Spain produced a tactical masterclass to defeat tournament favourites France 2-0 in the semi-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday, booking their place in Sunday's final against either Argentina or England. Goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro sealed a commanding victory at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — a suburb of Dallas — as the reigning European champions outclassed a French side that had been widely tipped to lift the trophy.
Spain's dominant midfield trio of Rodri, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo overran France's Adrien Rabiot and Aurélien Tchouaméni from the outset, controlling possession and denying France's star-studded attack any meaningful foothold. The deadlock was broken in the 20th minute when left-back Lucas Digne caught Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal with a reckless challenge inside the box. El Salvador referee Ivan Barton immediately pointed to the spot, and Oyarzabal hammered the penalty past goalkeeper Mike Maignan — his fifth goal of the tournament — to hand France their first deficit of the competition. France's afternoon worsened when central defender William Saliba hobbled off after 31 minutes with a recurrence of a lower back injury, replaced by Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix.
Spain doubled their advantage on 58 minutes with a goal of the highest quality. Porro played a sharp one-two with Olmo on the edge of the area and coolly slotted past Maignan to make it 2-0. Lamine Yamal thought he had added a third shortly afterwards, but the effort was ruled out for offside. France coach Didier Deschamps responded with a flurry of substitutions, bringing on Désiré Doué, Théo Hernandez and Rayan Cherki, but Spain's defence — which has conceded just once in the entire tournament — refused to yield. Kylian Mbappé, whose rivalry with Yamal had been the pre-match storyline, saw a shot blocked at the near post and was eventually booked for a reckless challenge in the dying minutes.
The result is a bitter disappointment for France, who had reached the previous two World Cup finals — winning in 2018 and losing on penalties to Argentina in Qatar in 2022. Deschamps, who is stepping down after 14 years as coach, conceded his team had been outplayed.