rewrite this title World Cup 2026: France 0-2 Spain – Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro strike as European champions reach final

European champions Spain are into the World Cup final after beating lacklustre France 2-0 in Dallas.

The semi-final showdown between the tournament’s two favourites and standout sides had been eagerly anticipated – but France didn’t show up.

As bad as France were, Spain demonstrated their all-round strength to book their spot in Sunday’s final, where they will face either an England side they beat in the Euro 2024 final or world champions Argentina.

With Kylian Mbappe shackled and Les Bleus’ other attackers, including Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembele, blunted, Spain struck in each half. Mikel Oyarzabal slammed in a penalty after Lucas Digne kicked Lamine Yamal as he tried to clear the ball, before Pedro Porro connected with Dani Olmo to slot in the second after a slick move.

France had mustered just two shots and none on target when Porro hit the net and they couldn’t come up with any Bastille Day fireworks in the final stages to scare Spain. Michael Olise, the World Cup’s top creator, was subbed off on 72 minutes, summing up how badly their attack had misfired.

A third-place play-off awaits them on Saturday now – an underwhelming end to Didier Deschamps’ 14-year tenure.

But Spain roll on. They beat France in the semi-finals on their way to their European championship success two summers ago and repeated the trick in the Nations League semi-finals in 2025. This made it three of a kind – and Spain are now unbeaten in their last 37 matches across all competitions, a joint-record for a European nation.

Luis de la Fuente’s side are now primed to repeat the Euros-World Cup double Spain sealed at the 2010 World Cup. They are going to take some stopping in New York/New Jersey.

De La Fuente labels Spain ‘best team in the world’

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente: “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 different.

“These players deserve everything – day after day they’ve shown their commitment, their solidarity, their generosity, their talent. They make the difficult look easy.”

The key moments from Dallas…

22: GOAL! Oyarzabal slams in a Spain penalty after Digne kicks Lamine Yamal as he tries to clear the ball out of the France box.

30: INJURY! William Saliba is forced off with injury and is replaced by Maxence Lacroix

38: CLOSE! A brilliant Spain move leads to Dani Olmo backheeling the ball into the box for Lamine Yamal. He crosses rather than shoots and Fabian Ruiz’s effort is blocked just wide for a corner.

58: GOAL! Pedro Porro exchanges passes with Dani Olmo and slots in Spain’s second.

61: NO GOAL! Lamine Yamal breaks through and hits the net but is narrowly offside.

72: SUB! The ineffective Michael Olise is hooked. He came into the game with five assists in this World Cup but created just two chances and completed neither of his two dribbles.

79: MISS! Ferran Torres sends a great headed chance wide as Spain look for a third.

81: ERROR! Unai Simon rushes out of his area but sends his headed clearance to Desire Doue – but it’s a poor effort from the sub who hits his shot at the scrambling keeper.

Analysis: France fail to show their best when it matters

Sky Sports Peter Smith:

“Through this World Cup, France have looked like a team who had everything. The fab four-man frontline was slick, a joy to watch and produced moments of magic. Their defence was formidable, with clean sheets in each of their three knockout games up to this point. They also carried huge strength in depth.

“This was a squad the envy of every other nation at the World Cup. But on the big day, they were a shadow of themselves.

“France fans in the stands looked dejected but Bastille Day celebrations back home will have fallen flat as supporters watched this painful performance from afar.

“The blunt first-half display had alarm bells ringing but there was always the feeling this France team can turn it on when it matters. They often step up in the second half. But they were unable to life the intensity in Dallas’ air-conditioned stadium until the final moments.

“As good as Spain were, this match was about France failing to fire when everyone was expecting them to show their strength.”

Deschamps blames technical errors

France boss Didier Deschamps: “The players are devastated because we had high ambitions, even though we have to admit that today we were a notch below our usual level technically, facing a team that really had a handle on the game.

“It’s primarily our own fault. We fell short and weren’t as dangerous in attack as we could have been, making a few technical errors on passes that might have led to scoring chances. That’s the reality of the elite level, even if it hurts.”

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