Mbappe & France Retreat As Spain March On To 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals With 2-O Win

Arlington: Spain booked their place in the FIFA World Cup final with a composed 2-0 victory over France at Arlington Stadium in Texas on Tuesday, extending a remarkable run of success against Les Bleus. The result registered Spain’s third consecutive tournament semi-final win over France in the past 12 months, following victories in the Euro 2024 last 4 and the 2025 UEFA Nations League semi-finals.

The outcome of the semi-final faceoff also sent La Roja into their second-ever World Cup final, where they will meet either defending champions Argentina or England on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.

As Spain marched to the final, France's heartbreaking defeat also ended hopes of becoming only the third nation to reach 3 straight World Cup finals. Didier Deschamps’ side, ranked No.1 in the world, will now contest the third-place play-off in Miami Gardens on Saturday.

Oyarzabal And Porro Fire Spain Into Final

Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute after 19-year-old Lamine Yamal was fouled inside the box by Lucas Digne. Yamal had pressed Digne into a poor first touch, and as the defender tried to clear, his boot caught the teenager after the ball struck Yamal’s elbow.

The penalty was Oyarzabal’s 5th goal of the tournament and his 30th in 60 appearances for Spain, earning him the milestone of being the 6th player after David Villa, Raul, Fernando Torres, Alvaro Morata and David Silva. He has now scored 18 times in his last 20 games for his country.

Spain doubled their lead 13 minutes into the second half, as Pedro Porro finished a slick move, receiving a return pass from Dani Olmo after the midfielder had just managed to get the ball away before being upended by Dayot Upamecano. Porro’s strike was enough to put the game beyond France and earned him the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

Yamal almost had a goal of his own on his first appearance after his 19th birthday, only to be flagged offside shortly after Porro’s goal. However, it was his drive against a seasoned defender that had created the breakthrough earlier.

France Frustrated By Injuries

France’s night unravelled further when centre-back William Saliba was forced off midway through the first half with a back problem and replaced by Maxence Lacroix. Deschamps tried to alter the tempo at half-time, bringing on Manu Kone for Adrien Rabiot, and later introduced Desire Doue for Bradley Barcola.

However, Spain kept control through continuous pressing and key interventions from goalkeeper Unai Simon, who has now kept 6 clean sheets and conceded just once in 7 matches at this World Cup. France’s attacking trio of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise were kept largely quiet, and Spain took a 1-0 lead into the break.

In the present game, history was also against France, since only Argentina in 1990 against Italy and Croatia in 2018 against England have ever come from behind at half-time to win a World Cup semi-final.

Porro stated afterwards, “We gave it our all in order just to go through to the final…...We knew that we’re a very tough team, we’re doing things really well. This is our team, it’s not about me.”

Spain Equal Record, Eye Second World Cup Crown

The win took Spain to 37 matches unbeaten in regular time, matching Italy’s record. The run of 28 wins and 9 draws stretches back to March 2024 and surpasses Spain’s previous best of 35 between 2007 and 2009. It also ended France’s record-equalling streak of 6 straight World Cup victories, a mark set in 2018 and 2022.

Spain goalkeeper Simon has been central to that resilience, while France had conceded only 2 goals in their first six games prior to Tuesday. Coach Luis de la Fuente was bullish after full-time. “They were facing the best team in the world,” he said.

Midfielder Rodri summed up the mood in the camp, saying, “So difficult to get to this moment, but we want more. We want to win this World Cup.”

It was a chastening evening for France, with midfielder Rayan Cherki saying, “In so many ways, France was missing everything today…….Truly, everything was missing today. We’ll be back in four years and we won’t make the same mistakes.”

After the defeat, Mbappe and company will now regroup for the third-place match, while Spain turn their attention to a final against either Argentina or England, who meet in Atlanta on Wednesday. Pertinently, it will be Spain’s first appearance in the showpiece since lifting the trophy in 2010.