Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi expressed his frustration with VAR after his team’s FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final defeat to France, claiming a missed handball in the build-up to Kylian Mbappe’s opening goal played a crucial role in the outcome.
Morocco were eliminated after a 2-0 loss, but Ouahbi argued that the incident involving Adrien Rabiot should have been reviewed after several of his players stopped playing, believing the French midfielder had handled the ball.
While admitting he was uncertain whether the incident warranted a free-kick, the Morocco coach insisted that a handball had occurred.
"Some players stopped because there was a handball. And there definitely was a handball!" Ouahbi told reporters.
"I don't know whether it should have been called or not; I have no idea... in the end, it was an individual effort from Kylian Mbappe; that led to the goal."
The defeat ended Morocco’s World Cup campaign as France advanced to their third consecutive semi-final after overcoming a first-half penalty miss from Mbappe.
The France captain recovered from the missed spot-kick to score his eighth goal of the FIFA World Cup 2026 before assisting Ousmane Dembele for his fifth goal of the tournament, sending the two-time champions into the last four where they will face either Belgium or Spain.
France started strongly, with Dayot Upamecano testing Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou with a header from a fifth-minute corner. After controlling much of the possession, Les Bleus earned a major opportunity to take the lead when Noussair Mazraoui brought down Mbappe inside the penalty area. However, Bounou denied the France forward from the spot, ensuring the teams went into halftime level.
France eventually broke the deadlock in the 60th minute when Mbappe produced a curling finish from the edge of the area that found the far corner.
The forward then turned creator shortly afterward, setting up Dembele. Mbappe's flick released his teammate, who created enough space to shoot before curling a right-footed effort beyond Bounou and into the net.
The goal also saw Mbappe become the first player to contribute to at least 100 goals for the French national team, reaching 101 goal involvements through 64 goals and 37 assists.
Dembele, meanwhile, joined an exclusive list by becoming only the third French player to score five goals in a single FIFA World Cup edition, following Mbappe and Just Fontaine.
France, managed by Didier Deschamps, controlled the closing stages comfortably to secure another semi-final appearance after winning the 2018 World Cup and finishing runners-up to Argentina at Qatar 2022.
"We missed a penalty and failed to convert some chances. With Kylian Mbappe, there's no issue, he never doubts himself, even though he had a chance before he scored. We are exactly where we wanted to be. We will recover well and see who our opponent will be," said Deschamps.
