RecapFriday, July 10

Déjà Voodoo: Les Bleus Do It to the Atlas Lions Again

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France dismissed Morocco 2-0 at Gillette Stadium to march into the World Cup semi-finals — the exact scoreline, and eerily the exact same story, as their famous 2022 Qatar meeting.

A perfect 63 of 63 pickers backed France — a unanimous verdict that mirrored the bookmakers, who had Les Bleus at roughly -175 on the 90-minute moneyline (per VegasInsider and SportsLine). The pool and the punters read from the same script, and both got to feel smug. The five of you who nailed the exact 2-0 scoreline can feel very smug indeed.

The Ghost of Qatar, Revisited

There was a moment in Foxborough, as France's second goal rippled the net and the New England night crackled with bleu-blanc-rouge euphoria, when you could almost feel the collective sigh drifting across the Atlantic from Casablanca. Not this scoreline again. Not this opponent. Not again. But here we are — France 2-0 Morocco, same score as the 2022 semi-final, same winner, and another knife through the heart of a Moroccan side that had played this whole tournament with so much verve and tactical nous. The Atlas Lions arrived at Gillette Stadium — a ground where they'd already beaten Scotland in the group stage — dreaming of becoming the first African nation to reach a second World Cup semi-final. They left empty-handed, and without a clean answer to the one question that keeps following them: what do you do when a team of France's calibre decides to turn it on?

Mbappé, Merciless — and Bounou, Magnificent in Defeat

For the bulk of the first half, Morocco made it genuinely uncomfortable. Their disciplined 5-4-1 block frustrated Deschamps' men into hopeful long-shots, and Yassine Bounou — in inspired form — produced at least four saves of real quality, his best a stunning one-handed stop to deny Mbappé bearing down in full flight (per the 365scores match data). The xG was remarkably level at the break; the Atlas Lions could also point to the absence of leading scorer Ismael Saibari, lost to injury in the round of 16, as a reason the cutting edge up front was blunted. But France waited, and when their moment came, they did not miss it. Kylian Mbappé — arriving at this quarterfinal with seven tournament goals already to his name, level with Messi for the Golden Boot per ESPN — was the relentless heartbeat of everything good about France. His movement into the right pocket of space at the right moment made finishing look like a minor administrative task. On another night, against a less merciless opponent, Bounou's display might have been the headline. Instead, it is the footnote. That is the cruel arithmetic of facing this France side.

Was It an Upset? Not Even Close

No. France entered at approximately -175 on the 90-minute moneyline — France -180, Morocco +590, draw +295 as of matchday per VegasInsider's SuperBook aggregation — and roughly -400 to advance overall. Morocco were priced at +310 to go through, and as large as +2800 to lift the whole trophy at BetMGM: a dangerous longshot's price, not a semi-finalist's. The result confirmed the market's wisdom. France had averaged 2.8 goals per game across this tournament, scoring at least twice in every previous match per SportsLine, and they looked like a team that knew exactly where this was going. Orderly, clinical, expected. The only mild upset would have been anything else.

What It Means — and What Morocco Built

France are in the last four for the fifth time in their history and, should they reach the final, would become the first nation since Brazil in 2002 to make three consecutive World Cup finals. Standing between them and that milestone is the winner of Friday's Spain–Belgium quarterfinal, with the semi to be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on July 14. For Morocco, the journey ends here for the second tournament running — same stage, same opponent, same scoreline. But Ouahbi's Atlas Lions can walk tall. They beat the Netherlands and co-hosts Canada to get here. They made Bounou matter. They made France work for it. One day — perhaps in 2030 on home soil — the scoreline will be different. The Atlas Mountains were not built in a day. As for the pool: 63 of 63 picked France, crowd accuracy hit a perfect 100%, and the five of you who punched in the exact 2-0 are tonight's quiet champions — no drama required, no overtime sweat, just the cleanest of evenings.

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