Kylian Mbappé was named in France's starting lineup for Tuesday's World Cup semifinal against Spain after recovering from the minor ankle injury that forced him off late in the team's quarterfinal victory over Morocco.

The France captain was substituted in the 77th minute of the quarterfinal after scoring his eighth goal of the tournament. He enters the semifinal level with Argentina captain Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.

Messi, 39, holds the World Cup career scoring record with 21 goals, one more than the 20 scored by the 27-year-old Mbappé.

France coach Didier Deschamps said Mbappé was physically fit after suffering what was described as a "slight" injury to his right ankle against Morocco.

Mbappé is one of six French players to have started all seven of the team's World Cup matches, alongside forward Ousmane Dembele and goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

For Spain, forward Mikel Merino was again named among the substitutes for the sixth time in seven matches. The versatile Arsenal midfielder scored the winning goals shortly after coming off the bench in Spain's 1-0 round-of-16 victory over Portugal and 2-1 quarterfinal win over Belgium.

Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal made his sixth consecutive start for Spain, a day after celebrating his 19th birthday. He had come off the bench in Spain's opening 0-0 draw against Cape Verde, one of the tournament's surprise teams.

Spain forward Nico Williams, who has been struggling with a muscle injury since the group-stage match against Uruguay, was not included in the starting lineup. He featured as a substitute in all three group-stage matches, missed the first two knockout games and returned as a late substitute in the 79th minute against Belgium.