France reach third straight World Cup semi as Mbappé closes in on Messi's all-time record

France advanced to the 2026 World Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 victory over Morocco on Thursday, becoming only the third nation in history to reach three consecutive semi-finals — joining Germany and Brazil. Didier Deschamps’ side have now won all six of their matches in regulation, outscoring opponents 16-2 across the tournament.

The numbers behind France’s run are staggering. Les Bleus have not trailed once in the competition and lead the field in goals (16), assists (14), and attempts on target (47) — a margin of 13 clear of any other nation. In the knockout stage alone, France have kept three consecutive clean sheets, outscoring Sweden, Paraguay, and Morocco by a combined 6-0 while outshooting them 62-18.

France opened their campaign with a 3-1 win over Senegal, with Kylian Mbappé scoring a second-half brace. They then dismantled Iraq 3-0 — recording 41 touches in the opposition box to Iraq’s seven — before closing out the group stage with a 4-1 defeat of Norway. The consistency of performance has been the defining feature of their tournament.

Mbappé himself is on the verge of rewriting World Cup history. The Real Madrid forward has scored eight goals in six games, making him the first player ever to score eight goals in two separate World Cups. His tally of 20 career World Cup goals moves him to second on the all-time list, just one behind Lionel Messi.

The record run has been reflected in the betting markets. France were priced at +600 to win the tournament when odds were first released in December 2022, and opened the competition at +450. After their quarter-final win, they have shortened to +130 — the tightest odds of any remaining nation. Mbappé, meanwhile, has moved from +600 to +105 to win the Golden Boot, overtaking Messi (+150) as the outright favourite.

France’s 45th World Cup win draws them level with Italy for fourth on the all-time list, behind Brazil (79), Germany (70), and Argentina (52). They have now advanced from seven of their last nine quarter-finals, winning five outright and progressing via penalty shootout on two further occasions.