France vs. Morocco player ratings: Match grades as Kylian Mbappe, Desire Doue shine in World Cup quarterfinal originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
France strangled the life out of their opponents as Les Bleus eased into the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory over Morocco in Boston on Thursday.
It was a comprehensive performance against a quality opponent, as Morocco had maybe a better squad than even four years ago when they made the semifinals in Qatar .
Yet the African side was quietened throughout the match, as they had the wind slowly squeezed out of them by higher and higher pressure. In the end, the individual quality of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele shone through with great goals from each of them. Desire Doue was the creative star in the match, as he took advantage of space on the left.
The Sporting News brings you a full list of player ratings for the match, analyzing both team's individual performances from the opening kickoff to the final whistle.
MORE: France vs. Morocco highlights from 2026 World Cup quarterfinal
Location:Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, MA)
Referee: Facundo Tello (ARG)
France starting lineup:
4-2-3-1, right to left: 16. Maignan (GK) — 5. Kounde (Gusto, 87'), 4. Upamecano , 17. Saliba , 3. Digne — 6. Kone (Zaire-Emery, 71'), 14. Rabiot — 7. Dembele, 11. Olise , 20. Doue ( Barcola , 78') — 10. Mbappe ( Mateta , 78').
Morocco starting lineup:
4-2-3-1: Bounou (GK) — 2. Hakimi , 14. Diop, 3. Mazraoui , 26. Salah-Eddine (El Ouahdi, 74') — 24. El Aynaoui , 6. Bouaddi ( Amrabat , 62') — 10. B. Diaz (Yassine, 74'), 8. Ounahi , 7. Talbi (Sbai, 85') — 23. El Khannouss ( Rahimi , 62').
All ratings are on a 10-point scale.
Goalkeeper: Mike Maignan — 7
Had nothing to do in the first half, as Morocco's first shot didn't come until the final kick of the period. Didn't face a single shot on target until the 83rd minute, but it was an important one as he got down to his right to punch the ball away on a free-kick effort.
Right-back: Jules Kounde — 7
Was a perfect 21-of-21 passing in the first half but didn't get forward a ton, as France concentrated most of their attacks on the other flank. That continued through the entire match, as Kounde wasn't terribly involved, but remained perfect as he would finish 31-of-31 passing.
Right Center-back: Dayot Upamecano — 8
Had a great early header on frame but put it too central and made it easy for Yassine Bounou to get in front of.
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Upamecano's presence high up the field made it tough for Morocco to get out of jail, as France strangled the life out of their opponents throughout the entire first half.
It continued after the break, as Upamecano was incredibly active on both ends of the pitch. Had one nervy moment where he mis-kicked a clearance and sent it nervously over his own crossbar, but otherwise he was a strong performer.
Left center-back: William Saliba — 7
Served as a strong possession-oriented defender, a perfect foil to the defensive monster of Upamecano next to him.
Made a few awkward passes, including one where he nearly gifted Morocco a goal early in the match, but composed himself to help his center-back partner in squeezing their opponents high up the pitch.
Left-back: Lucas Digne — 7
Combined very well through the first half with Doue on the left wing, where most of the France attacking moves came from. Smashed a howitzer of a shot off the crossbar in first-half stoppage time.
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Wasn't exactly a defensive monster but was asked to get high up the field, which he did with aggression. Helped Doue provide the danger he did.
Central midfielder: Manu Kone — 7
Filled in for the injured Aurelien Tchouameni. Very active early on, winning 50/50 balls and coaxing fouls in the middle of the pitch. Made an excellent tackle on Brahim Diaz to stop a Morocco counter on 12 minutes after a bad giveaway by Saliba.
Finished the first half a stellar 22-of-23 passing, and got involved in the attack somewhat as well.
In the second half, his influence dropped some, but he remained sharp on the ball. Withdrawn in the 71st minute for Warren Zaire-Emery.
Central midfielder: Adrien Rabiot — 8
Had a hideous giveaway on 11 minutes that very nearly let Morocco in on goal but thankfully for him they botched the chance.
However, provided some contribution in possession as France strangled their opponents. Finished the first half a calm 27-of-29 passing, and had five defensive contributions while winning many of his duels.
His strong performance continued in the second half as he cropped up all over the field and contributed defensively as well. He's not a flashy player by any means, but he had a great match on the day, helping France cut the field in half.
Right wing: Ousmane Dembele — 7
Was largely invisible in the first half as the attack ran either up the gut straight to Mbappe, or down the left through Doue.
