France have reached the World Cup semi-final with a 2-0 win over Morocco but have suffered a huge injury scare as Kylian Mbappe was forced off in the second half. After missing a penalty in the first half, Mbappe made amends with a brilliant effort to open the scoring for France in the 60th minute. Ousmane Dembele then doubled France's lead six minutes later with an excellent finish from the edge of Morocco's penalty area. France will now play either Spain or Belgium in the World Cup semi-final on July 14.
Mbappe's ankle injury
However, Didier Deschamps will be concerned as Mbappe asked to be substituted in the 77th minute against Morocco. The Real Madrid forward, who has scored eight goals at the World Cup this summer, suffered a heavy knock to his right ankle from a challenge from Morocco centre-back Issa Diop. Mbappe was grimacing as he sat on the pitch before being substituted, while he was seen with a large ice pack on his ankle when sat on the bench.
After the full-time whistle, Mbappe was able to jog and jump on the pitch during his celebrations with his France teammates. When asked about his injury after France's win, Mbappe said: 'I'm okay, I took a knock to the ankle but I'm fine. At that moment, JP [Mateta] was fitter than me to play the last 15 minutes, I came off and he came on. It's good, he almost scored too.'
Deschamps' reaction
Deschamps said after France's win: 'Kylian had a bit of an ankle injury. He was feeling some pain, Manu [Kone] had a knock to the knee, it's normal, the matches come thick and fast. It's good for Warren [Zaire-Emery], I can't please everyone. I imagine there's a lot of excitement in France, here we're a bit in our own bubble. We're taking another step today, we're back in the final four… that means we're still here.'
