Ousmane Dembele explains how ‘fearless’ Kylian Mbappe advice resulted in crucial goal as France beat Morocco to secure semi-final spot

France secured their place in the World Cup semi-finals with 2-0 victory over Morocco, and Dembele credited Mbappe’s quick thinking for helping create the decisive second goal. Dembele revealed that Mbappe told him to stay centrally and be ready to break on the counter just minutes before the move unfolded. The France captain then made an intelligent run to create space, allowing Dembele to find an opening and finish the move. The victory sent Didier Deschamps’ side into a third consecutive World Cup semi-final.

Speaking to M6 after the match, Dembele explained how Mbappe’s advice changed the course of the game. Dembele also highlighted the captain's mentality, despite Mbappe missing a penalty during the match.

"Kylian, two or three minutes before (the goal), he told me to stay in the centre, as soon as we have the possibility we are going to go on a counter-attack," Dembele explained.

"And that's what happened. Then he also made a great run to create space. I saw that I was a bit open, I mainly tried to get my shot on target and it worked."

Discussing Mbappe's leadership, quoted from Maxifoot Dembele added: "He's an incredible player, our captain. He's fearless, he has the mentality, we expect even more goals from Kylian."

Dembele welcomed France's latest achievement after reaching another World Cup semi-final, and stressed that their target is to reach the final and win the title.

"We're very happy," Dembele admitted. "To be in the semi-finals, our third consecutive World Cup semi-final with the French national team, is exceptional. We're going to maintain this focus so we can go all the way."

The PSG star also spoke about his increasing responsibility within the France squad after spending a decade with the national team. He said: "I've been with the French national team for ten years now, I'm one of the longest-serving players, so it's important to give all the players a voice. As I said, we need to stay focused on the match; we know Morocco is a tough team. We stayed focused and we were rewarded."

France will travel to Dallas for their semi-final, where they will face the winner of the quarter-final between Spain and Belgium. With Mbappe continuing to lead the attack and his understanding with Dembele proving decisive against Morocco, Les Bleus will look to carry that momentum into another huge test as they aim to reach the World Cup final.