Kylian Mbappe had the chance to put France ahead against Morocco in the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals from the penalty spot, but a sharp save from Yassine Bounou denied him. In missing his first career World Cup penalty, Mbappe has joined Karim Benzema in an unwanted piece of French football history.
A sharp recovery from Desire Doue sparked a lethal French counterattack, with Michael Olise slipping a through ball into the path of Mbappe to exploit the space in behind. Already inside the box, the Real Madrid forward was brought down by Noussair Mazraoui after cutting to the outside, earning France a penalty in the 25th minute.
After a 3-minute VAR review confirmed the call, play resumed in the 28th minute with Mbappe stepping up to take the spot kick. He waited for Bounou to commit, but the Morocco goalkeeper read the shot correctly, diving to his left to make the save and keep the game level.
The miss not only denied France the lead but also marked the first penalty Mbappe has ever missed at a World Cup. He had previously converted four in the competition, scoring one in regulation and one in extra time against Argentina, plus one in the shootout, and one in regulation against Paraguay, making this his fifth attempt and his first failure on soccer’s biggest stage.
When it comes to the national team, it also ends up being another negative record, being the second miss ever in Mbappe’s career with France after 13 consecutive successful takes during regular and extra time. The last time Mbappe ever missed a penalty with Les Bleus was back in the 2022 UEFA World Cup qualifiers in a 2-0 win against Kazajstan back in March 2021, and more than five years later, that streak has come to an end.
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Mbappe joins Benzema in unwanted history
The miss was not only Mbappe’s first penalty failure at a World Cup, but also just the second time a France player has missed a penalty outside of a shootout in the history of the competition. The first was Karim Benzema, who suffered the same fate against Switzerland in 2014.
In that group stage match, France were already leading 2-0 when Benzema stepped up in the 32nd minute, only to be denied by Diego Benaglio. He would go on to score France’s fourth goal in the 67th minute of a 5-2 victory, but the earlier miss etched his name into an unwanted piece of French World Cup history.
