Are France too good for the World Cup? Have goalkeepers cracked stutter penalties? Day 29 recap
Who on earth can stop France?
That’s the question the rest of the world is asking after Didier Deschamps’ side brushed aside strong opposition in Morocco to become the first semi-finalists of this World Cup.
They could even afford for star man Kylian Mbappe to miss a penalty. Following in Lionel Messi’s footsteps from earlier in the week, Mbappe merely scored a beautiful goal later in the match to move back level with the Argentina star in the remarkable race to win the Golden Boot. Both players are now on eight goals and it feels impossible to predict who will win that trophy.
It’s far easier to forecast that France will win the World Cup. Their attacking riches are almost unlike anything we have seen at this level.
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Elsewhere in the tournament, the other six quarter-finalists prepared for their date with destiny. Next up later today? Spain versus Belgium.
Thursday’s result:
France 2-0 Morocco
Are France just too good for everyone else?
France are a level above any other team we have seen at this World Cup.
It’s quite rare for a side to go into a World Cup as favourites, then immediately justify that tag (France won their group-stage opener against a good Senegal side 3-1), and tick off every game thereafter looking, playing and feeling like champions-elect.
The last nation to begin a World Cup as favourites — at least with bookmakers — and then lift the trophy were Spain in 2010, but while they were Euro 2008 winners and clearly had the tournament’s most talented team, Spain’s dreadful World Cup record (they had never reached a semi-final in a World Cup before — and haven’t done so since) left big question marks over whether they would go all the way.
France don’t have that issue. The 2018 winners and 2022 finalists, who have the same manager now as eight years ago in Didier Deschamps, look unstoppable, with a comfortable 2-0 win over Africa’s best team, Morocco, in Thursday’s quarter-final just another pointer for them emerging victorious in the July 19 final.
On paper, certainly, they are far ahead of their potential opponents in that game. Spain have not conceded a goal yet in their five matches but with Lamine Yamal struggling for his best form, they look pretty uninspiring in attack. We all thought Argentina had a good defence, too, but conceding four goals to Cape Verde and Egypt in successive knockout-phase fixtures blew apart that theory.
Messi has got them out of trouble on multiple occasions and, while he is absolutely good enough to carry a team deep into a tournament, surely even he, at age 39, can’t win Argentina this World Cup on his own, especially if they come up against the French in that final.
France’s variety in attack is what sets them apart.
If you somehow manage to stop Mbappe — and only Norway have prevented him scoring at this World Cup (although he did get two assists against them) — then there’s the most recent Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, who has now scored five goals (France are the first team since Brazil in 2002 to have two players reach five in a World Cup).
If not them, how about one of the best young attackers in European football in Desire Doue? Or Bradley Barcola can come off the bench and do something special, or Rayan Cherki, one of the most entertaining and creative players in the Premier League last season, who can barely get a kick for this team.
And then there’s Michael Olise, top of the tournament’s assists chart with five. His fluidity, movement and remarkable passing range make him the real difference-maker.
It’s easy to forget France only scored four goals in their six games at Euro 2024. Deschamps letting the handbrake off and adding Olise into the mix has changed everything. It’s so difficult to open up against this side when Olise has the passing range to cut open your defence.
Physical, uncompromising, rule-bending Paraguay are the only team to literally lay a glove on France. Is that the only way to try and stop them? Spain, if they beat Belgium today, might have joy in Tuesday’s semi-final by denying France possession, but otherwise it looks like slim pickings.
Should players shelve stutter penalties?
There was one negative for France on Thursday: Mbappe becoming the latest player at this World Cup to mess up a penalty after a ‘stutter’ run-up.
The theory behind a stuttered penalty — i.e. pausing and then restarting your approach to the ball — is to take the goalkeeper out of his rhythm, leaving them guessing as to when you’re going to place the shot. It means you can, hopefully, wait for the ’keeper to give away which direction they are going to dive before you strike the ball.
What Mbappe perhaps failed to reckon with was how good Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou is at saving penalties. Bounou has now kept out four in his World Cup career, maintaining a remarkable career record.
