Kylian Mbappe squandered a golden opportunity to fire France ahead in their FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final against Morocco after missing a first-half penalty in Boston on Thursday. France were awarded the spot-kick in the 27th minute after Noussair Mazraoui had fouled Mbappe himself inside the penalty area. However, the France captain failed to beat Yassine Bounou from 12 yards, leaving the score locked at 0-0 after 29 minutes.
It was Mbappe's second penalty of the 2026 World Cup and his first miss of the tournament. The 27-year-old had previously converted from the spot in the Round of 16 against Paraguay, scoring the only goal in France's 1-0 victory to send Les Bleus into the quarter-finals.
The miss comes despite Mbappe enjoying another prolific World Cup campaign. He entered the match with seven goals, one behind Argentina captain Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot. Across his World Cup career, Mbappe has now scored 18 goals in 20 appearances, leaving him two short of Messi's all-time tournament record of 20 goals.
Penalty drama has been a recurring theme at the expanded 2026 World Cup. Earlier in the knockout stage, Messi became the first player to miss two penalties in a single World Cup edition.
(This is a developing story.)
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