Spain will play a first World Cup final since winning it in 2010 after totally outclassing Kylian Mbappe and France to win the semifinal in Dallas 2-0.
Spain came into the game unbeaten in 36 games and took the lead from the penalty spot when Lucas Digne swung a leg without looking and felled Lamine Yamal, with Mikel Oyarzabal rolling in the penalty for his fifth goal of the tournament.
France then lost Arsenal centre-back William Saliba to an injury and a reshaped defence was torn apart early in the second half with Pedro Porro finishing off a smart team move.
Spain will play England or Argentina in the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday. France will face the loser of that game in the bronze final in Miami on Saturday.
France did not have a shot on target until the 81st minute when substitute Desire Doue underhit an attempted lob. Mbappe was booked at the end for a challenge on goalkeeper Unai Simon as frustrations threatened to boil over.
Here The Athletic’s Jack Lang, Thom Harris, Dermot Corrigan and refereeing expert Graham Scott break down the key talking points.
Was Spain always the World Cup’s best team?
Perhaps we underestimated Spain. Perhaps we were so preoccupied with France, Kylian Mbappe and the rest of their freescoring attack that we overlooked the quality of a Spain team that (if we exclude a penalty-shootout defeat against Portugal in the Nations League final last year) hasn’t lost a match since March 2023.
Curiously, it feels as though Spain has almost gone under the radar at this World Cup up until now. Drawing their first match against Cape Verde was viewed as an embarrassment, and it was hard to get too excited about the remainder of a group stage that featured wins over Saudi Arabia and a poor Uruguay side.
On top of that, there was also the Lamine Yamal situation. Hampered by a hamstring injury that curtailed his involvement early on, Yamal hasn’t been the headline act that many expected him to be. “Lamine’s great day is still to come at this World Cup,” Luis de la Fuente said on the eve of the France game.
Yamal and Spain outclassed France (Photo: Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Well, it’s time for a rethink if you had any doubts. Spain’s hugely impressive victory over France served as a reminder that there’s no team better at passing the ball in world football. There were even ‘oles’ in the final minutes against France as Spain toyed with their opponents.
Spain also happen to have the best defensive record in the tournament — France managed only one shot on target prior to added time — and the way that Yamal played here suggests that he may be peaking at just the right time. One thing is for sure, Lucas Digne will never want to see him again.
Stuart James
Why did Mbappe and France’s attacking stars fail?
In the early offings, Bradley Barcola lured Pedro Porro into a rash challenge out on Spain’s right flank. Barcola clipped the ball over his marker, galloped towards the box and saw a left-footed cross charged down. It felt like an early marker laid down by the France attack, this World Cup’s demolition crew of choice. Instead, it was to be their only real moment of incision in the first hour of the match.
Soon after, Michael Olise had the chance to free Kylian Mbappe with the Spain defence stretched. Olise, perhaps the best creative player in the world, couldn’t pick the right pass. That became the pattern — for him, for Barcola and for Ousmane Dembele. Everything was just slightly overhit or misdirected. Every good idea was undone in the execution.
Mbappe reacts during his side’s disappointing performance (Photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
The French frustration was evident. Olise drifted to the right wing, hoping to get some more change from Marc Cucurella, but didn’t. He crunched Rodri and was lucky not to be booked. Barcola and Dembele drifted to little effect. Up front, Mbappe looked isolated and kept getting flagged offside.
Didier Deschamps, to be fair, acted relatively quickly, throwing Desire Doue on for Barcola before the hour mark. Rayan Cherki joined him later, replacing Olise. By that point, though, Spain were two up and cruising. And France, owners of the best attack in the tournament, had yet to have a shot on target.
Their first only came in the 81st minute and summed up their performance. Unai Simon rushed from the Spain goal to deny Mbappe, the ball falling to Doue. It was not an easy chance but his effort — low, scuffed, easily kept out — was miles below the standards he and his team-mates had set before this match.
Jack Lang
How did Spain take the lead?
This is not the first time that we’ve seen a penalty awarded for a swing-and-a-miss clearance; Luke Modric was punished for attempting to volley the ball away against England and catching Noni Madueke, before Harry Kane clipped Brian Gutierrez on the heel. You could see this one coming from a mile off.
As soon as the ball flicked off Lucas Digne’s head, with Lamine Yamal steaming forward behind him, calamity loomed. France’s left-back, on his way to Paris Saint-Germain this summer, instinctively swivelled and attempted to clear, taking out the incoming Yamal with a swipe through the thigh.
The young winger seemed to anticipate it too — he likely would have fallen even if Digne hadn’t clattered into him, hurling himself towards the ball — but in doing so, he absorbed the contact and gave referee Ivan Barton no choice.
Mikel Oyarzabal dispatched with a driven penalty to the keeper’s left, and Spain took a precious early lead.
Thom Harris
Did Yamal commit handball before he was fouled?
The cut-off point for handball is known as the ‘green zone’ and is in line with the bottom of the armpit. If the ball hits a player on that line or above, it cannot be an offence.
Unhelpfully, it is sometimes referred to as the ‘T-shirt line’, but such sleeves usually extend much lower down the arm.
