FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — He is, with every match, moving himself further on into history.
This time it was Kylian Mbappé’s 20th goal in 20 career World Cup contests, his eighth of this tournament to tie Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot lead and to break open Thursday’s quarterfinal in favor of France.
Mbappé has never been eliminated from a World Cup before the final, this one being the third time of asking.
You would not bet on it being the first, with France, 2-0 victors over Morocco on Thursday and moving onto the semis, allowing all of one shot on goal even as the Atlas Lions’ defense gave them a stern test.
“We know there’s only one way to relax,” Mbappé said, speaking to French broadcaster M6. “And that’s to win.
“We’re in the semifinals, we’re very happy, but there’s still a long way to go. We know what lies ahead is even tougher than what we’ve already been through, but we’re ready to face anything.”
There is something about Mbappé — boyish in 2018, all grown up in 2022 — seeming to reach his final form this summer. He’s 27, at the peak of his powers, and has shown it at nearly every opportunity.
For all of five minutes Thursday, when France coach Didier Deschamps told M6 following the game that Mbappé had an ankle issue, leading to his exit after 78 minutes for Jean-Philippe Mateta, there was a glimmer of worry. The man himself shut it down shortly thereafter.
“I’m fine,” he said. “I took a knock to my ankle but I’m OK.”
Cue the quiet groans from Spain and Belgium.
Until Mbappé’s curler in the 60th minute Thursday, it really did seem like this might not be his day. His penalty attempt in the first half was saved with some ease by Yassine Bounou, a three-minute wait for VAR to confirm the foul while he stood over the ball evidently affecting him.
France probed against Morocco’s low block. It found little. It didn’t matter. Mbappé is that good, that skilled, that able to create brilliance from nothing. It is why — or at least, it is one of many reasons why — no opponent has yet looked on their level at this World Cup.
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“There are no dictators thinking about themselves,” Deschamps said. “Kylian is a captain. He’s great whether he’s on or off the pitch. He’s a role model.”
Deschamps expressed surprise at how Morocco set up with striker Ismael Saibari out injured.
“I tried to understand why [Mohamed Ouahbi] made his choices,” Deschamps said. “There were no real forwards using the seed of the wide areas. When we were possessing the ball, we left them no chance to be dangerous for us.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
