Deschamps Hails Mbappe as France Edge Closer to World Cup Final

Deschamps praises Mbappe after France beat Morocco to make last four

Kylian Mbappe scored his eighth goal of the World Cup as France beat Morocco to reach the semi-finals for the third tournament in a row.

Mbappe fires France PAST Morocco and into World Cup semi-finals...

France coach Didier Deschamps singled out Kylian Mbappe for praise after his eighth goal of the World Cup powered France into the semi-finals on Thursday.

Mbappe found the net on 60 minutes against Morocco, following a missed penalty, before Dembele put the result beyond doubt. The win takes France to the last four in three straight World Cups.

“When it's Kylian, there's no problem - he never doubts himself, even though he had another chance before scoring,” Deschamps said.

“I think that is three consecutive semi-finals, so that's already a good thing,” he added.

“It seems logical and natural, but you still have to achieve it.

“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.”

🆕️ National team managers who qualified for three consecutive World Cup semi-finals:

🇩🇪 Helmut Schön (1966, 1970, 1974)
🇨🇵 Didier Deschamps (2018, 2022, 2026) pic.twitter.com/TAyfTEfoET

— Get French Football News (@GFFN) July 9, 2026

France will meet either Spain or Belgium in the semi-final for a spot in the World Cup final.

“It's great; we're where we wanted to be, so we'll recover well and then we'll see who our opponent is tomorrow,” Deschamps said.

He also confirmed Mbappe was taken off after picking up an ankle knock, with the forward later seen with ice on the area on the bench.