France arrived in Texas on Tuesday with six wins from six, 16 goals scored, and a defense that had not been breached in almost six hours of football. They left with nothing.
Spain beat France 2-0 in the first World Cup semifinal, a controlled, almost clinical performance that sent the tournament favorites home and put the European champions into their first final since 2010. Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the spot, Pedro Porro added the second, and Kylian Mbappé never got close.
Here is how Spain did it, why France could not respond, and what it means for Sunday.
How Spain Beat France in Dallas
France 0-2 Spain (Oyarzabal 22′ pen, Porro 58′) – Dallas Stadium, Arlington
The first half was quiet until it was not. In the 22nd minute, a searching ball to the back post found Lamine Yamal, and Lucas Digne brought him down. The referee pointed to the spot, and Oyarzabal dispatched the penalty with the calm of a man who has done it all tournament. It was his fifth goal in six matches, more than any other Spain player.
The goal snapped a French streak of 358 minutes without conceding, a run stretching back to their 4-1 win over Norway in the group stage.
Spain doubled it in the 58th minute through their right back. Porro played a give-and-go with Dani Olmo, took the return, and side-footed past Mike Maignan. They might have had a third when Yamal curled one in from close range, but the offside flag went up.
Why France Could Not Respond
Spain beat France without ever needing to overwhelm them, and the numbers are brutal. France managed 10 shots and just three on target, and generated only 0.3 expected goals from the lot. For a front line of Mbappé, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, and Desire Doue, that is close to a shutout in every sense.
Didier Deschamps threw on five substitutes and lost William Saliba to injury inside half an hour. Nothing shifted the pattern. Unai Simon was barely troubled behind a Spanish back line that has now kept five clean sheets and conceded a single goal in the entire tournament, the meanest record in the competition.
Mbappe finishes the World Cup tied with Lionel Messi on eight goals in the Golden Boot race, but he goes home. The narrative built around his coronation in North America ended with a Spanish teenager winning the penalty that beat him.
The Yamal Question
Lamine Yamal did not score, and he was still the most consequential player on the field.
He won the penalty, forced the offside chance, and drew France’s defensive attention all night. Not everyone is convinced, and pundits have spent the tournament arguing about whether he has genuinely delivered. What is not arguable is the result. When Spain beat France in a semifinal with the world watching, it was Yamal who created the moment that decided it.
Around him, Rodri and Fabian Ruiz controlled the midfield in a match that Spain finished with 51 percent possession and only 10 shots. This was not a team that overwhelmed France. It was a team that never let France start.
What Sunday Looks Like
Spain will play the winner of the England against Argentina match, the second semifinal in Atlanta, in the final at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, 19 July.
The two teams are separated by almost nothing. According to the official FIFA match report, Spain reached this point unbeaten, with five wins and a draw, having beaten Portugal and Belgium in the knockout rounds. Whoever emerges from Atlanta will face a side that has conceded once in six matches.
France dropped into the third-place playoff, an appointment nobody in that squad wanted. Sixteen goals, six wins, and the best start to a World Cup they have managed since 1958, but it ends in the consolation match.
Spain beat France to get here, and they are now 90 minutes from repeating 2010. They have not looked like a team in a hurry all tournament. They do not look like one now.
Argentina’s route to this stage began with one of the great comebacks of the tournament, which we covered in our report from Atlanta.
Stay with NEWSCOUR for the latest as the World Cup final approaches.
