Spain renewed their dominance over neighbors France with a 2-0 victory on Tuesday in Dallas, securing their spot in the 2026 World Cup final.
Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring with a 22nd-minute penalty, and Pedro Porro sealed the win in the 58th minute. This victory marks Spain's third consecutive elimination of Les Bleus in major tournaments, following Euro 2024 (2-1) and the 2025 UEFA Nations League final (5-4).
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Spain will play in the final next Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford (New Jersey/New York) against either reigning champions Argentina or England, who face off on Wednesday in the second semi-final in Atlanta.
"A Dream Come True"
This is Spain's second-ever World Cup final. Their first was in 2010, when they won the title in South Africa by defeating the Netherlands 1-0 after extra time.
By winning, Spain denied France a third consecutive final appearance. France was chasing their third world title, having previously won in 1998 (against Brazil) and 2018 (against Croatia), and finishing as runners-up to Argentina in 2022.
Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente outmaneuvered his counterpart Didier Deschamps, who will manage his final match for France on Saturday in the third-place play-off.
Spain controlled most of the match, successfully neutralizing France’s attacking quartet led by captain and top scorer Kylian Mbappé. They particularly isolated playmaker and Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise, who struggled to make an impact in midfield.
"We started four years ago with an idea, we stayed true to it, and it brought us here," De la Fuente said. "Today we faced one of the best teams in the world, but they faced the best team in the world. That is the difference. These players deserve everything; day after day they have shown commitment, solidarity, generosity, and talent. They make the difficult look easy."
Goalscorer Pedro Porro, who netted his second international goal, said: "It’s a dream come true. To be honest, I couldn't have imagined this in my wildest dreams. I am so happy with the team's mentality from start to finish. I think we played a great match and did everything we needed to reach the final."
He added: "We knew we were facing an incredibly strong team that has been doing amazing things. This is truly a total team achievement."
This victory marks Spain's 19th win in 39 meetings against France (alongside 7 draws and 13 defeats), including eight wins in their last 11 encounters (with one draw and two losses).
It is also Spain's third consecutive knockout-stage win in this edition—remarkable given they had not won a World Cup knockout match since 2010. Spain extends their unbeaten run to 37 games, with their last regulation-time defeat dating back to a friendly against Colombia on March 22, 2024 (27 wins, 10 draws).
"We have to be logical and admit that we were second-best technically today against a team that controlled the match better," French coach Didier Deschamps said after the loss. "But the mistake is ours first, and I don't want to blame anyone else."
Two Crucial Blows in Eight Minutes
Deschamps, who set a record by managing his 26th World Cup match—surpassing Germany's Helmut Schön—made two changes to the lineup that beat Morocco 2-0 in the quarter-finals. PSG winger Bradley Barcola started ahead of teammate Désiré Doué.
Real Madrid midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni also returned to the starting lineup in place of Roma’s Manu Koné after recovering from a muscle injury that kept him out of the last two games.
The match began as a tactical chess match, with both teams trading possession and searching for openings. The breakthrough came when Barcelona star Lamine Yamal drew a penalty, which Oyarzabal calmly converted. Just eight minutes later, France suffered another setback when Arsenal defender William Saliba went off injured, replaced by Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix (30th minute).
Deschamps brought on Koné for Adrien Rabiot at halftime (46'), later subbing Doué on for Barcola (57'). He made his final moves in the 72nd minute, bringing on Rayan Cherki and Theo Hernandez for Olise and Lucas Digne, but to no avail.
The opening penalty occurred when Digne tried to clear a Marc Cucurella cross. Digne headed the ball and went to clear it, but was unaware of Yamal coming from behind. Digne caught the Barcelona star with a heavy challenge, and Oyarzabal stepped up to slot the penalty to the left of Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan (22').
This was Oyarzabal's fifth goal of the tournament, equaling the Spanish record for goals in a single World Cup edition, held by Emilio Butragueño (1986) and David Villa (2010). It was also his 30th goal in 60 international matches.
France's Dayot Upamecano kept his side in the game in the 38th minute, clearing a close-range shot from Fabián Ruiz after a pass from Yamal.
Soon after, Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón rushed out of his box to intercept a breakaway from Mbappé, who had beaten the offside trap from the halfway line (40').
Spain doubled their lead in the 58th minute. Porro played a quick combination with Dani Olmo at the edge of the box, drove inside, and cleverly beat Maignan. Porro became only the second Spanish defender to score twice in a single World Cup edition, joining Fernando Hierro (1998 and 2002).
Ferran Torres, who replaced Oyarzabal, nearly added a third with a close-range header that went just wide of the right post (79').
Simón continued his fine performance late in the game. He rushed out to head away a ball ahead of Mbappé, which fell to Doué. Doué tried a long-range lob, but the Athletic Bilbao keeper recovered to save it (82'). Simón then denied two stoppage-time efforts from Ousmane Dembélé (90+5' and 90+7') to seal the win.
AFP