That continued through the hour mark, until Dembele cropped up out of nowhere, charging forward on the ball and taking aim as the Moroccan defenders continued to back-pedal, depositing a shot in the back of the net.
Attacking midfielder: Michael Olise — 7
Opened things up for teammates in the first half by drawing two, three, sometimes even four defenders whenever he got the ball. Wasn't massively involved on the ball, but managed to provide a dangerous presence for Moroccan defenders to think about.
A sensational move by Olise to carve through three defenders on the turn in the 56th minute nearly opened up a shot for Mbappe, but the striker was offside. Flubbed a really great opportunity to close the door in the 87th minute, putting his shot in space way high and wide as he opened his body too far.
Left wing: Desire Doue — 8
Had an exceptional first half, causing numerous turnovers high up the field and starting counter-attacks. He picked the pocket of Ayyoub Bouaddi in the 36th minute and forced a huge save out of Bounou.
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In the second half, Doue remained active with a 55th-minute shot that was too close to the goalkeeper. His gorgeous little flick to Mbappe resulted in the opening goal. Was excellent on the day, probably France's best player on the whole.
Striker: Kylian Mbappe — 7
Was extremely active early on, troubling Moroccan defenders from the opening whistle. He won the penalty that should have opened the scoring but flubbed it with the stutter-step penalty technique that was horrendous.
To make matters worse, he went immediately to the referee to complain about the long VAR stoppage as if it were the reason he decided to take such a tragically bad penalty. A huge miss in the 56th minute after receiving a great ball from Olise, but he was offside anyways.
His opening goal was stunning, as he received the ball in very little space and buried it in the top corner.
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There was a real worry late as Mbappe was forced off with what looked like a foot injury late , replaced by Jean-Philippe Mateta. It didn't look too serious as he waved to the crowd while walking off before jumping around during post-game celebrations, but fans will be concerned until they hear for sure that he is okay.
71st min: Warren Zaire-Emery — 5
Came on into midfield for Kone with 20 minutes to go. Largely safe in possession but was not disciplined enough in his positioning, with his 17 touches scattered all over the pitch.
77th min: Jean-Philippe Mateta — 6
Came in as a precaution for Mbappe. Was dangerous up front but ultimately couldn't test Bounou by putting anything on frame, until he was denied expertly late on by the keeper.
77th min: Bradley Barcola — 7
Continued his platoon with Doue, starting the Round of 16 match but coming off the bench today. Despite seeing just 13 minutes, he was a menace on the left.
86th min: Malo Gusto — N/A
Came on for Jules Kounde but had no time to make an impact.
Didier Deschamps: 9
In his final tournament with France, Deschamps picked a squad that makes perfect sense to cover for every situation. With Tchouameni out injured, he selected Kone in midfield to great effect, and switching back to Doue on the left was a stroke of genius, too. It helps to have a world-class squad, of course, but it seems everything Deschamps does works to perfection.
His instruction of a high line squeezed the game tight, as France took advantage of the lack of a Moroccan outlet to cut the pitch in half. Deschamps has this team playing like a World Cup champion.
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Goalkeeper: Yassine Bounou — 9
Was exceptional all game for Morocco, who were forced to hold on for dear life all through the first half. Made a big save just four minutes into the match as he parried a header by Upamecano at the back post.
Made a beautiful stop on Mbappe's horrific penalty, holding his ground on the stutter-step and reading the body correctly.
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Made a third massive stop to deny Doue shortly after the penalty. Probably could have done better on the Dembele goal, as he got a fingertip to it, but hard to criticize the goalkeeper on that one. Made another huge stop in added time to prevent Mateta from scoring a dagger.
Right-back: Achraf Hakimi — 7
Got forward regularly, as he is known to do. Absolutely launched a 16th-minute free-kick into outer space, a complete waste. Made a great tackle on Mbappe in the 23rd minute in midfield that started a big move for Morocco, and then raced forward to win a corner on his natural right side. Lost the ball that started the France counter-attack and saw Mbappe win the opening penalty.
Hakimi continued to remain Morocco's greatest attacking threat, with 78 touches across the 90 minutes, but he struggled to get into the attacking third with little help from the striker to combine with.
Right center-back: Issa Diop — 5
Surprisingly cool under pressure with Noussair Mazraoui next to him. His five defensive contributions in the first half were a game high.
The second half took a turn for the worse for Diop. He was frozen by Mbappe's finish on the opening goal, proving little more than a traffic cone for the forward to curl the ball around. Then picked up a yellow card shortly after as he tackled Mbappe hard.
