2026 World Cup: France and Morocco level at half-time (0-0)

The statistics nevertheless paint a more nuanced picture of the first half. France had 49% possession and created more chances, with 10 shots to Morocco’s 0. In terms of shots on target, the ratio is 3 for France and 0 for Morocco. The xG figures remain close, with 1.79 for France and 0.00 for Morocco.

First-half highlights

38' The penalty aside, this game has kind of drifted by
36' Doue strips the snoozing Bouaddi of the ball, and races towards the Morocco box. He aims for the bottom left, and Bounou is forced to tip the forensic shot around the post. Olise sends the corner in, but Kounde’s header has no power. Bounou gathers
34' “The Spanish commentary team was suggesting that Mbappe was already falling over before the contact was made, hence the VAR check,” reports Casiano Martinez
32' The game restarts and Dembele tries a curler from the right. It’s wide, but not by a great distance. Had that been on target, Bounou wasn’t getting to it
31' That was an abysmal penalty by Mbappe. He gets sympathy for being kept waiting for a ludicrous amount of time … but none for the tippy-toes run-up. He looked unsure of himself, so why get clever? Ray Stewart has notes
28' Mbappe is kept waiting as the referee faffs over minutiae … then he’s told to re-spot the ball. Finally, three minutes and ten seconds after the penalty was awarded, Mbappe stutters his run and duffs a dismal effort towards the bottom right. Nowhere near th…
25' Doue snaffles possession, a heavy touch by Hakimi as Morocco probe the France box. Suddenly France are tearing away on the counter, Morocco having committed too many men forward. Mbappe is sent slaloming down the left. He enters the box and drops a shoulder…
23' Mbappe sprays a ball wide right for Dembele. Salah-Eddine should cut it out, but lets it roll under his foot. Dembele makes off down the flank, but Salah-Eddine does extremely well to recover his poise and steal the ball back. That was a necessary challenge…
21' … Rabiot heads lamely over the bar from eight yards. He should have done better
20' Olise slips Kounde into space down the right, and a corner is won. From which …

Balance still fragile

France and Morocco head into the break level, but the second half remains wide open. A change of pace, a defensive error or a set piece could quickly alter the course of the match.