Kylian Mbappé scores again, France dominates Morocco 2-0 to make semifinals

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France fans during France's World Cup quarterfinal against Morocco. Maurice Van Steen / ANP via Getty Images

Another match, another dominant performance by France.

Les Bleus continue their masterly run through the World Cup, winning by multiple goals for the fifth time in six matches. Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé each scored as both showed why they are two of the most feared attackers in the world.

France will play the winner of Belgium and Spain in the semifinal on the doorstep of a third straight appearance in the World Cup final.

Can Morocco pull off a miracle?

With only a few minutes to go until stoppage time, France's Kylian Mbappé was spotted on the bench with his cleats off, with what appeared to be an ice pack affixed to his right foot/ankle area.

He exited the game in the 77th minute with an apparent injury but waved to the crowd as he walked off under his own power. Mbappé had another stellar game, scoring a goal and assisting on another.

When the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé broke the 0-0 tie with his latest score, he closed within one of Messi’s 21 career World Cup goals. This World Cup both players have netted eight goals.

Follow the goal-by-goal battle of Mbappé vs. Messi here.

Maignan finally gets in on the action, making a diving stop on a shot by Azzedine Ounahi from outside the box. That was Morocco's third shot of the game and its first on target, and it came in the 83rd minute.

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Mbappé walked off under his own power after he was down on the field holding his right foot. He took himself out of the game with France leading 2-0, but now all eyes will be on his health assuming France advances.

Kylian Mbappé is having an all-world tournament, scoring eight goals. But Ousmane Dembélé isn't far behind. He has recorded five goals and two assists on the tournament now, forming a lethal 1-2 punch with Mbappé.

The wheels have come off for Morocco.

After a strong first half from goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, Morocco hasn’t been able to keep France out of the net in the second half. France’s relentless attack has finally paid dividends, and now it has a two-goal lead with about 20 minutes to go until stoppage time.

And just like that, France is up 2-0.

This time it was Ousmane Dembélé, making a run down the middle of the pitch before cutting right and burying a right-footer into the bottom right corner of the net.

Diop was carded for a rough takedown of Kylian Mbappé.

The two legends have been trading goals in the World Cup, and now each has eight goals in the tournament.

Mbappé’s goal today was also his 20th career World Cup goal, one behind Lionel Messi’s record 21.

After knocking on the door all match, France is finally on the board.

Kylian Mbappé unleashed a right-footer from top left side of the box and swung the ball around a defender and just inside the far post.

France leads 1-0.

Another stop for Bounou, this time on a strong right-footer from Désiré Doué from just outside the top left of the box.

France was by far the stronger side in the first half. Let’s see if Morocco can find some answers in the second.

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According to the Fox broadcast, France's Kylian Mbappé had to wait more than three minutes before he could take his penalty kick midway through the first half. That's counting from when the Morocco foul was called until when Mbappé took the kick. The action was paused for a VAR review.

Mbappé then stepped up and took a weak shot that was easily saved.

In the final moments of the first half, a few minutes into stoppage time, Morocco's Achraf Hakimi lined up for a free kick about 29 yards out and took a chance on goal. Why not? Morocco hadn't recorded a single shot until that point. But Hakimi's shot went wide of the net and wasn't really a threat.

No goals in the first half, though not because of a lack of trying on France’s part.

France has 1.87 expected goals, and its offense is generating chance after chance but hasn’t been able to break through. The biggest moment came before the hydration break, when Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saved a penalty kick by Kylian Mbappé.

Bounou has been great, but Morocco desperately needs to find a way to attack in the second half.

Another strike from France, this one by Lucas Digne, who nearly swung the ball into the top of the net. Morocco's goalkeeper Yassine Bounou appeared to get his fingertips on the ball before it deflected off the crossbar.

France has had several chances. Can it finally break through before halftime?

This time off a giveaway, France's Désiré Doué made a run down the middle of the field, but his shot was shoved out of bounds by Bounou, his third save.

This one off his left foot. It was France’s whopping eighth shot of the first half.

France forward Ousmane Démbelé. Mauro Pimentel / AFP via Getty Images

France has been knocking on the door, recording 1.43 expected goals to Morocco’s zero.

Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou has held strong, however, including making a stop on a Kylian Mbappé penalty to keep it 0-0.

Kylian Mbappé made a fantastic run down the left side and into the box before he was fouled by Noussair Mazraoui, resulting in a penalty for France. After the foul was called, play was stopped for an extended period for a VAR review, which forced Mbappé to wait to take the penalty.

Eventually, Mbappé stepped up to take the kick, but his stutter-step kick resulted in a weak shot toward the right side of the goal, and it was saved by Yassine Bounou. After the miss, Mbappé went to the referee to complain about the delay.

Kylian Mbappé was taken down in the box and now he’ll have a chance to score!

The French forward just had his first attempt at a goal, firing a header from the right side of the box, but it sailed wide over the far post. He's scored four goals so far in the tournament.

The midfielder is only 18 years old, and he's now become the youngest player since 1958 to play in a World Cup quarterfinal. Pelé was only 17 when he starred for Brazil during that tournament.

Bouaddi has recorded three shots on the tournament, but has yet to score a goal or record an assist.

