World Cup quarterfinals have a way of turning on one moment, and this one looked like it was going to be Mbappe's worst night of the tournament before it became one of his best. In the first half against Morocco, France's best player stepped up to a penalty with a chance to open the scoring and Yassine Bounou guessed right, diving to his left to make the save. It was reportedly the first time in Mbappe's World Cup career he'd missed one from the spot.
The penalty save that had France sweating with the scoreboard still 0-0.
Barstool's gambling account was locked onto that spot-kick the second it went up, and for good reason — France came into this quarterfinal as heavy favorites, and a missed penalty is exactly the kind of thing that turns a comfortable night into a nervy one.
The free-kick sequence around the missed penalty had the timeline bracing for the worst.
Mbappe didn't sulk about it. In the 60th minute he collected the ball on the edge of the box and curled a finish past Bounou to break the deadlock — his 20th career World Cup goal, one behind Lionel Messi's record of 21, and his 8th goal of this tournament, tying him with Messi atop this year's Golden Boot race.
The curler that got France on the board.
Pardon My Take needed exactly one word for it.
The reaction to Mbappe's goal needed no elaboration.
France didn't let up. Ousmane Dembele added a second goal in the 66th minute to make it 2-0, sending France to the semifinals and ending Morocco's run.
Dembele's goal put the result out of reach.
France moves on with Mbappe one goal off the all-time World Cup record and level with Messi for the Golden Boot.