France came into this semifinal as 2026 FIFA World Cup favorites. Spain left them looking like anything but.
In a match billed as a 50-50 encounter between two European heavyweights, Spain were simply the better team from first whistle to last—dominant, disciplined, and ruthlessly effective in ways that exposed every structural weakness Didier Deschamps’ side carries. The final score of 2-0 does not flatter Spain. If anything, it understates their control.
Mikel Oyarzabal put Spain ahead in the 20th minute from the penalty spot after France left back Lucas Digne inadvertently kicked Lamine Yamal in the box. It was one of several errors that littered a dismal French first-half performance. Then, ten minutes later, France lost Arsenal center-back William Saliba to a back injury—a blow that weakened an already vulnerable defensive structure even further.
France briefly found some footing after the break, but Pedro Porro killed that momentum with Spain’s second. The right back played a delightful one-two with Dani Olmo before calmly slotting his finish past Mike Maignan. The game was over as a contest.
For all the attacking talent France possess—Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola—they ended the match with an expected goals total of just 0.3. The reigning European champions had snuffed them out completely. Spain reach their second World Cup final and their first since lifting the trophy in 2010. England or Argentina await on Sunday.
How Spain Did It
The tactical story of this match is worth telling properly, because Spain did not simply outrun France. They outsmarted them.
Spain’s press was the critical weapon. By winning the ball back quickly and denying France the space behind the defensive line, they robbed Deschamps’ front three of their primary weapon—the long ball in behind for Mbappe, Barcola, and Dembele to run onto. Without that outlet, France’s attack had nowhere to operate. Their midfield duo of Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchaoumeni were outmanned and outfought by Spain’s engine room. The back four, composed of defenders not known for their ability on the ball, provided little support in building out from the back—and that situation worsened when Saliba was replaced by Maxence Lacroix.
Deschamps tried adjustments. He dropped Michael Olise deeper to try to create an additional passing option, but the Bayern Munich forward had a rough afternoon, squeezed between Rodri and Fabian Ruiz. At halftime, Deschamps brought on Manu Kone in place of Rabiot, sacrificing physicality for passing quality. It made no difference. He also left Mbappe and Dembele high even in defensive situations, gambling on a long clearance catching Spain’s defence in a two-on-two. Instead, it simply invited more pressure—which is precisely how Porro’s goal arrived.
Spain kept the ball for long stretches and pressed ferociously the moment they lost it. It is a form of football that very few teams at this World Cup can replicate, and France had no answer for it.
The End of an Era
Deschamps will step down as France manager after this tournament—a decision confirmed before the semifinals. This is not the farewell he would have wanted. France were World Cup winners in 2018 and finalists in 2022. A semifinal exit at the hands of a Spain team that simply did not allow them to play is a painful way to end a trophy-laden reign.
The criticism will come, and some of it will be fair. Compared to Spain coach Luis de la Fuente’s sophisticated tactical approach, Deschamps’ method—keep things simple, stay organised, and trust the attacking talent to find a way—was exposed brutally on the one night his stars could not find it.
But it is also worth acknowledging the limits of what any coach can do when the opponent controls the ball this well and presses this relentlessly. France ran into a team built specifically to take away everything they do best. On another night, in another game, Mbappe might have found the crack. On Wednesday, in the semis, Spain gave him none.
Spain are in the final. France are going home. The biggest game in world football awaits.
