Spain booked their place in the World Cup final with a composed, convincing 2-0 victory over favorites France at Dallas Stadium.
Luis de la Fuente’s side stifled a star-studded French attack, controlled a largely quiet match, and earned their spot in Sunday’s (July 19, 2026) final thanks to goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro.
The breakthrough came midway through the first half when Lucas Digne’s poor clearance led to contact on Lamine Yamal in the box. Oyarzabal stepped up and confidently buried the penalty into the corner. With the lead, Spain grew more assured and tightened their grip on the game.
France struggled to respond after the interval. Instead, Spain extended their advantage when Porro combined neatly with Dani Olmo and finished at the near post.
Despite having more than 30 minutes to stage a comeback, France found Spain’s defensive discipline impenetrable - the Spanish side have now conceded only once all tournament.
Spain stayed calm and clinical to the final whistle, seeing out the win comfortably. For France, the run to a potential third straight final ends here; they now prepare for Saturday’s third-place play-off and the close of Didier Deschamps’ 14-year tenure as head coach.
Spain will head to New Jersey to wait for the winner of Wednesday’s semi-final between England and Argentina as they chase a second World Cup crown.
Analysis by BBC: Spain's defensive prowess shines through
It was a game billed as this World Cup's best attack against the tournament's most stubborn defence.
In the end, it was no contest.
While France have dazzled with some of their attacking play, Spain have gone under the radar to some extent - with their measured control a little less eye-catching - but if there were any doubts about their overall quality, they can surely be thrown out now.
The side that triumphed at Euro 2024 was headlined by the thrilling wing play of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.
Injury has limited the impact of both this time around, with just one goal between them, although Lamine Yamal's influence has steadily grown as the tournament has progressed.
Yet Spain find themselves in just their second World Cup final, hoping to emulate the great team of 2010 who lifted the trophy in South Africa.
Against France, Rodri was supreme in the middle of the park, snuffing out countless attacks before getting his team moving forward, dictating play and - after a long spell out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury - now looking close to the level that won him the Ballon d'Or in 2024.
Fabian Ruiz was the perfect foil beside him, justifying his selection ahead of Barcelona playmaker Pedri, while the defence once again showed their class.
It is a testament to not just the back four and goalkeeper, but the entire team - and coach De la Fuente - that it took until the 81st minute for France to have their first shot on target.
Tournament football, we are told, is all about peaking at the right time - and having just brushed a much-vaunted France aside, Spain may be doing just that.
Analysis: France fizzle out after so much promise
At times at this World Cup, it felt as though it was just a matter of counting down the days until France lifted the trophy.
They had the all-star attack with an electric Kylian Mbappe leading the charge as they breezed through to semi-finals.
In the knockout stages, they defeated Sweden comfortably, showed impressive restraint in seeing off a robust Paraguay side and then cruised to victory over Morocco.
A supporting cast of Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and whichever they fancied of double Champions League winners Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue meant that even if Mbappe had an off day, a moment of brilliance still was not far away.
But not here.
For all Spain's brilliance, this was a remarkably flat performance from a France team previously defined by its vibrancy at this World Cup.
Digne's mishap meant Les Bleus fell behind for the first time in the tournament, a blow that was compounded by losing William Saliba to injury a few minutes later.
But a team set up to platform their most exciting forward players were largely unable to do that. Instead, especially in the second half, a well-drilled Spain team ensured that France's most dangerous players only received the ball in areas where they could be controlled.
For all that it felt as if one France goal could change the complexion of the game, Spain's ability to dictate the play in and out of possession made it hard to see where it would come from.
Given all the excitement they provided, this is a sorry end for France, who had hoped to send Deschamps off in a blaze of glory with the second World Cup of his managerial reign.
Instead, he will bow out in the more low-key setting of the third-place play-off.
That will at least give Mbappe the chance to continue his push for the Golden Boot - and perhaps become the World Cup's record goalscorer in the process - but the prize that he and France came for is out of reach for another four years, the BBC analysis concluded.
0 comments:
Post a Comment