Interesting theory emerges over why Michael Olise was pushed away from celebrating France goal with teammates
Viewers noticed a key detail as World Cup favourites France edge that one step closer after a comfortable win over Morocco in the quarters.
When Ousmane Dembele netted to make it 2-0, Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise attempted to join in with the celebrations off the field of play.
Substitute goalkeeper Brice Samba, however, stopped him in his tracks and made sure he stayed on the pitch.
Taking to social media, some fans thought this was because of a so-called ‘rule’ that the match can kick off again if all players are off the pitch.
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“At least one player has to be on the field or else the opponents can restart and score easily,” one person tweeted, as another penned: “Look how committed the French back-up goalkeeper is.
“Fully dialed into the game and smart. That is how you build teams and win championships.”
What is the actual rule?
According to the International Football Association Board, such a rule doesn’t exist.
Law 8 (Kick-off) states that all players, except the player taking the kick-off, must be in their own half of the field before play can restart.
In this case, Morocco couldn’t restart the game until all of France’s players returned to their own half of the pitch.
“For every kick-off: all players, except the player taking the kick-off, must be in their own half of the field of play,” the rules state.
Did Mbappe suffer a knock against Morocco?
Current joint-top World Cup goal scorer Kylian Mbappe was taken off in the 77th minute after picking up a knock on his ankle.
The Real Madrid forward, who missed a penalty in the first half before scoring a screamer in the second, insisted that the injury isn’t serious.
He told FIFA.com: “I have a minor ankle injury, but I’m completely fine. (Jean-Philippe) Mateta was in a better position to play the remaining minutes of the match and was fitter at that moment. That’s all that happened.”
France will face the winner of Spain vs Belgium in the World Cup semi-finals, as England are set to take on Norway in the quarters on Saturday evening (11 June).
"We know there's only one way to relax, and that's to win," Mbappe added.
"We're in the semi-finals, we're very happy, but there's still a long way to go. We know what lies ahead is even tougher than what we've already been through, but we're ready to face anything.
"We'll recover calmly and watch tomorrow's [Friday's] match to see who we'll be playing."
2026 World Cup results so far
Thursday, 9 July
Quarter-final - Match 97: France vs Morocco, 2-0
Tuesday 7 July
Round of 16 - Match 94: USA vs Belgium, 1-4
Round of 16 - Match 95: Argentina vs Egypt, 3-2
Round of 16 - Match 96: Switzerland vs Colombia, 0-0 (4-3 on penalties)
Monday 6 July
Round of 16 - Match 92: Mexico vs England, 2-3
Round of 16 - Match 93: Portugal vs Spain, 0-1
Sunday 5 July
Round of 16 - Match 91: Brazil vs Norway, 1-2
Saturday 4 July
Round of 32 - Match 87: Colombia vs Ghana, 1-0
Round of 16 - Match 90: Canada vs Morocco, 0-3
Round of 16 - Match 89: Paraguay vs France, 0-1
Friday 3 July
Round of 32 - Match 83: Portugal vs Croatia, 2-1
Round of 32 - Match 85: Switzerland vs Algeria, 2-0
Round of 32 - Match 88: Australia vs Egypt, 1-1 (2-4 on penalties)
