Mbappé misses penalty against Morocco but saves France with curling strike

Kylian Mbappé had a mixed evening against Morocco on Thursday as France won 2-0. After missing a penalty in the first half, the France captain redeemed himself in the 60th minute with a curling strike from outside the box, once again scoring the crucial goal for France.

His attempt from the penalty spot, saved by Yacine Bounou who guessed the right way, interrupted an otherwise impressive record: nearly 85% success rate on penalties with France. “I didn’t shoot well,” he acknowledged frankly after the final whistle.

Mbappé nevertheless detailed the particular context that preceded his shot. The Real Madrid forward explained that he was unsettled by a lengthy sequence of refereeing confusion linked to VAR. “The referee tells me it’s a penalty. So I ask him if the check is complete, he tells me yes. From that moment we make the transition with Ousmane [Dembélé] who gives me the ball,” he recounted. The referee then reportedly came back to him while he was already concentrating, first to tell him there was no penalty, then that a previous action still needed to be checked.

“I let myself lose concentration”

Despite these circumstances, Mbappé refused to use them as an excuse. “After that’s how it is, I let myself lose concentration. It’s true that I’ve thought through many scenarios on how to concentrate on a penalty, this scenario I hadn’t experienced yet,” he admitted. He concluded by evoking the need to adapt to modern football: “The referee can tell you it’s a penalty but he can tell you two minutes later that it’s not a penalty. That’s part of the new football with VAR, you have to adapt.”

Despite the miss, France won 2-0 and Mbappé once again had an impact on the match, confirming his role as a key piece for France.