World Cup AS IT HAPPENED: ‘Irrepressible’ Mbappé puts France through after penalty howler

That wraps up Nine.com.au’s LIVE coverage of the first FIFA World Cup quarter-final between Morocco and France.

It was a pretty one-sided affair – hopefully it’s not a sign of things to come for the other three matches, but you would think not.

Join us again tomorrow morning when Spain take on Belgium.

TODAY: France 2-0 Morocco

Saturday

5am AEST | Spain v Belgium (winner to play France in semis)

Sunday

7am | Norway v England

11am | Argentina v Switzerland

France barely looked as if they were celebrating after that match, and former Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng reckons that’s an ominous sign for the remaining teams in this tournament.

They walked over to the end of the field where all the French fans were seated, but there was no whooping, no cheering.

He said the lack of celebration demonstrates a level of determination and calmness where they basically know what they’re doing, what they need to do, and exactly how they’re going to do it.

“They were flawless,” he said on SBS’ post-match coverage.

“Even in situations where maybe nothing happens, they are always in control, and they know what is going to happen – they are a step ahead.

“The substitutions that (France manager Didier Deschamps) was making, they are perfect timing. The way they’re going through the tournament is incredible. They haven’t struggled, and they aren’t phased about any situation.

“They always deliver – there is not one game where we would say they didn’t deliver. Paraguay was a difficult game, and they delivered exactly what needed to be delivered.

“They are a dangerous and threatening team for everybody who is watching.”

France have stamped their authority as favourites for this World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Morocco in Boston.

Only Germany and Brazil have ever achieved it before.

They were perpetually threatening in attack, and brilliantly solid in defence.

“We talk about golden generations, this is one hell of a French team,” SBS presenter Niav Owens said.

How often do you see it? One breeds two.

The deadlock lasted an hour and then France go bang-bang to almost certainly put themselves into the semi-finals.

Ousmane Dembélé was the scorer, putting the ball into the bottom corner.

“A goal of precision and certainty. A team of togetherness, a nation of the highest expectation. France heading for the stars again,” Peter Drury said on SBS.

That’s Dembélé’s fifth goal of this World Cup, four of which have been scored in this stadium – three against Norway and now this one.

As the clock tick towards added time, France are on track for a bit of their own World Cup history here.

Assuming Morocco don’t score, it will be the first time they’ve ever kept three successive clean sheets.

It will also be their third straight semi-finals appearance, and fifth from the last eight tournaments.

There is six minutes of added time.

France and Mbappé have finally broken the deadlock and taken a 1-0 lead.

Mbappé has been far from his best in this match and only minutes earlier blasted a much easier chance over the crossbar and into the stands.

But this time, from a standing start just inside the box, he somehow curls one into the top corner.

“Simply irrepressible. He insists on his moments, 20 World Cup goals for Kylian Mbappé,” Peter Drury said in commentary on SBS.

Replays from ground-level showed the ball started its journey outside the far post and curled to just sneak inside the upright. It’s a beautiful kick.

“You just can’t keep him down, can you? Dreadful penalty, hasn’t had much to do, this is only really half a chance,” Alan Smith added.

And with that, he does now draw level with Lionel Messi in the race for the golden boot.

And now the Moroccan’s will start to fight even harder. Moments after the restart, Mbappé is heavily fouled, and the Moroccan defender earns a yellow card.

Have the mind games begun? The start of the second half was late because Morocco were slow to come out of the sheds.

The North Africans are certainly the underdogs in this clash, and will no doubt be happy to try anything to try and give themselves any kind of advantage.

Well that’s half-time in Boston where the score remains nil-all after that shocking penalty.

I still can’t wrap my head around quite how bad it was, although at least the keeper had to make the save.

France has dominated possession, and Morocco have had flashes. They will be more than happy to go into the break without having conceded.

All it takes is one successful counter-attack and all of a sudden, they could find themselves through.

What on earth was that?! Kylian Mbappé just blew a golden chance to put France 1-0 up and draw level with Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.

Mbappé was brought down inside the box, and the referee had no hesitation blowing a penalty. There was a delay while VAR double-checked the call, before the penalty was confirmed.

But the penalty itself was a shocker, and I genuinely reckon I could have done a better job. The French superstar did that little stutter on his run-up and basically just rolled it along the ground for an easy save.

“It was limp,” commentator Peter Drury quipped on SBS.

“That was probably one of the poorest penalties he’s ever taken,” Alan Smith added.

“The little stutter hasn’t served a lot of people all that well – it didn’t serve France’s finest particularly well here.

“Not in the corner, no power, it’s weak … certainly a let-off for Morocco.”