France’s attacking evolution under Didier Deschamps passes latest Morocco test

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Two years and eight months separate France’s two World Cup knockout wins over Morocco, and in both the scoreboard settled on the same figures. Yet the 2-0 semi-final victory in Doha in December 2022 and Thursday’s 2-0 quarter-final triumph belonged to different footballing worlds. Where Deschamps once won by suffocating the game, France now won by cutting Morocco open — Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé combining for both goals inside 63 minutes to book a place in the last four.

The same result, a different France

In 2022, France’s win over Morocco was a masterclass in reactive control. Deschamps set his team up to absorb pressure, concede possession — Morocco had more of the ball for long stretches — and strike on the counter through Theo Hernández’s early goal and Randal Kolo Muani’s late finish. It was pragmatic, effective and unmistakably conservative.

Thursday could not have looked more different. France dominated the ball, pinned Morocco into their own half and generated wave after wave of attacking overloads. Mbappé opened the scoring after 28 minutes, gliding infield from the left before curling past Yassine Bounou, then turned provider for Dembélé’s second just after the hour. The two conceded goals in that Qatar semi-final would have been unthinkable in the framework Deschamps deployed then; the flowing, front-foot football on show now would have been equally unrecognisable.

2022 semi-final: France won 2-0 with 39% possession, striking on the break
2026 quarter-final: France won 2-0 with 61% possession, controlling the game
Goal scorers then: Hernández and Kolo Muani
Goal scorers now: Mbappé and Dembélé — France’s new attacking axis

Deschamps releases the handbrake

The transformation is not accidental. For most of his 14-year reign, Deschamps has been defined by caution — a coach who prized defensive solidity, midfield discipline and the safety of a low block over expressive attacking play. It won France the 2018 World Cup and carried them to within a penalty shootout of retaining it in 2022. But it also drew persistent criticism that a squad brimming with elite forwards was being asked to play below its ceiling.

At 57, and reportedly in his final tournament as national coach, Deschamps has answered that criticism by doing the one thing few expected: he has let go. This France plays with a freeform attacking line in which Mbappé, Dembélé and their supporting runners interchange positions freely, trusting individual quality to break lines rather than structured patience. The full-backs push high, the midfield steps forward to compress space, and the front players are given licence to roam. It is a gamble that inverts the risk-averse identity of his earlier sides.

Dembélé’s role has been central to that shift. Once a peripheral, inconsistent talent, he has matured into the perfect foil for Mbappé — a two-footed threat who stretches defences and manufactures the space in which France’s captain thrives. Their one-two punch against Morocco was the clearest evidence yet that the reinvention has substance, not just intent.

What it means for France’s semi-final

Reaching a third World Cup semi-final in a row — after 2018 and 2022 — cements this generation among the most successful in French football history. But the manner of the win matters as much as the milestone. France no longer need a game to break in their favour; they are dictating terms, and doing so against exactly the opponent that once forced them into their shell.

The questions now shift forward. A more expansive France is a more thrilling France, but also a more exposed one. The high line and committed full-backs that overwhelmed Morocco will offer sharper counter-attacking sides a route back into games, and Deschamps will need his defensive spine — anchored by the outstanding William Saliba — to hold its nerve against elite pace in the last four.

Still, there is a symmetry to how France arrived here. Four years ago, beating Morocco was a survival exercise. This time it was a statement. Deschamps has spent a career being told his teams should play with more ambition; in what may be his final act, he has finally let them. The identical scoreline flatters the comparison. On every other measure, this France has moved on entirely — and the rest of the tournament has been put on notice.

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