Even the best spot-kick takers struggle against Bounou. Mexico’s Raul Jimenez has only missed one of the 29 penalties he’s taken in club football, when Bounou outfoxed him during his stutter run-up by feigning to dive one way and then going another when Sevilla played Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 2019-20 Europa League.
Yassine Bounou outfoxes Kylian Mbappe (Lars Baron/Getty Images)
He outwitted Mbappe, too, in that he was the last to blink, waiting until the last second for the Frenchman to telegraph his penalty to Bounou’s left and then making a comfortable save. Just call him the stutter-penalty whisperer.
Fluffing your lines with a stutter penalty is a trend at this World Cup. Messi blew one for Argentina against Austria, as did Harry Kane against Croatia. The England striker was given a reprieve when he was allowed a retake, which he dispatched after scrapping the stutter.
Hammering the ball at full power doesn’t necessarily work either — particularly if you’re a centre-back — but a player of Mbappe’s quality, power and placement should be able to find the top corner or side netting with his eyes closed.
What is the impact of Pulisic’s injury comments?
The Christian Pulisic saga is a pretty peculiar note for the United States’ 2026 World Cup campaign to end on.
What with the Folarin Balogun affair dominating the build-up to the Belgium game and now the fallout over Pulisic in the aftermath, the bigger issues — such as why the team couldn’t get past their usual round-of-16 stage at the World Cup, despite having home advantage, a top-level manager and unprecedented help from the American president and FIFA — are not receiving much publicity.
In case you missed it, Pulisic gave a post-Belgium interview to U.S. broadcaster Fox in which he said of the injury that led him to go off midway through the second half: “It’s just frustrating to end like that, of course, but now I have time to rest, so hopefully it’ll be OK.”
His gratitude for being able to have a rest seemed pretty reasonable, given it’s the end of a long season with his club side Milan and the national team, plus the enormous pressure he has had on his shoulders during a home World Cup.
Did his words mean he wanted a rest rather than continuing into the last eight of the tournament with his country? Of course not.
The Athletic subsequently revealed Pulisic suffered a bone bruise and microfracture in his right leg against Belgium, sidelining him for several weeks, so it’s not as if his injury was trivial.
Christian Pulisic lies stricken after injuring his leg against Belgium (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Not that it was enough for Carli Lloyd.
In response to Pulisic’s original interview, the former USWNT international and now Fox pundit posted on X that, “You rest when your playing career is over, period.” Then, after the nature of Pulisic’s injury was confirmed on Thursday, Lloyd doubled down, refusing to apologise and claiming he rested “all year” in preparation for this tournament (Pulisic has played 46 times for club and country since last August).
It felt sensationalist, although she was not alone, with her fellow USMNT international turned Fox pundit Landon Donovan offering some trenchant criticisms.
Anyway, it feels that if Pulisic had enjoyed a productive tournament with goals, assists and player of the match performances, none of this would be an issue, whether the USMNT had reached the quarter-finals or not. The fact is he didn’t, and that is at the heart of the problem.
Billboards still dotted around the United States, from Los Angeles to New York, have him placed alongside Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the star turns of this tournament. It didn’t end up that way, rest or no rest.
What comes next should be fascinating.
What to watch on Friday
Today’s only match represents the ‘Here’s what you could have won’ stage for the Americans, as their conquerors Belgium take on Spain for a place in the World Cup semi-finals.
On paper, this looks like a comfortable Spanish victory, but those assumptions might be wrong for a couple of reasons.
Luis de la Fuente’s side are into the last eight but are yet to show their best form, albeit they haven’t really had to in the knockout stage against a submissive Austria and an unambitious Portugal. Yamal has only scored one goal (and delivered no assists) in 315 minutes of game time at this tournament, leaving the goalscoring to Mikel Oyarzabal instead. Spain’s progress has been built on a rock-solid defence that has yet to concede in these finals.
If they face the version of Belgium who drew their first two group matches and were 2-0 down to Senegal in the 86th minute in the round of 32, then Spain might indeed win comfortably.
If, however, they get the revitalised Belgian who have since scored seven goals in 124 minutes of football and look like a unified, coherent side in attack and defence without dropped stars Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku, we could have a game on our hands.
Today’s fixture
Spain vs Belgium (3pm ET, 12pm PT, 8pm BST)
Crédito: Link de origem