Let us take a moment to appreciate what France has accomplished so far at this World Cup because the numbers are frankly ridiculous. Didier Deschamps' squad has won all six of their matches, never gone to extra time, never needed penalties, and basically treated the tournament like it owes them money. Kylian Mbappe has scored eight goals across those six games, which is the kind of form that makes defenders consider early retirement and goalkeepers question every life choice that led them to this particular moment of professional suffering.
Their journey started in Group I with a three-one victory over Senegal at New York New Jersey Stadium. Mbappé scored twice because of course he did, Bradley Barcola added another, and Senegal grabbed a consolation goal through Ibrahim Mbaye that was about as impactful as bringing a water pistol to a nuclear standoff. Game two saw France dismantle Iraq three-nil in Philadelphia, with Mbappé bagging yet another brace and Ousmane Dembele getting in on the fun. Michael Olise registered two assists in a match that was delayed by a thunderstorm because apparently even Mother Nature wanted to watch this team play and got overly excited about it. The group stage concluded with Norway getting absolutely obliterated four-one at Boston Stadium. Dembele completed the second-fastest hat-trick in World Cup history, which is a sentence that still feels unreal to type, and Desire Doue sealed the deal in stoppage time with his first-ever World Cup goal. France topped the group with maximum points and the kind of swagger that makes other teams nervous just watching them warm up.
Then the knockout phase began and things somehow got even more impressive. Sweden visited New York New Jersey Stadium for the Round of thirty-two and left with a three-nil defeat etched into their memories forever. Mbappé scored twice, moving into second place on the all-time World Cup scoring list ahead of legends who had entire careers to accumulate what he managed in a fraction of the time. Barcola added his second of the tournament and Sweden went home wondering if they should have just stayed in bed that day. Paraguay tried to make things difficult in Philadelphia for the Round of sixteen, playing the kind of defensive, physical game designed to frustrate talented teams. Mbappé responded by converting a second-half penalty that proved enough to settle an attritional contest and keep his Golden Boot dreams very much alive.
And then came the quarter-final against Morocco back at Boston Stadium, where Mbappé actually had a first-half penalty saved which felt almost shocking at that point given his supernatural tournament form. But because he is apparently incapable of having an off day, he made amends by scoring his eighth goal of the finals shortly after, setting France on their path to a comfortable two-nil victory. Then, in true superstar fashion, he turned provider for Dembele, who became only the third French player ever after Mbappé and Just Fontaine to score five goals at a single World Cup. Fontaine did it in nineteen-fifty-eight. This is happening in twenty-twenty-six. The legacy being written in real time is absolutely mind-boggling.
France now advances to the semifinals at Dallas Stadium on July fourteenth, where they will face whichever team emerges from the Spain versus Belgium clash. A victory there would send them to a third consecutive World Cup final, an achievement that only Italy has ever accomplished back in the thirties and forties when the tournament was a completely different beast with far fewer participants and significantly less global attention. The way this French team is playing right now, nothing seems impossible. Not even history-defining greatness.
