Spain suffocated France deep in the heart of Texas on ‌Tuesday, powering into their first World Cup final since lifting the trophy in ​2010 with a spellbinding 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro ⁠Porro.

From the opening whistle, the Spaniards wrapped themselves around France like an anaconda, tightening their grip with every wave of pressing and every spell of possession until the life had been squeezed from a French attack that ‌had looked irresistible throughout the tournament.

France vs Spain, FIFA World Cup semifinal Highlights

The European champions are now within one victory of completing a double of the game’s biggest prizes. They will discover their final opponents ‌on Wednesday when England face Argentina in Atlanta for a place in Sunday’s showpiece.

For a ‌country ⁠that waited generations for its first World Cup, a second title 16 years later ⁠would herald the arrival of another Spanish golden era, this one built around Lamine Yamal and a side as comfortable without mercy as it is with the ball.

Expectation and tension were high in Arlington as ringside announcer Bruce Buffer, a man ​who has never knowingly used an indoor ‌voice, bellowed the teams onto the pitch to launch a heavyweight clash worthy of the introduction.

A contest that had promised so much, however, swiftly tilted into a lop-sided affair as the Spaniards controlled the tempo as comprehensively as the ball, and left France chasing shadows.

Lethal attack

France had ‌come armed with the most lethal attack in world football, but it made little ​difference. Spain monopolised the ball, closed up the space and starved Les Bleus of the one thing their forwards needed — possession.

Incredibly for an international team, the Spaniards ⁠played like the best-drilled of club sides, telepathic in their movement and passing. France were reduced to spectators almost from the start and mustered just two shots on target.

It took 22 minutes for Spain to ‌break the deadlock. Marc Cucurella swung a deep cross into the French area that Lucas Digne brought down on his chest, but as the left back tried to clear, Yamal stepped across him and was caught by the follow through. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Oyarzabal drilled the penalty high into the net, giving Mike Maignan no chance despite the keeper diving the right way. France had not trailed at this World Cup and the scheduled hydration break could ‌hardly have come at a better moment for Didier Deschamps, handing him an immediate opportunity to settle his rattled ​side.

Still, France could find no breathing space for their free-flowing football and could have been 2-0 down 15 minutes later when Fabian Ruiz was denied by Dayot Upamecano’s ⁠last-ditch challenge with the goal at his mercy.

So potent against every other nation, France were nullified. Michael Olise was ⁠a virtual spectator, smothered by Cucurella, Ousmane Dembele offered little and even their star skipper Kylian Mbappe was unable to conjure any magic.

Spain tightened the coil another notch just ‌before the hour, when Porro doubled Spain’s lead, calmly exchanging passes with Dani Olmo before side-footing home, leaving France staring into the abyss.

There was to be no respite for the increasingly ​desperate French and Spain’s formidable side raised their arms and eyes to the skies as the final whistle blew.

France coach Didier Deschamps insisted he still sees Spain as World Cup favourites on Monday (July 13, 2026) ahead of Les Bleus’ blockbuster semi-final against the European champions.

France take on Spain at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) in a match widely seen as a collision of the best two teams in the tournament.

While Deschamps’ side have lit up the World Cup with a string of scintillating performances, Spain’s campaign has built momentum gradually following a shock 0-0 draw against minnows Cape Verde in their opening game.

Deschamps, though, maintains that France — beaten by Spain in their last two meetings — will be the underdog on Tuesday (July 14).

“Forget about the first game against Cape Verde,” Deschamps said of Spain’s campaign. “Ever since then Spain have confirmed that they are the favourites.

“I don’t want to add extra pressure to [Spain coach] Luis [de la Fuente] and their team — he knows very well that people are expecting great things of Spain.

“But Spain can attack well, and they can defend very well. They’ve only conceded one goal in the last six or seven matches.”

Spain coach De la Fuente meanwhile smiled when asked for his response to Deschamps’ comments at an eve-of-game press conference.

“Since the beginning, I’ve always said that the fact that people say we’re favourites or not doesn’t mean anything,” De la Fuente told reporters. “It doesn’t. It’s not decisive.”

“We are two great national teams facing each other, just as there are two great national teams facing each other in the other semi-final,” De la Fuente added, stressing that his team was comfortable living with the pressure to succeed.

“Regardless of whether we’re favorites or not, it doesn’t mean create additional pressure,” he said. “We have that pressure anyway. We want to do well for our country.”

Deschamps meanwhile believes Tuesday’s (July 14) game has all the makings of a classic.

“With the quality of the two teams offensively, I think we could think that is going to be a spectacular game,” he said.

Deschamps is also not overly concerned by the threat posed by Spain winger Lamine Yamal, who scored in La Roja’s victories over France in the European Championship semi-final in 2024 and the UEFA Nations League last year.

“We know the strength of the opposing team. We have our own strengths,” Deschamps said.

“Have I studied Yamal and his assets? Yes, he’s one of the players that can really make a difference on the pitch.

“And all opponents should try to limit the strength of the other team, but we have many solutions.

“When it comes to a one-on-ones it could be tough. But having a one-on-one against some of my players is not an easy task either.”

Deschamps confirmed that France captain Kylian Mbappe, who left the quarter-final win over Morocco late in the second half after taking a knock, was “100%” fit for the semi-final.

France are not afraid of Spain going into their World Cup semifinal on Tuesday (July 21, 2026), defender ​Ibrahima Konate said on Sunday, but they are conscious of their opponents’ ‌quality and their near-perfect backline.

Spain have conceded only one ​goal in the entire tournament to reach the last ⁠four in search of a second World Cup title.

France, winners in 2018 and finalists four years ago, know Spain very well, having lost to them ‌in the Euro 2024 last four and also in last year’s Nations League semifinals.

“You cannot fear anyone,” France centre-back ‌Konate told a press conference. “We will now prepare as ‌best ⁠as possible and hope the result in the end ⁠will favour us.”

“Spain are an exceptional team, with a lot of individual quality, so we won’t be focusing on just one player even though Lamine (Yamal) is a ​great player,” said Konate, who ‌had a brief substitute appearance in the win over Norway in their final group match.

Dayot Upamecano and William Saliba have been France’s starting centre-backs, as the tournament favourites eye their fifth World ‌Cup final.

The French have reached four of the last seven ​World Cup finals. Should they take part in the July 19 showdown in New York, they will ⁠sustain the comparison with West Germany, arguably the ultimate tournament nation with four finals between 1974 and 1990.

But Konate said the French were ‌not wasting any thoughts on what might be.

“We are staying humble, we won’t fall into that trap,” he said.

They will need to find a way to break down this World Cup’s most effective backline, as well as contain as much as possible Lamine’s runs down the wings.

“I would not say ‘fear’ but we are conscious of ‌their quality,” said fellow France centre-back Maxence Lacroix. “They have won all their matches (except ​a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde in the group), so we respect them. They have high quality players ⁠but we want to win.”

Top of the list is Spain winger Lamine, ⁠who has earned praise from his coach for keeping opponents’ defenders busy as teammate use the spaces created.

“We will ‌defend well, the best,” Lacroix said. “Lamine is a very good player and he has shown he can hurt teams at this ​World Cup. We will do the work that is needed.”