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Spain 2-0 France
Spain reached the 2026 World Cup final with a 2-0 victory over France in the semifinal Tuesday, July 14 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“Spain snuffed out France’s dream of a third World Cup triumph, taming their galaxy of forwards to win 2-0 and progress to a final against England or Argentina”
Mikel Oyarzabal scored a goal in each half, converting a penalty in the 22nd minute after Lucas Digne brought down Lamine Yamal, and Pedro Porro added a second goal in the 58th minute.
The match left France trailing for the first time in the World Cup, and France finished the half without a single shot on target and just two attempts overall.
France’s William Saliba hobbled off with an injury around the half-hour mark and was replaced by Maxence Lacroix, while Spain kept control through the second half to close out the win.
Spain now awaits the winner of the Wednesday semifinal between England and Argentina, while France heads to the third-place match against the loser of that contest.
Deschamps questions referee
After the defeat, Didier Deschamps said, “We are disappointed of course ... There are some things we did not do well,” and he acknowledged, “We committed more technical flaws than before.”
Deschamps also questioned whether the referee was up to the task, asking, “do you believe the referee was up to the task to referee a semi-final?”
In the BBC’s player ratings, Lucas Digne was marked down for conceding the penalty after he kicked Lamine Yamal, while Kylian Mbappé was assessed as having “just two touches in Spain's penalty area in the first half.”
The BBC’s ratings also credited Spain’s Unai Simon with a sixth clean sheet in seven matches, and gave Pedro Porro a “7” after scoring a “wonderful goal to send his country to their first World Cup final since 2010.”
For France, the BBC described William Saliba’s injury as “a desperately sad end to his World Cup as France failed to respond after falling behind for the first time at the tournament.”
Final stakes and next
Spain will play for a second World Cup title after reaching the final for only the second time in their history, and the BBC said they will face either England or Argentina in New Jersey on Sunday.
“For just the second time in their country’s history, Spain is going to the World Cup Final thanks to a world-class showing in their 2-0 victory over France in the semifinals on Tuesday”
The New York Times live updates framed the run as a clean-sheet surge, noting Spain had conceded just one goal in seven matches at the World Cup and that Simon had conceded “just one goal in seven matches at this World Cup.”
In the final build-up, Al Jazeera reported that Spain’s victory leaves France with “just the third-place playoff for France coach Didier Deschamps, who is stepping down after the tournament following 14 years in charge.”
NPR described Spain’s defensive control as limiting France’s attacking trio of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise, and it said Spain had only allowed one goal this World Cup.
With Spain’s semifinal win, the next matchups are set: Spain’s opponent will come from the Wednesday semifinal between England and Argentina, while France’s next game is the third-place match against the loser of that contest.
