World Cup round-up: A France-Morocco match full of records and no Arab or African teams remain episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 10, 2026 · 5 MIN

World Cup round-up: A France-Morocco match full of records and no Arab or African teams remain

from Trending Middle East · host The National News

France are in the World Cup semi-finals after beating Morocco 2-0 at Gillette Stadium, ending another historic Arab and African campaign. It is France's third consecutive World Cup semi-final and they have still not conceded a goal at this tournament. Mbappe was the central figure despite missing a first-half penalty, saved by Bounou in what was a record-equalling moment. The Moroccan goalkeeper has now saved four penalties at World Cups, drawing level with the most by any goalkeeper in tournament history. After the break, Mbappe curled a superb finish to make it 1-0, levelling with Messi on eight goals in the Golden Boot race, before Dembele added a second to put the match beyond Morocco. Dembele's goal means France are only the second team in 50 years to have two players score five or more at the same World Cup, after Brazil in 2002. Morocco's performance without Ismael Saibari reflected his absence. They sat deep, limited France's opportunities for long spells but struggled to break forward when they won the ball. There are no Arab or African teams left in the tournament. Fifa's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina defended World Cup officials in the wake of Egypt's complaint and the Balogun controversy, saying nobody can question the integrity of match officials and that Fifa refereeing cannot be influenced by anyone, including the Fifa president. Jarell Quansah has received a two-match ban for his red card against Mexico, meaning he misses the quarter-final against Norway and the semi-final if England progress, adding to the debate around consistency given Balogun's suspended ban. Tonight, Spain face Belgium at 11pm UAE time in Los Angeles. Spain have kept six consecutive clean sheets and gone more than 10 hours without conceding. The winner faces France in the semi-finals on July 14. Mina Rzouki presents Trending Middle East's World Cup round-up, a daily bonus series from The National for the duration of the tournament.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 10, 2026

Embed this episode

Ready to play

World Cup round-up: A France-Morocco match full of records and no Arab or African teams remain

0:00 5:03

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Trending Middle East?

This episode is 5 minutes long.

When was this Trending Middle East episode published?

This episode was published on July 10, 2026.

Can I download this Trending Middle East episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!