Spain Defeats France, Heads to the World Cup Final

By Daniel Feuerstein | Arlington, TX | July 14th, 2026

It was a big game in the big state of Texas as the first Semi-Finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup headed to Jerry Jones’ home for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. France and Spain were battling for the right to reach the World Cup Final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This was the type of match you felt someone was going to make the first wrong move and give the advantage to their opponents. That moment came, and it was a defensive masterclass from then on. When the final whistle blew, it was La Roja that got the victory and moved on to the Championship Final, with the final score at two goals to nil.

Spain Converts the penalty for the lead

It was a difficult start for France as Spain was blocking all the passing lanes, but when they were open, Spain’s defense worked even harder to stop the shots and play hard to get the clean sheet. But they started to make a run towards the French net and finally got that one magic moment to take the lead. There was a long ball sent all the way toward the French area, and Lucas Digne was tracking the ball while he was inside the penalty area. He saw the ball but never saw Lamine Yamal, as he was sneaking up behind Digne. He swung his leg and struck Yamal without knowing he was there, went down, and referee Ivan Barton blew his whistle and pointed to the spot for the penalty. Mikel Oyrazabal took the spot kick and converted in the 27th minute.

Pedro Porro makes it two

Spain was trying to get that second goal to continue their advantage agasint the French. Once again, it came from one man that many didn’t expect to get that second goal, and he worked well with his teammates. Pedro Porro received the ball along the near side of the pitch and started to make a move. He made a quick pass to Dani Olmo that quickly became a give-and-go. Porro got the ball back and had daylight to the net and scored the second goal in the 58th minute. Everyone on France was paying attention to Olmo, who was fouled when he made the pass; they forgot about Porro as he took advantage of the situation.

Spain was clinical in their defending

Before these two sides played each other in this World Cup, these same teams faced each other in the Euro Cup Final, as Spain won against France. The high-paced, scoring machine of Les Bleus couldn’t get a goal in the entire match after blasting through the entire competition from the group stage all the way into the Quarterfinals of the knockout stage. Their nemesis was Spain, as they put the claim down on Kylian Mbappe and his team. There was a moment they thought they had a goal as Unai Simón was well off his line and far away. France had a glorious chance to score, but the shot was blocked and right at Simón, who made the stop.

Didier Deschamps has one more match

France’s head coach Didier Deschamps has one more match to go, and that is the third-place match against the losing side between Argentina & England. After over 300 matches managed for the French National Team, he is the only man in history to win the World Cup both as a player in 1998 when France was the host country and as the head coach in 2018 in Russia against Croatia. He has done plenty for his country in both roles, and he will now head off to the French Riviera and enjoy a long break from running the Men’s National Team program.

Spain has ousted France to advance to the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final.

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