Round of 32 - Match 86: Argentina vs Cabo Verde, 3-2
Thursday, 2 July
Round of 32 - Match 81: USA vs Bosnia & Herzegovnia, 2-0
Round of 32 - Match 84: Spain vs Austria, 3-0
Wednesday, 1 July
Round of 32 - Match 79: Mexico vs Ecuador, 2-0
Round of 32 - Match 80: England vs DR Congo, 2-1
Round of 32 - Match 82: Belgium vs Senegal, 3-2
Tuesday, 30 June
Round of 32 - Match 75: Netherlands vs Morocco, 1-1 (3-2)
Round of 32 - Match 78: Ivory Coast vs Norway, 2-1
Round of 32 - Match 77: France vs Sweden, 3-0
Monday, 29 June
Round of 32 - Match 76: Brazil vs Japan, 2-1
Round of 32 - Match 74: Germany vs Paraguay, 1-1 (4-3)
Sunday, 28 June
Group K: Colombia vs Portugal, 0-0
Group K: DR Congo vs Uzbekistan, 3-1
Group J: Algeria vs Austria, 3-3
Group J: Jordan vs Argentina, 3-1
Round of 32 - Match 73: South Africa vs Canada, 1-0
Saturday, 27 June
Group H: Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia, 0-0
Group H: Uruguay vs Spain, 1-0
Group G: New Zealand vs Belgium, 5-1
Group G: Egypt vs Iran, 1-1
Group L: Panama vs England, 2-0
Group L: Croatia vs Ghana, 2-1
Friday, 26 June
Group I: Senegal vs Iraq, 5-0
Group I: Norway vs France, 4-1
Group F: Tunisia vs Netherlands, 3-1
Group F: Japan vs Sweden, 1-1
Group D: Türkiye vs USA, 3-2
Group D: Paraguay vs Australia, 0-0
Thursday, 25 June
Group A: South Africa vs South Korea, 1-0
Group A: Mexico vs Czech Republic, 3-0
Group E: Curacao vs Ivory Coast, 2-0
Group E: Germany vs Ecuador, 2-1
Wednesday, 24 June
Group C: Brazil vs Scotland, 3-0
Group C: Morocco vs Haiti, 4-2
Group B: Qatar vs Bosnia-Herzegovnia, 3-1
Group B: Switzerland vs Canada, 2-1
Group L: Panama vs Croatia, 1-0
Group L: Colombia vs DR Congo, 1-0
Tuesday, 23 June
Group I: Norway vs Senegal, 3-2
Group J: Algeria vs Jordan, 2-1
Group K: Portugal vs Uzbekistan, 5-0
Group L: England vs Ghana, 0-0
Monday, 22 June
Group G: New Zealand vs Egypt, 1-3
Group J: Argentina vs Austria, 2-0
Group I: France vs Iraq, 3-0
Sunday, 21 June
Group E: Ecuador vs Curaçao, 0-0
Group F: Tunisia vs Japan, 0-4
Group G: Belgium vs Iran, 0-0
Group H: Spain vs Saudi Arabia, 4-0
Group H: Uruguay vs Cape Verde, 2-2
Saturday, 20 June
Group C: Brazil vs Haiti, 3-0
Group D: Turkey vs Paraguay, 0-1
Group E: Germany vs Ivory Coast, 2-1
Group F: Netherlands vs Sweden, 5-1
Friday, 19 June
Group A: Mexico vs South Korea, 1-0
Group C: Scotland vs Morocco, 0-1
Group D: USA vs Australia, 2-0
Thursday 18 June
Group L: Ghana vs Panama, 1-0
Group K: Uzbekistan vs Colombia, 1-3
Group A: Czech Republic vs South Africa, 1-1
Group B: Switzerland vs Bosnia & Herzegovina, 4-1
Group B: Canada vs Qatar, 6-0
Wednesday 17 June
Group K: Portugal vs DR Congo, 1-1
Group L: England vs Croatia, 4-2
Group J: Argentina vs Algeria, 3-0
Group J: Austria vs Jordan, 3-1
Tuesday 16 June
Group G: Iran vs New Zealand, 2-2
Group I: France vs Senegal, 3-1
Group I: Iraq vs Norway, 1-4
Monday, 15 June
Group E: Ivory Coast vs Ecuador, 1-0
Group F: Sweden vs Tunisia, 5-1
Sunday, 14 June
Group C: Haiti vs Scotland, 0-1
Group D: Australia vs Turkey, 2-0
Group E: Germany vs Curaçao, 7-1
Group F: Netherlands vs Japan, 2-2
Saturday, 13 June
Group D: USA vs Paraguay, 4-1
Group B: Qatar vs Switzerland, 1-1
Group C: Brazil vs Morocco, 1-1
Friday, 12 June
Group A: South Korea vs Czech Republic, 2-1
Group B: Canada vs Bosnia & Herzegovina, 1-1
Thursday, 11 June
Group A: Mexico vs South Africa, 2-0
Anish Vij