Spain defeated France this Tuesday by 2-0 in the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup, held at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and qualified for the tournament's grand final.
La Roja opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a penalty converted by Mikel Oyarzabal, and sealed the match in the 58th minute with a goal from open play by Pedro Porro.
France suffered an early setback when William Saliba had to leave the field injured in the 30th minute, being replaced by Maxence Lacroix. The loss of the center-back disrupted the French defensive structure at a time when the score was already unfavorable.
Despite dominating possession of the ball (55% compared to Spain's 45%) and accumulating seven corners to Spain's only one, the French were unable to convert that control into clear chances: both teams registered only two shots on target. Spain, being more vertical and efficient, took a total of 10 shots compared to France's eight.
In the final stretch, VAR disallowed a corner for Theo Hernández in the 83rd minute, and Kylian Mbappé received a yellow card in the 86th minute in a match that proved challenging against his most difficult opponent. The recent record between both teams clearly favored Spain: seven victories in the last 10 encounters, including the Euro 2024 and the 2025 Nations League.
Their journey in this World Cup included a 3-0 victory over Austria in the Round of 16, the elimination of Portugal in the quarter-finals with a goal from Merino in the 91st minute, and the comeback against Belgium in the semifinals with another decisive goal from the same player in the 88th minute.
France, on the other hand, is eliminated in the semifinals and concludes its participation in the tournament. With this defeat, the matchup between the two teams leaves the French with no chance for a world cup rematch: the only previous encounter between them in a World Cup was won by France 3-1 in the round of 16 in 2006.
The details of the match are available on the .
The final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will see Spain face the winner of the match between Argentina and England, which takes place this Wednesday in Atlanta. If La Roja prevails, they would become two-time world champions after winning in South Africa 2010.
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