FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The 2026 World Cup has been too magnificent and too star-loaded to lose one of the supernovas that have turned this summer's event into arguably the best in its 96-year history.
And, thankfully, it seems we will not.
But we did get a brief flash of uncertainty about Kylian Mbappe on Thursday, an ankle issue that delivered the only drama surrounding France's 2-0 quarterfinal win over Morocco.
The end result was the expected outcome, and it came in a game that lacked the typical pizzazz that's adorned every other French victory in their previous five wins across the past month. The scare came in the 77th minute, after Les Bleus had gone up by two scores, when Mbappe went to the ground. The sight was strange: With 75:30 showing on the game clock, arguably the best soccer player in the world raised his right arm, tucked down, gently rolled his back onto the grass and then asked to be subbed out.
Moments later, cameras caught Mbappe sitting with his right foot/ankle wrapped with an ice pack.
Uh-oh?
Not exactly.
But in that moment, the game's score and France's impending win became a secondary plot point to the health of a global superstar. This is not a position we're accustomed to seeing Mbappe in. France has the deepest team in this World Cup, but still, its best player isn't prone to depart the pitch in a pivotal match against a top-10 opponent. Remember just a few days ago, when Argentina pulled off an all-time escape against Egypt? For as great as France is — and it sure seems like the greatest in maybe the most loaded World Cup field ever — nothing is guaranteed this deep into the tournament. Mbappe subbing out against a Moroccan team that hadn't lost in more than two years was head-turning, even if the injury didn't look bad.
He calmly walked off and 20 minutes later France had repeated the 2022 World Cup semifinal outcome against Morocco: 2-0. Mbappe milled about the field for a few minutes postgame, embracing his teammates and acknowledging some of the Moroccans.
There will probably be some speculation in the coming days as France prepares to play the winner of Spain-Belgium in Tuesday's semifinal in Dallas about whether he's going to be 100%, but Mbappe immediately shut down speculation when he was interviewed on the field postgame.
"I'm fine, I took a knock to the ankle but everything is OK," he said.
🚨🗣️ Kylian Mbappe: "I'm fine! I took a hit to the ankle, but everything's okay." "Mateta was more ready than me to play the last 15 minutes." pic.twitter.com/qCmLN4wj4f
— The Touchline | 𝐓 (@TouchlineX) July 9, 2026
In the mixed-zone availability after the match, Mbappe told more than 100 assembled media: FILL IN THE QUOTES HERE
His coach, Didier Deschamps, also said Mbappe "had a bit of pain in his ankle." But the expectation, less than five days out from the start of the semifinals, is he'll be good to go.
Until we see that, there is at least a little bit of suspense here … maybe? Are we looking for any reason to doubt what's clearly been the best team at this World Cup? If nothing else, Mbappe's injury question brings an added element of drama to the tournament that's been overloaded with stars and storylines and reliability all around.
We don't know yet for sure what caused it, but Noussair Mazraoui's yellow-card foul on Mbappe in the 25th minute had to have played a part. (Mbappe, shockingly, missed the ensuing PK.)
With this World Cup on American soil, I think we're all hoping to get the most out of this experience possible. That means the biggest stars continuing to do what they do. That means Mbappe on the pitch as much as possible, though I'd offer up another viewpoint on what happened here: Mbappe felt the game was in hand. He knows his teammates are more than good enough. Thursday's affair was blatantly one-sided: France had a 22-5 shot edge on Morocco, including 8-1 that were properly targeted. The expected goal totals were 3.05 to 0.14, a result so lopsided the fact that 0.79 came from a penalty hardly seems to matter. They didn't need their best to close this out. Morocco has still never beaten France.
So, he felt a little dinged up and wanted to allow for an additional sub. He could rest up and avoid any further potential to get hurt. Just get ready for Spain or Belgium. That seems like the smart play. By that point in the game Mbappe had reminded the world again, as he's done every game, that he's the most reliable goal-scorer the sport has.
After blowing two chances with misses and getting stoned on a penalty kick, Mbappe broke the 0-0 tie in the 60th minute with a flirtatious drive into the bottom right corner of the net. He had the ball on his foot, in some traffic, just inside the keeper's box, for all of a second. A little daylight was all he needed to bend the ball past Issa Diop and curl it beyond the outstretched arms of Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou.
Shy of flanking half the opposing team with bogeys on him all game long, there's no keeping Mbappe from getting one of his shots to tickle twine. Mbappé now sits one goal behind Lionel Messi for most World Cup goals ever (21 to 20). He's done this in 20 games. A one-goal-per-game average at the age of 27.
Six minutes later, Mbappe set up teammate Ousmane Dembele for the game's second goal, giving Mbappe 11 combined goals and assists, which leads all players in this World Cup.
And here is France in a third straight World Cup semifinal, joining Brazil and Germany as the only countries to do that. The team hasn't lost a competitive match in a year's time. It's been the best watch of this World Cup and at the center of it is Mbappe.
If anyone is beating France, they're going to have to do it while neutralizing No. 10. The damndest thing about this team, though, is that they may not even need him fully healthy to win two more games and pull off one of the most dominant World Cup struts ever.
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