Spain are back in a World Cup final for the first time since they won the whole thing in 2010, and they got there by doing to France exactly what nobody expected — shutting them down completely. A Mikel Oyarzabal penalty and a slick Pedro Porro finish gave La Roja a 2-0 win at Dallas Stadium on Tuesday, and by the end Kylian Mbappé barely had a sniff.
It didn’t look like it was heading that way early on. Both teams were cagey for the opening quarter of an hour, feeling each other out in what had been billed as the tournament’s biggest test yet, a clash between the two best sides left in the draw. Then, in the 22nd minute, Marc Cucurella swung a cross across the box and Lucas Digne, trying to head it clear, completely lost track of Lamine Yamal. He caught the teenager across the thigh instead of the ball, and referee Iván Barton pointed straight to the spot. Oyarzabal stepped up and buried it into the top corner — Mike Maignan had no chance — for his fifth goal of the tournament, and Spain’s lead never really felt in doubt from there.
France’s afternoon got worse just minutes later. William Saliba, who’d been carefully managed through a back issue all tournament, pulled up chasing a routine ball and had to be replaced by Maxence Lacroix. It threw France’s shape into disarray at exactly the wrong time, and Spain kept control of the ball for long stretches, working it through Rodri and Fabián Ruiz without ever really needing to force things. Bradley Barcola had France’s one real sight of goal in the half, firing over from a decent position, but by the break Spain had racked up almost a full expected goal’s worth of chances to France’s practically nothing.
The second half only underlined how far apart the two sides were on the day. Spain doubled their lead in the 58th minute through a move that summed up their whole performance — Porro combined with Dani Olmo in the right half-space, Olmo laid it back into space, and Porro swept it past Maignan first time. Three minutes later it nearly got even worse for France: Yamal rounded Digne inside the six-yard box and curled a gorgeous finish past the keeper, only for the flag to go up. He’d set off just a fraction too early. Mbappé did eventually get into the game midway through the half, forcing Unai Simón into his first real save of the night and later drilling a low effort that Cucurella just managed to block, but it was too little, too late — France never had a shot on target in the second half that truly threatened the lead.
What stood out most, honestly, was just how little Spain gave away. France came into the semi-final having scored 16 goals in six matches, the most eye-catching attack of the whole tournament, and Spain restricted all of that — Mbappé, Dembélé, Olise, Doué — to a combined 0.3 expected goals from ten shots. It’s the lowest xG total conceded by any team in a World Cup semi-final since Brazil against Sweden back in 1994. Spain haven’t just beaten France; according to the in-depth data breakdown of the match, they’ve become the first European nation ever to win eight straight knockout matches across the World Cup and the Euros combined, and they’re only the fourth team this century to reach a final without trailing in a single game along the way.
For Oyarzabal, it’s now five goals at this World Cup — a mark only David Villa and Emilio Butragueño have matched for Spain at a single tournament — and Olmo’s assist means he now shares the all-time Spanish record for assists at major tournaments. On the other side, it’s a brutal way for Didier Deschamps’ long reign in charge of France to come to an end, with speculation already building over whether Zinedine Zidane takes the reins next. Mbappé, who broke the French appearance record at World Cups in this very match, will have to settle for the third-place game on Saturday instead of a third straight final.
Spain now await the winner of Wednesday’s second semi-final between Argentina and England to find out who they’ll face in Sunday’s final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey — a rematch of 2010 if it’s the Netherlands, though it won’t be. Whoever it is, Luis de la Fuente’s side will go in as favourites after a night in Texas where they made the tournament’s most fearsome attack look toothless.
MATCH SUMMARY
France 0-2 Spain FIFA World Cup 2026, Semi-final — Dallas Stadium (AT&T Stadium), Arlington, Texas Tuesday, 14 July 2026 Referee: Iván Barton
Goals: 22′ Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain) 0-1 (penalty) 58′ Pedro Porro (Spain) 0-2 (assist: Dani Olmo)
Disallowed: Lamine Yamal (Spain), 61′ — ruled out for offside
Key stats: Spain restricted France to 0.3 xG from 10 shots (3 on target). Spain held 56% possession in the first half and led 0.99-0.04 on expected goals at the break.
Result: Spain advance to the World Cup final for the first time since 2010, where they’ll face the winner of Argentina vs England. France head to Saturday’s third-place playoff.
