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Spain produced a disciplined all-around performance to defeat France 2-0 in the FIFA World Cup semifinal at Dallas Stadium, booking its place in the World Cup final for the second time since lifting the trophy in 2010.
Goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro ended France’s campaign and underscored Spain’s credentials as European champions. Organized defending and clinical finishing allowed La Roja to contain a French side led by Kylian Mbappe while capitalizing on its scoring opportunities.
Spain will face the winner of the semifinal between defending champion Argentina and England in Sunday’s World Cup final at New York New Jersey Stadium. Spain won its only previous World Cup title in 2010, when Andres Iniesta scored the winning goal against the Netherlands.
France, the runner-up in 2022, entered the match as the favorite. Mbappe threatened on the counterattack early, but Spain created the first clear opportunity when Lamine Yamal, a day after his 19th birthday, reached the ball ahead of Lucas Digne and was fouled inside the penalty area.
Oyarzabal converted the resulting penalty with a powerful strike beyond France goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
Porro doubled Spain’s lead after combining with Dani Olmo in a well-worked one-two before calmly finishing into the bottom corner.
France pushed forward in search of a comeback, introducing Desire Doue and Rayan Cherki to add attacking impetus. Goalkeeper Unai Simon made several key interventions, including sweeping up dangerous attacks, while Marc Cucurella produced a crucial challenge to deny Mbappe. Spain’s defense remained resolute through the final whistle.
France will now play in Saturday’s third-place match, where Mbappe will have another opportunity to add to his tournament tally in the race for the adidas Golden Boot. Like Argentina captain Lionel Messi, Mbappe remains on eight goals.
Oyarzabal continued his prolific international form, scoring his 30th goal for Spain. He became only the sixth Spanish player to reach that milestone, joining David Villa (59), Raul (44), Fernando Torres (38), Alvaro Morata (37), and David Silva (35). He has now scored 18 goals in his last 20 appearances for Spain.
Spain has conceded just two goals throughout the tournament while recording seven clean sheets. If it wins the title, it would match the World Cup record for fewest goals conceded by a champion, a mark shared by France in 1998, Italy in 2006, and Spain in 2010.
Spain’s victory also highlighted its trademark possession-based style. France managed only one shot on target before stoppage time as Spain controlled the tempo and limited scoring opportunities.
Spain recovered impressively after opening its tournament with a draw against Cape Verde, then advanced through the group stage with victories over Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.
Yamal, who had been limited earlier in the tournament by a hamstring injury, delivered an influential performance. Ahead of the semifinal, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente had expressed confidence that the teenager’s best football was still to come.
“We started almost four years ago with an idea, and we’ve been faithful to that idea and it’s brought us here. Today we faced one of the best national teams in the world, but in front of them they had the best team in the world. That is the difference. These players deserve everything. Day after day, they’ve shown their commitment, solidarity, generosity, and talent. They make the difficult look easy,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente after the match.
“It’s a dream come true. It’s honestly beyond my wildest dreams. I think we played a great game and did everything we had to do to reach the final. We knew we were up against a really tough team. This is the team’s achievement, not mine. It’s simply about congratulating everyone because they played a fantastic match,” said Pedro Porro, who scored Spain’s second goal.
