups
Based on the current form and recent team news.
France Predicted 11 Players (4-2-3-1)
16 Maignan
5 Kounde
4 Upamecano
17 Saliba
19 Digne
6 Kone
14 Rabiot
7 Dembele
11 Olise
20 Doue
10 Mbappe (c)
Morocco Predicted 11 Players (4-2-3-1)
1 Bounou
2 Hakimi
14 Diop
4 Riad
3 Mazraoui
8 El Aynaoui
17 Bouaddi
21 Diaz
8 Ounahi
23 El Khannouss
9 Rahimi
France vs Morocco Head-to-Head
In the last 6 meetings, France has won 4 times. Morocco did not win a single one in normal time. Not one.
They played one big match together. World Cup semi-final. December 14, 2022, Qatar. Theo Hernandez scored in the 5th minute. That was the first goal. Kolo Muani came off the bench and scored the second in the 79th minute. 2-0. Game done.
Morocco had never been in a World Cup semi-final before that night. First African team ever to get there. But France still beat them. It was not even close.
Who Wins the Mbappe vs Morocco Battle
Morocco will set two banks of four and dare France to unlock them. Paraguay did it for 45 minutes. Morocco is better at it than Paraguay was.
Mbappe drops left, picks up the ball, and drives. Hakimi charges forward on the other side. Morocco's defensive shape gets stretched between the two. Olise sits in the space between Morocco's midfield line and their back four, in the exact pocket where he has collected 5 assists at this tournament. Morocco has no clean answer to that problem. Doubling up on Mbappe opens Olise. Doubling up on Olise opens Mbappe. One of them scores.
Betting Tips for France Face-Off With Morocco
France to win: 4 wins from 6 official meetings. 12 competitive matches unbeaten. The market has France at 62% to win in regulation. Anchor bet.
Mbappe anytime scorer: 7 goals in 6 games. Scored in 5 of 6 World Cup matches. First goalscorer in 7 of his last 10 France starts. Morocco will double him but cannot stop him.
France to win to nil: 3 clean sheets in 6 games. Morocco scored more than once in only 2 of their 5. Bounou will make saves, but Morocco's attack needs gaps to hurt you, and France will not give them gaps.
Under 2.5 goals: Morocco makes games tight. 4 of 5 at half-time level. France scored 14 goals, but those came against teams that opened up. Morocco will not open up.
France v/s Morocco Score Prediction
First half. Level. Morocco sits deep, Bounou saves once or twice, Ounahi breaks once and forces Maignan into a stop. Same pattern as all four of Morocco's previous level half-times at this tournament.
After 65 minutes, Deschamps brings on Rayan Cherki or Bradley Barcola. Fresh legs against a Morocco block that has been running and tracking for an hour. Mbappe gets the first. A second comes on the counter when Morocco pushes men forward, chasing the equaliser.
France 2-0 Morocco.
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Final Thoughts on France Going Against Morocco
Morocco has never won against France in a competitive match. Zero wins from six official meetings. On Thursday in Foxborough, they get another go against a France side that is the most dangerous attack in the tournament and has two goals against Morocco to draw on from the last time they met at a World Cup. Bounou will make saves. Hakimi will run. Ounahi will keep going until his legs give out. Still not enough, probably. France 2-0.