Michael Olise stopped from celebrating France goal due to little-known FIFA rule

France claimed a place in the World Cup semi-finals on Thursday with a straightforward quarter-final win over Morocco.

Les Bleus won 2-0 in Boston thanks to two goals in seven minutes in the second half of a match they dominated from start to finish.

Captain Kylian Mbappe curled in the first after seeing his earlier penalty saved by Bono in the first half. The Moroccan goalkeeper couldn't then keep out the Ousmane Dembele shot that doubled the lead.

France will now face Spain or Belgium in the World Cup's first semi-final in Dallas on Tuesday and are just 90 minutes away from a third consecutive World Cup final.

Their second goal against Morocco sparked joyous celebrations on the touchline but one player was notably unable to join in.

Fans noticed that Bayern Munich's Michael Olise, one of France's star performers under Didier Deschamps this summer, was prevented from joining the mint-green huddle by substitute goalkeeper Brice Samba.

The Rennes man's quick thinking might have made all the difference and revealed his knowledge of the first clause of Law 8 in the Laws of the Game.

Law 8 states that: "For every kick-off, all players, except for the player taking the kick-off, must be in their own half of the field of play."

That only applies to players on the pitch. With no players in the opposition half to actively prevent the restart, France would have fulfilled the requirements of a kick-off and Morocco would have been permitted to get the game back underway without a single French player in their way.

By stopping Olise's charge towards the celebrating pack, Samba ensured that 'all players' were not in their own half and thus denied Morocco the right to crack on unhindered and halve the deficit with more than 20 minutes left on the clock.

Staying switched-on to that possibility is something France have demonstrated before.

A similar incident involving France unfolded in the 2022 World Cup final, when Dayot Upamecano was shoved back onto the pitch by Theo Hernandez after one of Mbappe's goals.

Mbappe scored three times in the final four years ago but France were beaten on penalties by Argentina, potential final opponents again in the current tournament.

Kylian Mbappe is tearing it up in front of goal

Les Bleus won their second World Cup in Russia in 2018, a success that made Didier Deschamps one of the just three men to win the World Cup both as a player and as manager.

They beat Morocco in the semi-finals in 2022 and made short work of them again in Boston on Wednesday.

Mbappe and his team are flying. His goal against the Atlas Lions was his 20th in 20 World Cup matches, putting him one goal behind record scorer Lionel Messi.

The Argentina captain's goals have been scored at a slower rate and Mbappe's rise to the top of the pile now seems inevitable.

Like Messi, Mbappe has eight goals in the 2026 tournament. His strikes against Senegal, Iraq, Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco have put both the captain and his team within reach of history.