We’re not even 15 minutes into this match, and France is already up to 0.52 expected goals. Morocco, on the other hand, is stuck at zero. France has easily had the better attack so far.

Kylan Mbappé took a cut at the net early, though his right-footed shot was deflected out of bounds by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

France nearly scored off the corner, but Bounou made another save on a header.

The World Cup quarterfinals are now underway. The winner of this game will play the winner of Spain vs. Belgium in the semifinals.

Kylian Mbappé will wear the captain’s armband.

The Atlas Lions will be playing without star attacker Ismael Saibari.

During France's World Cup run, the headlines seem to have mostly focused on the leading goalscorers: Kylian Mbappé, who has scored seven goals, and Ousmane Dembélé, who has scored four. But France's best player might be the player setting up his teammates for success: Michael Olise.

Olise has recorded five assists in five games, and might've had more if his teammates had been able to convert on more of his brilliant passes. The record for most assists in a World Cup belongs to Pelé, who had six assists in the 1970 tournament. With a good game, Olise could pass him today.

One subplot of today’s match between Morocco and France will be how dedicated Morocco is to scoring.

France is coming off a 1-0 win over Paraguay in the Round of 16, a match in which Paraguay looked more interested in wrestling than playing soccer. The physical play set off a little bit of a firestorm, and neither side was very complimentary of the other following the result.

Morocco is nowhere near the level of underdog Paraguay was, as The Atlas Lions are currently sixth in the world rankings.

However, France is No. 1, and its offensive attack has been humming during the World Cup. How aggressive will Morocco be looking to score? Or will it try to grind France to a halt?

Paraguay’s efforts to frustrate instead of advance were ultimately unsuccessful. Perhaps Morocco will have more success trying to stay on the offensive.

Nearly a quarter of players at the World Cup were born in a different country than the one they are representing – a new record. NBC News' Jesse Kirsch reports.

World Cup rosters more diverse than ever before

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This World Cup has been defined by its stars, so don't blame us for continually updating you on the race for the Golden Boot, awarded to the tournament's top goal scorer. Heading into the quarterfinals, this appears to be a four-man race for the title. Two of those players, Norway's Erling Haaland and England's Harry Kane, will play one each other on Saturday.

One thing to note: if multiple players finish tied for first, the winner will be the player who tallied more assists. If they finish with the same number of assists, too, the winner will be the player who has played the fewest minutes.

Here's the current leaderboard:

1. Argentina's Lionel Messi: 8 goals, 1 assist
2. France's Kylian Mbappé: 7 goals, 2 assists
3. Norway's Erling Haaland: 7 goals, 0 assists
4. England's Harry Kane: 6 goals, 1 assist

Then there are several players who have recorded 4 goals, most notably France's Ousmane Dembélé, Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal, and England's Jude Bellingham.

Morocco is on the longest unbeaten streak of any team at the World Cup, a run of 34 games. The current Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) champion, Morocco is sixth in the FIFA rankings, ahead of Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands, which it beat on penalties in the round of 32 after a 1-1 draw.

Its defense includes the biggest star in Moroccan soccer, Achraf Hakimi, a right back with a license to roam. Farther forward is creator-in-chief Brahim Díaz, the breakout star from the last AFCON.

Hakimi and Díaz have two goals and five assists between them. However, Morocco’s top scorer at this tournament, Ismael Saibari, is out with a hamstring injury. Saibari scored in each of Morocco’s three group games and struck the decisive penalty in the shootout win over the Netherlands.

Morocco might be happy to take this one to penalties as well: Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou has made nine saves in the tournament and recorded two clean sheets.

NBC News is tracking the race between Argentina's Lionel Messi and France's Kylian Mbappé to see who will finish with the most career World Cup goals of all time. Both players are now into the World Cup quarterfinals. If they both keep advancing and meet in the final, they have three more games to pad their totals.

Joe Prince-Wright, Nick Mendola and Andy Edwards preview the quarterfinal matchups and make their predictions ahead of kickoff.

Jarell Quansah was shown a red card during England's thrilling win against Mexico on Sunday. Now the FIFA disciplinary committee has issued him a two-match suspension to be served starting immediately. That means Quansah will miss England's quarterfinal game on Saturday against Norway, and he would miss the semifinal game as well, should England advance.

If England were to beat Norway, it would face either Argentina or Switzerland in the semifinals.

FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina defended the officiating in Argentina’s 3-2 victory over Egypt in the World Cup round of 16, dismissing allegations of bias and saying match officials operated with complete independence.

In an interview published on inside.fifa.com today, Collina said criticism of referees was part of football, but he condemned the questioning of the officials’ integrity after Egypt complained about the officiating following the defeat.

“Constructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport,” Collina said.

Vaughn Dalzell and Jay Croucher preview the quarterfinal, explaining why it could mirror their 2022 meeting and why France may have the edge.

Morocco has no special plans for its World Cup quarterfinal against France but knows it will need to match its heavily fancied opponents in all departments, coach Mohamed Ouahbi said yesterday.

They must, however, cope without striker Ismael Saibari, who hurt his hamstring early in the team’s victory over Canada.

“He’s not ready, but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him,” Ouahbi told a press conference.

Saibari scored goals in each of Morocco’s three group games and netted the decisive penalty in the shootout victory over the Netherlands in the round of 32.