World Cup 2026: France dominates but is held by a brilliant Bounou against Morocco

09.07.26 FT World Cup

France

2

:

Morocco

0

After a one-sided first half at Boston's Gillette Stadium, France failed to break the deadlock against Morocco, thwarted time and again by the outstanding Yassine Bounou.

From the opening whistle, Les Bleus set the tone with an aggressive high press, suffocating Morocco’s attempts to play out from the back. As early as the 5th minute, Kylian Mbappé fired a warning shot from the edge of the area, only to see Yassine Bounou make a strong save. Moments later, Dayot Upamecano found himself completely unmarked on a corner, powering a header goalwards, but again Bounou was equal to it, calmly collecting the effort. However, as the sweltering heat in Foxborough soared close to 30 degrees, the tempo dipped slightly, with Morocco content to sit deep and absorb the pressure.

Read also: World Cup 2026 / France - Morocco: the official line-ups are in!

The turning point: missed penalty

In the 27th minute, a high recovery by Michael Olise sent Mbappé racing in behind. Outpaced, Noussair Mazraoui conceded a penalty, whistled without hesitation by Argentine referee Facundo Tello and confirmed by VAR. But fate sided with Morocco: Mbappé’s attempt, lacking power to the right, was spectacularly palmed away by Bounou, igniting the Moroccan supporters in the stands.

Frustration for Les Bleus at the break

From that moment, France continued to pile on the pressure but couldn’t find the breakthrough. Désiré Doué was denied by Bounou after a surging run through the middle, while Ousmane Dembélé curled a shot narrowly wide. The halftime stats told the story of sterile domination: 13 shots to none in favor of Les Bleus, yet the scoreboard remained blank. Morocco, despite holding a slight edge in possession (52% to 48%), failed to register a single shot on target, relying totally on the resilience of their backline and four crucial saves by their keeper.

Mahdi Zakaria LAZRI |

Editor

Football web writer creating digital sports content with a focus on news, analysis and stories that reflect passion, accuracy and objectivity.

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