France, Morocco level at half-time after Bounou denies Mbappe from the spot

France and Morocco were locked at 0-0 at half-time in their FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final at Boston Stadium on Friday, 10 July (Bangladesh time) after Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou denied Kylian Mbappe from the penalty spot.

The defining moment came after a lengthy VAR review awarded France a penalty, but Bounou kept out Kylian Mbappe's spot-kick, denying the forward the chance to draw level with Argentina's Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.

Bounou also saved a powerful low effort from Mbappe and stopped goalbound attempts from Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Digne to keep Morocco level.

Morocco created a handful of promising attacking moments of their own but were unable to seriously test France goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

With the score still goalless at the interval, both sides remain firmly in contention. The winners will face either Spain or Belgium for a place in the semi-final.