France made light work of Morocco in the first quarter final match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 victory at the Boston Stadium.

It was like a replay of the 2022 World Cup semi final match. Kylian Mbappe was brought down in the box and after a “long” VAR review, the striker had his spot kick saved by Yassine Bounou the Moroccan goalie in the 28th minute.

The Moroccans were restricted to half chances, half runs and little threat at the French defence. It eventually turned out to be the Mbappe Show with the Real Madrid striker scoring in the 60th minute before providing for Ousmane Dembele to double the lead in the 66th minute.

With 2 goals down, it was a tough hill to climb for the North Africans. They could only muster their first shot on target in added time. I expected more from Morocco but the superiority of Les Blues couldn’t be matched. France will face either Spain or Belgium for a place in the Final.

Today, Spain play Belgium in the Los Angeles Stadium. They have faced each other 23 times with 12 wins for Spain and 5 for Belgium. Their last meeting was a 2016 friendly match which ended in a 2-0 Spanish victory.

The last time they met in the knockout stage of the World Cup, Belgium progressed via penalties after the game ended 1-1 in after extra time. That was the 1986 quarter final. This is another quarter final. Who will progress?

Spain is the only team with a 100% clean sheet record in the 2026 World Cup. Goalkeeper Unai Simon has kept Arsenal’s David Raya out of the starting XI but they have also relied on the rigid defensive line anchored by Aymeric Laporte and Pau Cubarsi.

They started the tournament with a 0-0 draw with Cape Verde before wins over Saudi Arabia (4-0) and Uruguay (1-0). They saw off Austria (3-0) in the round of 32 before a late Mikel Merino goal knocked Portugal (1-0) in the round of 16.

For Belgium, they would be relying on their resilient attack and firepower. Leandro Trossard is their main man, causing problems for defenders. They have scored 13 goals so far but conceded 5 times. They only failed to score against Iran (0-0) in their 2nd group game.

They started the World Cup slowly: a 1-1 draw with Egypt, a goalless draw with Iran and a 5-1 whitewash of New Zealand saw them through the group stage. They needed extra time in the round of 32, coming from 2-0 down to defeat Senegal 3-2 before a 4-1 victory over hosts USA in the round of 16.

I think Spain will eventually concede today but may progress after extra time. Prediction: Spain 1-1 Belgium.