Kylian Mbappe has now missed a World Cup penalty for the first time in his career, and he was not happy about how it all went down. The miss came in the 28th minute of Thursday night’s quarterfinal against Morocco, and the frustration was immediate and loud.
After referee Wilton Sampaio pointed to the spot, the VAR review dragged on for what felt like an eternity. Mbappe stood waiting, hands on his hips, clearly agitated. When he finally stepped up and sent the ball low to his right, Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou read it perfectly and pushed it away. Bounou made the save look almost routine, which only added to Mbappe’s anger.
Television cameras caught Mbappe yelling in the direction of the officials as he walked back toward midfield. He kept gesturing and shaking his head, even as his teammates tried to calm him down. The delay was the main target of his frustration. Players often say that long pauses before a penalty disrupt their rhythm, and Mbappe seemed to believe the extended VAR check worked against him.
France had been pressing hard before the penalty call. The defending champions looked sharp early, but Morocco’s defense held firm. After the save, the Moroccan bench erupted, and the crowd inside the stadium shifted momentum entirely. France could have taken control of the match with that goal, and instead they were left searching for answers.
Mbappe entered the tournament as one of the favorites for the Golden Boot, and he has been a constant threat every time he touches the ball. But this was a rare moment where his composure cracked, and it happened at a crucial stage. (The miss ended a streak of seven successful penalty kicks in major competitions for the 27-year-old forward.)
What happened on the VAR review
The penalty was awarded after a Moroccan defender made contact with Ousmane Dembele inside the box. It was a clear foul, and Sampaio pointed to the spot quickly. But then the video assistant referee asked for a longer look at the sequence, possibly to check whether Dembele was offside in the buildup. Replays showed no offside, and the penalty stood — but not before the game was stopped for nearly three minutes.
That kind of wait can be a problem for any penalty taker. Studies have shown that shooters who wait longer than 60 seconds convert at a lower rate. Mbappe looked stiff when he finally started his run-up, and Bounou dove the right way without hesitation.
Bounou comes up big again
This was not the first time Bounou has stepped up in a massive moment for Morocco. He was the hero of their 2022 World Cup run, and now he has done it again on the biggest stage. His save kept the score at 0-0, and Morocco kept fighting all the way to the final whistle. But France eventually broke through in the second half, with Randal Kolo Muani scoring the game-winner in the 68th minute.
Still, Mbappe’s missed penalty will be the story that lingers. It was a rare failure from a player who almost never fails. And the way he reacted — furious, pointed, unapologetic — said everything about how much he expected to score. He looked like a man who felt he was not given a fair chance to do his job.
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