Spain beat France 2-0 in the first World Cup semi-final in Dallas, delivering a disciplined, tactically consistent performance to book their place in the final.
Luis de la Fuente’s side gave France no room to respond, denying Les Bleus a third consecutive World Cup final. Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot and Pedro Porro added a second goal.
Spain will now face the winner of the second semi-final between Argentina and England, played on Wednesday, July 15 at 22:00. The final will be held on Sunday, July 19 at 22:00.
How the match unfolded
Both sides shared possession early on without taking many risks, and the game was instead marked by tough tackling. Adrien Rabiot received the match’s first yellow card in the ninth minute.
Shots from Álex Baena in the 11th minute and Michael Olise in the 16th minute posed little threat, and Olise avoided punishment for a heavy challenge on Rodri shortly afterwards. The match turned in the 20th minute, when a mistake by Lucas Digne and a foul on Lamine Yamal inside the box gave Spain a penalty. Oyarzabal stepped up and scored, putting Spain 1-0 ahead in the 22nd minute.
France’s problems continued in the 29th minute when William Saliba went down injured and was forced off, replaced by Maxence Lacroix. Spain continued to press and came close to a second goal in the 38th minute, when a team move involving a back-heel from Dani Olmo set up Yamal, whose cross was cleared at the last moment by Dayot Upamecano as Fabián Ruiz waited for a tap-in.
The second half began with an Oyarzabal shot from outside the box in the 51st minute that went narrowly wide. Spain doubled their lead soon after: in the 58th minute, Porro combined with Olmo, found himself one-on-one with Mike Maignan, and finished coolly to make it 2-0.
Bradley Barcola had been replaced by Désiré Doué in the 57th minute as France searched for a way back. Yamal thought he had scored a third goal for Spain shortly afterwards, but it was ruled out for offside. In the 78th minute, a header from Ferran Torres, who had come on for Oyarzabal, went wide.
In the 81st minute, Kylian Mbappé broke into space but was denied by a clearing header from Unai Simón. Doué then tried a shot from distance, which Simón saved. France continued to push forward but could not break down Spain’s defence, and the score remained 2-0 until the final whistle.
Line-ups
France (Didier Deschamps): Maignan – Digne (72′ Théo Hernández), Upamecano, Saliba (30′ Lacroix), Koundé – Rabiot (46′ Manu Koné), Tchouaméni – Olise (72′ Rayan Cherki), Dembélé, Barcola (57′ Doué) – Mbappé.
Spain (Luis de la Fuente): Simón – Porro (84′ Marcos Llorente), Cubarsí, Laporte, Cucurella – Rodri, Fabián Ruiz (78′ Pedri), Olmo (78′ Mikel Merino) – Yamal, Baena (84′ Nico Williams), Oyarzabal (74′ Ferran Torres).
