France are through to the World Cup semi-finals after beating Morocco 2-0 at Gillette Stadium, bringing Arab and African participation in the tournament to an end.
France have now reached three consecutive World Cup semi-finals and have still not conceded a goal at this tournament.
Kylian Mbappe was the central figure, despite having his first-half penalty saved by Yassine Bounou. The Moroccan goalkeeper has now saved four penalties at World Cups, drawing level with the most by any goalkeeper in tournament history.
After the break, Mbappe curled home a superb finish to make it 1-0, drawing level with Lionel Messi on eight goals in the race for the Golden Boot, before Ousmane Dembele added a second to put the game beyond Morocco's reach. Dembele's goal means France are only the second team in 50 years to have two players with five or more goals at the same World Cup. Brazil were the first in 2002.
Morocco's performance reflected the absence of Ismael Saibari. They sat deep and limited France's opportunities for long spells but struggled to break forward when they won the ball.
There are no Arab or African teams left in the tournament.
Fifa's chief refereeing officer, Pierluigi Collina, defended World Cup officials in the wake of Egypt's complaint and the Folarin Balogun suspension controversy, saying nobody can question the integrity of match officials and that Fifa refereeing cannot be influenced by anyone, including the Fifa president.
England defender Jarell Quansah has received a two-match ban for his red card against Mexico, meaning he misses the quarter-final against Norway and the semi-final if England progresses, adding to the debate about consistency after US striker Balogun had his ban suspended.
Tonight, Spain face Belgium in Los Angeles at 11pm UAE time. Spain have kept six consecutive clean sheets and gone more than 10 hours without conceding a goal. The winners face France in the semi-final on July 14.
Mina Rzouki presents Trending Middle East's World Cup round-up, a daily bonus series from The National for the duration of the tournament.
