European champions Spain beat France with managed show to guide closing in opposition to Argentina or England.
Printed On 14 Jul 2026
Spain snuffed out France’s dream of a 3rd World Cup triumph, taming their galaxy of forwards to win 2-0 and progress to a closing in opposition to England or Argentina.
Didier Deschamps’s males had been sizzling favourites for the trophy after a string of breathtaking shows in the USA, however they met their match in opposition to the slick European champions on the semifinal stage on Tuesday.
Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring for the 2010 winners with an emphatic penalty within the first half in Arlington, Texas, and Pedro Porro doubled their lead within the second half.
Shell-shocked France couldn’t discover a method again into the match regardless of their wealth of attacking riches.
The sport at Dallas Stadium caught fireplace halfway by way of the primary half when Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton pointed to the penalty spot after a reckless problem by France left-back Lucas Digne on Spain winger Lamine Yamal.
Oyarzabal hammered the ball previous France goalkeeper Mike Maignan for his fifth purpose of the World Cup to depart France trailing for the primary time within the match.
Minutes later, France suffered one other blow when centre-back William Saliba needed to depart the pitch after a recurrence of his decrease again damage, and was changed by Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix.
Spain went agonisingly near extending their lead after some dazzling one-touch soccer, however Dayot Upamecano’s problem denied Fabian Ruiz.
France completed the half with out a single shot on course and simply two makes an attempt general.
Deschamps threw on Need Doue for Bradley Barcola within the 57th minute in a bid to supercharge his assault, however a minute later, they had been 2-0 down after a surprising staff purpose for Luis de la Fuente’s males.
Defender Porro delivered a pointy go to the ft of Dani Olmo on the sting of the field and picked up the return ball earlier than coolly slotting previous Maignan.
Deschamps threw on Theo Hernandez and Rayan Cherki after the second hydration break in a determined bid to get again into the match.
However France couldn’t discover a method again into the sport in opposition to stable opponents who refused to yield.
Spain have conceded simply as soon as in your complete match, combining defensive metal with the trickery of winger Yamal in assault.
They’re now simply 90 minutes away from profitable the first-ever 48-team World Cup as they search to match the achievement of Vicente del Bosque’s staff 16 years in the past.
The defeat in Texas is a bitter blow for a French staff that has enthralled followers on the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
France had reached the previous two World Cup finals, profitable in 2018 in Russia, and dropping on penalties to Lionel Messi’s Argentina 4 years in the past in Qatar in an epic closing regardless of a hat-trick from Mbappe.
Actual Madrid ahead Mbappe was only one cog in a star-studded assault that additionally included Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and the elegant Michael Olise.
Defeat leaves simply the third-place playoff for France coach Didier Deschamps, who’s stepping down after the match following 14 years in cost.
In the meantime, Porro advised Tv Espanola that the victory was a “dream come true”.
“That is all all the way down to the staff; I can’t take credit score. I simply congratulate everybody, as they performed nice video games,” he mentioned.
“We knew that to get near the ultimate we wanted to have the ball. We knew that to counter their strengths was key. And we did that. So we’re actually blissful.”
