Michael Olise couldn’t celebrate after France’s goal because of a little-known FIFA rule.
France secured their spot in the World Cup semi-finals on Thursday with a solid 2-0 win over Morocco. Les Bleus controlled the game from start to finish, scoring two quick goals in the second half in Boston.
Captain Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring after missing a penalty earlier when the Moroccan goalkeeper, Bono, saved it. Soon after, Ousmane Dembele scored the second goal, doubling France’s lead.
France will now face either Spain or Belgium in the first semi-final in Dallas on Tuesday, just 90 minutes away from reaching their third straight World Cup final.
When the second goal went in, the team on the sideline erupted in celebration—but one player was noticeably left out. Fans saw that Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise, one of France’s key players this summer, was stopped from joining the mint-green huddle by substitute goalkeeper Brice Samba.
Samba’s quick action was smart and showed he knew the rules well. According to Law 8 of the Laws of the Game, “For every kick-off, all players, except the one taking the kick-off, must be in their own half of the field.”
This rule only applies to players on the field. Since there were no French players in Morocco’s half to block the restart, Morocco would have been allowed to start again right away without any French player in the way.
By stopping Olise from joining the celebration, Samba made sure not all players were in their own half, which meant Morocco couldn’t restart quickly and try to score with over 20 minutes left.
France has shown they understand these rules before. In the 2022 World Cup final, a similar moment happened when Dayot Upamecano was pushed back onto the field by Theo Hernandez after one of Mbappe’s goals.
Mbappe scored three times in that final, but France lost on penalties to Argentina—who might be their opponents again in this tournament’s final.
France won their second World Cup in 2018, making manager Didier Deschamps one of only three people to win it as both a player and a coach.
They beat Morocco in the semi-finals in 2022 and easily did it again in Boston on Wednesday. Mbappe and his teammates are in great form. That goal against Morocco was Mbappe’s 20th in 20 World Cup games, just one behind the record holder, Lionel Messi.
Messi’s goals came at a slower pace, so it looks like Mbappe is on his way to the top. Like Messi, Mbappe has scored eight goals in this 2026 tournament. His goals against Senegal, Iraq, Sweden, Paraguay, and Morocco have him and France close to making history.