Kylian Mbappe scores his 8th goal of World Cup to help France beat Morocco 2-0

They’re the last African team to exit after nine of 10 qualifiers reached the knockout phase, but only two advanced past the round of 32.

Absence of Ismael Saibari

Playing without injured forward Ismael Saibari, the Atlas Lions were second- best for most of the afternoon, only finally forcing France goalkeeper Mike Maignan into a save from Azzedine Ounahi’s effort from distance in the 83rd minute.

Mbappe’s 60th-minute strike from the left side of the penalty arc tied him with Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the tournament Golden Boot lead, and he’s one behind the 39-year-old for the all-time World Cup record.

It came on what had been a frustrating encounter for the 27-year-old to that point, having seen his poorly struck first-half penalty saved by Yassine Bounou.

But after finding himself as the recipient of a deflected ball at the top of the 18, he curled a right-footed effort around defender Issa Diop and narrowly inside Bounou’s left post.

Dembele doubled the lead six minutes later on a counterattack as Morocco had no choice but to try and send numbers forward.

This time it was Mbappe making a run into the left side of the penalty area to clear space. Instead, Dembele unleashed his own right-footed shot from about 20 yards out, and while Bounou got a hand to it, he could not keep it from nestling in the bottom right corner.