Morocco's remarkable 39-game unbeaten streak came to an end at Gillette Stadium, as a clinical second-half display from France secured a 2-0 victory to eliminate the Atlas Lions from the World Cup quarter-finals.

The high-stakes fixture, a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semi-final, saw Morocco struggle to establish an attacking rhythm under intense afternoon heat.

France dictated much of the early possession, holding Morocco without a single shot on target until first-half stoppage time.

First-Half Resilience

Morocco found themselves under heavy pressure as early as the fourth minute when Kylian Mbappé narrowly missed the target.

The biggest test for the Moroccan defence came in the 25th minute when a tackle on Mbappé inside the penalty box resulted in a penalty kick for France following a lengthy three-minute VAR review.

Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou kept his side level, diving low to his right to comfortably save Mbappé's penalty attempt. Backed by solid defensive organization, Morocco successfully navigated the remainder of the half to enter the interval at 0-0.

Second-Half Breakdown

France broke the deadlock in the 60th minute when Mbappé found space to strike a powerful shot past the stretching Bounou, marking his eighth goal of the tournament.

The pressure on Morocco intensified six minutes later.

A quick attacking move saw Mbappé slide a pass to Ousmane Dembélé, who breached the Moroccan backline to double France's lead. Shortly after the opening goal, Morocco's Issa Diop received the game’s only yellow card for a cautionable tackle.

Despite falling two goals behind, Morocco continued to fight late into the match and created several scoring opportunities in the closing stages. However, they were unable to beat the French defence to find the net.

With this defeat, Morocco bows out of the tournament in the last eight, while France progresses to the semi-finals to face either Spain or Belgium.