I think this strikes the attacker lower, but his arm is entirely within his bodyline and his elbow is tucked in, both of which are also sufficient mitigation to make it a correct decision to play on for the handball and penalise the foul by Digne.
Refereeing expert Graham Scott
Did France ignore a warning?
Moments before Pedro Porro doubled Spain’s lead, darting inside to get on the end of a neat one-two with Dani Olmo and finishing confidently over Mike Maignan, the sirens will have sounded for Deschamps.
His midfield looked increasingly leggy and disorganised as Spain took control of the game in the second half, as the imperious Rodri won all of his duels and passed the ball effortlessly around spurts of French pressure.
That fatigue was most notable on 57 minutes, as Aymeric Laporte stepped out of defence with the ball at his feet and filtered a simple forward through pass to Olmo, who let the ball run across his body and ambled into the space.
Olmo’s advanced positioning caused the French midfield plenty of issues, lurking behind them and picking up pockets of space ahead of the back-four. His link-up play on the edge of the box was typically excellent, epitomised by his clever backheel for Yamal in the first half and his nicely weighted pass through to Porro in the second.
It seemed a strange collapse in the centre of the pitch for France, but it is only testament to the relentless movement and snappy counter-press from Spain that can move around and tire out even the sturdiest of midfields.
Thom Harris
What happened to Saliba?
The sight of William Saliba limping off with an injury in the World Cup semi-final against Spain completed a miserable first half for France, yet it was also not particularly surprising given the comments that the Arsenal defender has made this summer.
A key pillar for club and country, Saliba has been playing through pain for some time and made no secret of the fact that he was not 100 per cent fit earlier in the tournament.
“I’ve had some minor niggles for several months,” he said before France’s group game against Iraq. “I’ve been gritting my teeth because there was the Champions League and the Premier League. But the coaching staff are handling it very well.”
His centre-back partnership with Dayot Upamecano for France is every bit as important as the relationship he has with Gabriel at club level. Strong in the tackle and an excellent reader of the game, Saliba also brings composure on the ball and experience. In contrast, Maxence Lacroix, his replacement against Spain, was winning only his sixth cap.
Arsenal, naturally, will be concerned given Saliba’s importance to the team. The Premier League champions start their title defence against Coventry City in just over a month’s time. Saliba looks and sounds like a player who needs an extended rest.
Stuart James
Is Rodri back to his Ballon d’Or best?
Rodri has had an injury-affected time for club and country since guiding Spain to Euro 2024, but he has returned to form triumphantly through this tournament.
De la Fuente’s Spain are such a well-organised machine, on and off the ball, with every player knowing where they need to be, and what they need to do when they get the ball.
At the centre of everything is their now 30-year-old captain, orchestrating Spain’s long spells of possession with perceptive short and long passing, while also leading their pressing to win it back as soon as possible.
Just before half-time when France had a spell of possession in Spain’s half, he showed superb anticipation to step across and nick the ball off Dembele’s toe. A few moments later, he raced out to the left to block Digne’s cross. Wherever he was needed, Rodri was there.
On the ball, Rodri was also omnipresent, linking superbly well with midfield colleagues Fabian and Dani Olmo as Spain dominated the central areas. Olise was, in theory, the French player closest to him, but was often chasing shadows, with his frustration shown even early in the game with a late cruncher which could have brought a yellow card for the Bayern Munich player.
Rodri’s efforts as Spain won the Euros two years ago saw him winning that year’s Ballon d’Or. Earlier in this tournament, any repeat of that seemed impossible as superstar attackers were deciding games and dominating headlines.
But history shows that the teams who win the biggest competitions often have the best midfielders. And no side in this tournament has anybody who can control the most difficult games as well as Rodri can.
Where does this leave the Golden Boot race?
Despite Mbappe’s “elimination” from the tournament with this comprehensive defeat, the 27-year-old will have another opportunity to add to his eight goals so far this summer as they take on the losing side from England’s clash with Argentina tomorrow.
FIFA is billing the game as the “Bronze Final” match, but in reality it is the game that no one wants to play. If Mbappe starts, he may have the chance to rack up a few more against dispirited opposition, while either Messi or Kane are involved in what we can assume will be a much cagier final.
It would not be the first time that the third-place play-off game has played a part in the race — Just Fontaine famously added four to his record-breaking tally of 13 goals against West Germany in 1958.
How it stands
Kylian Mbappe: 8
Lionel Messi: 8
Erling Haaland: 7
Jude Bellingham: 6
Harry Kane: 6
Ousmane Dembele: 5
Mikel Oyarzabal: 5
Thom Harris
What did the referee forget?
Ivan Barton looked mildly embarrassed when he realised that he had forgotten to take his can of vanishing spray onto the field.
He had to delay a free kick so he could retrieve a spare from the fourth official.
It’s easily done. I once took the field without mine for an EFL Championship game at Leeds United, and was issued with the standard fine.
This was literally more than my match fee (after tax), so I would have been better off staying at home.
I doubt Barton was fined for his indiscretion, and I hope his fee is rather more than a league game in England.
Graham Scott
