France cruise into semi-finals - could this be the best Les Bleus ever?

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: France cruise into semi-finals - could this be the best Les Bleus ever? Figure caption, France into semi-finals after comfortable win over MoroccoByMichael EmonsBBC Sport journalistPublished46 minutes agoWorld Cup winners in 1998 and 2018, France have created another special team and are favourites to win the 2026 competition. They showed just why they remain the team to beat this year with an impressive 2-0 victory over Morocco on Thursday to become the first nation into the semi-finals.

France have also won the European Championship twice, but has Didier Deschamps, in his final tournament as manager, created the best ever Les Bleus team? If they lift the trophy on 19 July, they can justify that claim, with former midfielder Patrick Vieira, who played in the 3-0 final win over Brazil in 1998, saying this current crop were on the verge of greatness. Speaking on ITV Sport, Vieira said: "We're talking about a generation of players and when you look at the squad and the attacking players, it is maybe one of the best, because you have so many players - it is so unbelievable.

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"France's victory in Boston came with two goals in a six-minute spell in the second half, with Kylian Mbappe's opener quickly followed by a goal from Ballon d'Or holder Ousmane Dembele. Those goals were the 15th and 16th France have scored in this tournament, more than any other team, although the other three quarter-finals are still to take place. Mbappe's goal, which came after he had a first-half penalty saved, was his eighth of the tournament – moving him level with Argentina's Lionel Messi as top scorer, although Mbappe is currently leading the race for Golden Boot because he has more assists than the Argentine.

Dembele now has five goals in this tournament, and France are only the second side in the past 50 years to have two players score five or more goals at the same World Cup tournament, after Brazil in 2002 (Ronaldo eight, Rivaldo five). "France are the best, most skilful, most dangerous attacking team in the tournament," said former Scotland striker Pat Nevin on Radio 5 Live. "They have more than one .

They have two, three, four that are capable. "Mbappe and Dembele send France into World Cup semi-finals Klopp reveals how Liverpool tried to sign Mbappe Published1 hour agoGuehi a doubt for Norway game with hamstring injury Published2 hours ago What information do we collect from this quiz? 'I don't see anybody stopping the French team going to the final'Deschamps has been manager of the French team since 2012 and has already said this will be his last tournament in charge.

In those 14 years, France have won the 2018 World Cup and lost to Argentina in the 2022 final. Les Bleus also lost to Portugal in the final of the 2016 European Championship and were beaten 2-1 by Spain in the semi-finals of Euro 24. If Spain beat Belgium in their quarter-final on Friday (20:00 BST) they will face France's in the last four in Dallas on Tuesday (20:00 BST).

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.