France and Morocco get the World Cup 2026 quarter-finals underway at the Gillette Stadium on Thursday night (9pm UK time).
The match is a repeat of the World Cup clash from four years ago, which France won 2-0 thanks to goals from Theo Hernandez and Kolo Muani as they advanced into the final.
The tournament favourites are well-fancied to progress through to the last-four, but are likely to face their toughest test yet against a strong Moroccan side that are unbeaten in 34 matches.
Here are the key World Cup 2026 stats ahead of tonight’s game.
France vs Morocco Stats
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Mbappe chasing Messi & Muller
- Kylian Mbappe (19) needs two goals to go level with Lionel Messi (21) in the all-time World Cup goalscorer charts.
Kylian Mbappe (7) is one goal behind Lionel Messi (8) in what is proving to be a riveting race for the Golden Boot, which also includes Erling Haaland (7), and Harry Kane (6). Mbappe needs one more goal to equal his tally from 2022, which on that occasion was good enough to win the Golden Boot.
Mbappe (19) is also hunting down Messi (21) in the all-time World Cup scorer charts, and will have his sights set on becoming the first player to hit double figures at a World Cup in 56 years, since Gerd Muller scored 10 goals for Germany in 1970 – however, he does need a hat-trick for this to happen on Thursday.
READ – Every World Cup 2026 quarter-finalist ranked by reliance on their top goalscorer
France’s form
- France have won 16 of their last 19 World Cup matches, losing just once in normal-time/extra-time during this run.
France are enjoying a six game winning run, including five wins so far at this tournament. In fact, they’ve won 14 of their last 16 games in all competitions, while in competitive clashes they are unbeaten in 12, winning 11.
Sticking to the World Cup, France have won 16 of their last 19 matches at the tournament, suffering just one defeat in normal time/extra time during that run, which was a defeat to Tunisia in the group stages of 2022 after their place in the knockout stages was already assured.
Les Bleus can also look to a four game unbeaten streak against Morocco, picking up three wins during this run.
READ – France vs Morocco: predictions, best bets, odds & stats
France’s bid for semi-final hat-trick
- France are looking to become only the third country to reach three successive World Cup semi-finals.
France have won their last two quarter-finals against Uruguay (2-0 in 2018) and Morocco (2-0 in 2022), meaning they now have the chance to reach this stage of the tournament for the third time in a row.
Should Les Bleus make it through again, they would become only the third country in World Cup history to reach three successive semi-finals.
Germany have achieved the feat twice, advancing to the last four in three consecutive tournaments between 1982 and 1990, before bettering that run with four straight semi-final appearances from 2002 to 2014.
Brazil also progressed through to three straight semi-finals between 1994 and 2002, but haven’t appeared at this stage since 2014, when they were thrashed 7-1 by Germany on home soil.
At your service: Olise vs Diaz
- This quarter-final pits together the top-two assisters of the World Cup to date: Michael Olise (5) and Brahim Diaz (4).
Two of the main protagonists to be crowned as the top assister at the tournament lock horns in this match. Michael Olise leads the way with five assists, just one off Pele’s single-edition record of six assists from 1970. But, Morocco’s Brahim Diaz is right in the mix with four assists on the board.
Olise has sparkled in his first World Cup, where he’s attempted (11) and completed (70) the most through balls, is joint second for big chances created (5), ranks third for final third passes completed (117) and seventh for take-ons completed (11).
As for Diaz, he has 10 goal contributions for Morocco since the start of December, and doubled his assist tally for the tournament with a brace of assists in the 3-0 win over Canada in the last-16.
Morocco’s remarkable unbeaten run
- Morocco are looking to extend their unbeaten run to 35 matches in all competitions.
Morocco won’t be fazed by the challenge ahead of them. After all, this is a country that is unbeaten in a whopping 34 matches.
While we must be quick to point out that this does include the AFCON final defeat to Senegal – which has since been controversially changed to a Morocco win – it’s still an impressive streak, which includes five unbeaten matches at this tournament.
On top of that, the Atlas Lions have only lost two of their last 13 matches at the World Cu:, a 2-0 semi-final defeat to France and then a 2-1 third-place play-off loss to Croatia, both in 2022.
The Atlas Lions lead African charge
- Morocco is the last African country remaining at the 2026 World Cup and already holds the record for the most wins (eight) and most goals (30) by an African country in the tournament’s history.
An impressive nine African countries progressed through to the last-32 of the World Cup, two of which ventured into the last-16, and now Morocco are the last ones left standing from the continent in the quarter-finals.
Morocco are the most successful African country in World Cup history, having recorded more wins (8) and scored more goals (30) than any other country from the continent. Their four knockout-stage victories are also as many as every other African nation combined, and they are the only African side to have reached the semi-finals, a feat they will now be looking to repeat.
On a side note, three of France’s six World Cup defeats – excluding penalties – in the 21st century have been by African countries: Senegal (2002), South Africa (2010), and Tunisia (2022). Something Morocco will look to draw inspiration from heading into Thursday’s game.
Didier Deschamps eyes another managerial milestone
- Didier Deschamps is set to equal Helmut Schon’s record of 25 matches managed at the World Cup.
France’s Didier Deschamps has already won more matches than any other manager in World Cup history, boasting a tally of 19 victories since 2014; surpassing Helmut Schon’s record (16) earlier in the tournament.
The Frenchman is now targeting the German’s record of matches managed at the World Cup – 25 between 1966 and 1978 – which he will equal against Morocco.
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