Kylian Mbappé is in France’s starting lineup for Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal match against Spain after the striker exited in the 77th minute of the team’s quarterfinal win over Morocco.
Mbappé scored his eighth goal against Morocco and enters the semifinals even with Argentina superstar Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot. The 39-year-old Messi has a World Cup-record 21 goals in his career, one more than the 27-year-old Mbappé.
France coach Didier Deschamps said Mbappé was fine physically after the early exit against Morocco with what was described as a “slight” right ankle injury.
The France captain is among six players to start all seven World Cup matches for the team, along with fellow forward Ousmane Dembélé and goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
For the sixth time in seven games, Spain forward Mikel Merino will come off the bench. The versatile Arsenal player scored the winning goals within minutes of coming on as a late substitute in a 1-0 victory over Portugal in the round of 16 and a 2-1 quarterfinal win over Belgium.
Lamine Yamal will start his sixth consecutive game for Spain a day after his 19th birthday. The Barcelona forward came off the bench in a 0-0 draw in the team’s opener against Cape Verde, the tiny island nation that turned into one of the World Cup’s biggest surprises.
Spain forward Nico Williams, who has been battling a muscle injury since the group stage finale against Uruguay, wasn’t in the lineup. He came off the bench in all three group matches before missing the first two knockout games. Williams entered in the 79th minute against Belgium.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
