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Didier Deschamps praises Kylian Mbappe for eighth goal as France make World Cup semi-final

French coach Didier Deschamps
French coach Didier DeschampsODD ANDERSEN / AFP

France coach Didier Deschamps paid tribute to forward Kylian Mbappe after he scored his eighth goal of the World Cup to fire Les Bleus into the semi-finals on Thursday.

Mbappe scored on the hour mark against Morocco having earlier had a penalty saved and Ousmane Dembele completed the job as France reached the last four of a World Cup for the third tournament in a row.

"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."

France will face either Spain or Belgium for a place 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 added Mbappe had been substituted because he had taken a knock to the ankle - the forward was seen icing this area on the sidelines.

FIFA World Cup 2026

The 2026 World Cup took place from June 11th to July 19th in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The tournament featured 48 national teams and was won by Spain, who beat Argentina in the final.

Full schedule and results | Group standings and bracketPast winners of the tournamentOur team of the tournament | About the 2030 World Cup