{"id":39299,"date":"2026-07-10T19:29:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=39299"},"modified":"2026-07-10T19:29:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:29:35","slug":"france-through-as-spain-belgium-prepare-for-quarter-final","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/france-through-as-spain-belgium-prepare-for-quarter-final\/","title":{"rendered":"France through as Spain, Belgium prepare for quarter-final"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">French captain, Kylian Mbappe, scored a superb goal as France struck twice in six minutes to brush aside Morocco 2-0 in Houston, and book their spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-finals.<\/div>\n<div id=\"x_ms-outlook-mobile-signature\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Mbappe is the tournament\u2019s joint top scorer with eight goals, level with Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>He trails the Argentine by just one goal in the World Cup all-time scoring list.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>The 27-year-old Mbappe became the youngest player to rack up 20 World Cup appearances.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>He scored his 20th World Cup goal in the second half to break Morocco\u2019s resistance.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Ousmane Dembele added another six minutes later with a low drive. In a repeat of the 2022 World Cup semi-final, France looked the hungrier.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>The Atlas Lions badly missed injured forward Ismael Saibari and failed to get a shot on target until the 84th minute.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>France fans celebrated as they left the Boston Stadium. Morocco fans were disappointed but felt France was the better team and deserved to win.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cYassine Bounou played very well, but actually we still have something missing in the puzzle to create a good team and to play better and to win to beat the French team. French team is actually is the best one in this World Cup and for sure is gonna win the World Cup. There\u2019s no question about that,\u201d says a fan.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cI\u2019m a bit disappointed, but they played a better game. They played a better game. Good for France, they deserve the win.\u00a0<span class=\"markaffhqjef0 uM2yb\" data-markjs=\"true\">Congratulations<\/span>, France,\u201d says another fan.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Les Bleus will next play on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas, against the winner of Friday\u2019s second quarterfinal between Spain and Belgium.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Meanwhile, Belgium held a training session in Carson, California, ahead of their World Cup quarter-final against Spain at the Los Angeles Stadium.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Their opponents, Spain, are unbeaten in 35 matches. It\u2019s a run that has turned Luis de la Fuente\u2019s team from promising European champions into a team that exerts confident control over its opponents.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Spain entered the tournament as one of the favourites, and after a slow start, they found their swagger with a 3-0 win over Austria in the round of 32. Veteran forward Romelu Lukaku said Belgium would have to be on top of its game to beat Spain.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cSpain is a very complete team because they are very strong in many phases of the game. They can play a fast-paced combination with two wingers, and they have many intelligent players within the lines,\u201d says Belgium Forward Romelo Lukaku.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>The match will kick off at 21h00, South African time.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\u2014Reuters\u2014<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":38985,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-39299","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"France fans celebrated as they left the Boston Stadium.","published_date":"","news_description":"France fans celebrated as they left the Boston Stadium.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39311,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39299\/revisions\/39311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=39299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}