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Overall, Diop was not able to cover the space vacated by Hakimi's runs forward and thus was targeted repeatedly.
Left center-back: Noussair Mazraoui — 4
Started in the middle of defense with the shuffling along the back for this game. Made a truly terrible challenge that resulted in the penalty, fouling Mbappe from behind that saw the referee point to the spot.
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Never stepped to Dembele and gave him acres of space to shoot on France's second goal. Just a miserable performance from Mazraoui overall, in his non-natural position.
Left-back: Anass Salah-Eddine — 7
A surprise starter at left-back, moving Mazraoui into the middle. Won a great tackle on Dembele in the 23rd minute to stop a very promising move forward. Won all three of his ground duels, forcing France to concentrate their attacks on the other flank where they got in behind Hakimi.
Central midfielder: Neil El Aynaoui — 5
Struggled mightily throughout the first half with France's high press, consistently losing possession and giving away four fouls in the first 35 minutes.
In the second half, he composed himself some and was excellent on the ball, but defensively remained a sieve and missed a big chance in the 85th minute to pull Morocco a goal back.
Central midfielder: Ayyoub Bouaddi — 5
Was largely a passenger as Morocco struggled to get out of their own half, with France winning the midfield and strangling the life out of the game. After having very little influence on the match, he was hauled off on the hour mark.
Right wing: Brahim Diaz — 5
Got good volume down the right side that didn't result in much. Had a gorgeous scoop for Bouaddi in the 24th minute that nearly resulted in a good shot.
Struggled to usher Morocco forward as they got strangled and tried to play on the counter. The majority of his touches were in his own half. Hauled off with 20 minutes to go and Morocco needing two goals, a harsh but fair judgement of his performance.
Attacking midfielder: Azzedine Ounahi — 8
Did his best to will Morocco forward when they had the ball, but had very little help in that regard. Was seen very demonstrative in the tunnel speaking to his teammates, trying to help them turn things around.
Finished the match with 89 touches, the most of any Moroccan player, and completed five of his seven dribbles as well. It was a heroic performance from Ounahi, but one in vain as there was a black hole at striker above him, cutting the head off the Moroccan attack.
Left wing: Chemsdine Talbi — 5
Did a lot of good defensive work, stepping in on 12 minutes to prevent a diagonal cutback that would have resulted in a good shot at the top of the penalty area. Hardly had a touch on the ball, however, as he racked up just 17 touches in the first half, with less than half of those in the attacking side of the pitch.
Striker: Bilal El Khannouss — 3
Filled in for the injured starter Ismael Saibari by moving from his natural spot on the left wing, and had big shoes to fill given Saibari's form this tournament. Unfortunately, he was a complete black hole, unable to get on the ball in the attacking third or influence the game from the top. Absent from the head of the Morocco attack, it neutered the effect of other creative players like Ounahi and Hakimi.
El Khannouss touched the ball all over the field except in the middle of the attack. His 16 first-half touches were scattered all over the pitch except where they needed him the most. Didn't improve in the second half, and he was yanked for Soufiane Rahimi who probably should have started.
62nd min — Sofyan Amrabat: 7
Came on for teenage sensation Bouaddi with a half-hour to go. Had a much better influence on the game than Bouaddi, although probably boosted a little by game state with Morocco chasing the match. Still couldn't lift Morocco back in the game, but was able to get them out of jail a bit more.
62nd min — Soufiane Rahimi: 5
Was expected to start, but came in off the bench for El Khannouss at striker with a half-hour to go instead. Just eight touches in 28 minutes is exceedingly poor, and may hint as to why Rahimi did not start in the end. It was a mistake to start El Khannouss as a false nine, but it's not like Mohamed Ouhabi had many options after the injury to Saibari.
74th min — Gessime Yassine: N/A
Came on for Diaz with 15 minutes to go.
74th min — Zakaria El Ouahdi : N/A
Came on for spot-starter Anass Salah-Eddine with 15 minutes remaining.
84th min — Amine Sbai: N/A
Got a few minutes late on in place of Talbi.
Mohamed Ouahbi: 5
Ouahbi had a good approach to this game, but unfortunately, it was undone by his choice to select El Khannouss as a false nine. It was completely ineffective and neutered the Moroccan attack even as others were positive going forward.
What happened as a result was France were able to cut the pitch in half, and it eliminated the outlet option for Morocco who had no ability to get out of their own defensive third. This was the difference in the game, and you wonder what could have been if he had started a true striker in Rahimi, who could have maybe provided a better outlet.
