France-Morocco: goalless at half, hero Bono

France and Morocco met in the World Cup quarterfinal. The first half of the contest, played at Gillette Stadium in Boston, ended in a goalless draw. Standing out as one of the most exciting matches of the tournament, the contest saw the performance of the goalkeepers take on great importance.

The most critical moment of the match came in the 27th minute. Kylian Mbappé won a penalty after being brought down inside the box by Noussair Mazraoui. However, after a lengthy VAR review, the French star stepped up to take the kick but could not convert his effort toward the right corner; Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou dived the right way to save the shot. While the delay before the penalty was assessed as having affected Mbappé's performance, the French star argued with the referee after the miss.

Bono put his stamp on the match with his performance throughout the first half. The experienced goalkeeper kept his goal intact with multiple crucial saves, including a header from Dayot Upamecano, a header from Ousmane Dembélé, and a shot from Désiré Doué. A long-range attempt from Lucas Digne, meanwhile, came back off the post without going in. In a first half in which France were largely on top and put Morocco's box under heavy pressure, the scoreline could have been different had it not been for Bono's performance.

Another notable detail from the match came from Morocco's young talent Neil El Aynaoui. The 18-year-old became the youngest player to feature in a World Cup quarterfinal since 1958. Meanwhile, it was recalled that France, the only team to have won all five of its matches at the tournament so far without needing extra time, would become only the third nation ever to reach three consecutive semifinals should they win this contest as well. The second half will be eagerly awaited as a period in which both teams aim to make history.

Image: Goal