Spain end France’s dream, book place in World Cup final with 2-0 semifinal win
Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty and Pedro Porro’s clinical finish send Luis de la Fuente’s side into their first World Cup final since 2010, as France’s bid for back-to-back titles collapses in Texas
By Martin Weche
Spain beat France 2-0 in Arlington, Texas, yesterday to reach the 2026 World Cup final, ending the tournament for the side that had entered the semi-final as many people’s favourites to lift the trophy.
Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring in the 21st minute, converting from the penalty spot after Lucas Digne brought down Lamine Yamal inside the box. Pedro Porro doubled Spain’s lead early in the second half, finishing a slick team move built through Dani Olmo, to put the result beyond reasonable doubt. France, for all their possession and late pressure, never found a way back into the game.
It was a result that fit a familiar pattern. Spain have now beaten France in back-to-back major tournament semi-finals, having also eliminated Didier Deschamps’ side at the same stage of Euro 2024 on their way to that title. For a French team that arrived unbeaten, having conceded only once across six matches and topped a group containing Senegal, Iraq and Norway before cutting through Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco without reply, Tuesday’s defeat was a jarring reversal of form.
Spain, by contrast, looked every inch the side that has quietly built the tournament’s best defensive record. Their only goal conceded all tournament had come against Belgium in the quarter-finals, and against France they shut the door again, restricting Kylian Mbappé to fleeting moments of danger and denying Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise any real foothold in the game. Spain’s coach, Luis de la Fuente, made a bold call in leaving playmaker Pedri out of his starting eleven, a decision he later reversed by bringing the midfielder on alongside Mikel Merino as Spain managed the closing stages with composure rather than urgency.
France’s frustrations were compounded by an injury to defender William Saliba, forced off in the first half and replaced by Maxence Lacroix, and by a booking for Mbappé, who was cautioned for a foul on goalkeeper Unai Simón as he attempted to close down the clock. The captain worked hard to drag his team back into contention, forcing one of Simón’s few meaningful stops of the evening, but France managed just two shots on target across the ninety minutes, a stark contrast to a Spanish side that finished with six attempts and controlled the majority of the ball.
The match was officiated by Ivan Barton of El Salvador, the first referee from his country to take charge of a World Cup semi-final, an appointment that added its own note of history to an already significant occasion at AT&T Stadium.
For Spain, the victory secures a place in Sunday’s final, where they will meet the winner of Wednesday’s semi-final between England and Argentina, and represents a return to the sport’s biggest stage for the first time since their 2010 triumph in South Africa. It is a moment 16 years in the making for a golden generation of Spanish players who have now dismantled two of Europe’s strongest teams in successive tournaments, and it confirms La Roja as the form side of the competition heading into the final.
For France, the defeat means a second consecutive World Cup ending in heartbreak, having fallen agonisingly short in the 2022 final on penalties. Deschamps’ side will now turn their attention to Saturday’s third-place playoff, a fixture few among the French camp will have wanted, but one that offers a final chance to salvage something from a tournament that had promised so much more.
Sunday’s final will be played at a moment when the football world is still absorbing what it has just witnessed: a Spanish team playing with the patience of champions, and a French team left searching for answers on the sport’s biggest night. Only one of those stories has a final chapter still to write.
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