Kylian Mbappe made amends for his first-half penalty miss with a stunning goal to put France ahead against Morocco in their FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final in Boston on Thursday. The France captain found the net in the 60th minute with a thunderous strike from the edge of the penalty area to open the scoring and move to the top of the Golden Boot standings with his eighth goal of the tournament.
The goal came after Mbappe had endured a frustrating first half, with Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saving his penalty in the 27th minute. However, the 27-year-old responded in style, beating Bounou with a clinical finish to hand Les Bleus the breakthrough before Ousmane Dembele doubled France's advantage six minutes later.
Mbappe's eighth goal of the tournament took him level with Argentina captain Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot standings. However, the France captain moved ahead on the tiebreaker thanks to his two assists, one more than Messi's solitary assist at the 2026 World Cup.
The strike also saw Mbappe reach another remarkable milestone. It was his 20th career FIFA World Cup goal across the 2018, 2022 and 2026 editions, leaving him just one behind Messi's all-time tournament record of 21 goals.
(This is a developing story.)
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