Spain advances to the World Cup final, defeating France 2-0 in the semifinal

France, who had to cope without the injured William Saliba after half an hour and replaced him with Maxence Lacroix, managed only one notable half-chance through Bradley Barcola, whose long-range shot in the 36th minute went over the bar. Shortly before the break, Unai Simón came to the rescue against the advancing Kylian Mbappé. Dayot Upamecano also cleared a shot from Fabián Ruiz right on the goal line in the 38th minute.

Spain takes the lead through penalty

After the restart, Pedro Porro made it 2-0 in the 58th minute when he finished a combination with Dani Olmo down the right side of the penalty area. It was already his second goal of the tournament. Just three minutes later Spain celebrated again: Lamine Yamal found the net in the 61st minute, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

France, who had won all six of their previous tournament games before the semifinal, remained without a goal of their own overall. Superstar Kylian Mbappé, who had scored eight goals earlier in the tournament, was noticeably off colour in this match and squandered several chances, including a shot from around 20 metres in the 67th minute that went narrowly wide. In the closing stages, Unai Simón cleared a dangerous foray by Désiré Doué in the 81st minute, and in the 82nd minute the Spanish goalkeeper was also on hand to deal with a long ball from Mike Maignan.

France fail to score

This also ended France's attempt to become the first European team after Brazil (1994–2002) to reach three consecutive World Cup finals. Didier Deschamps' side, who had won the tournament in 2018 and the European Championship in 2020, conceded a goal for the first time in their sixth knockout match and were eliminated on their own national holiday, 14 July.

For Spain, it is the first World Cup final since the 1-0 victory after extra time against the Netherlands in the 2010 final in South Africa. The Iberians, who are also the reigning European champions, will play on Sunday at 21:00 in New York against the winner of the second semifinal between Argentina and England, which will be held on Wednesday (21:00 in Atlanta).

First World Cup final since 2010

Mikel Oyarzabal extended his strong tally with his fifth goal of the tournament. The striker had already scored multiple times in the group stage and knockout rounds, including in the 3-0 win against Austria in the round of 16, Spain's first knockout victory at a World Cup since winning the title in 2010. Before the semifinal, Spain had conceded only one goal in this tournament — in the 2-1 win after extra time against Belgium in the quarterfinal — and had kept their defence stable with goalkeeper Unai Simón.

Pedro's goal in the 58th minute was already the second of the tournament for the Tottenham Hotspur full-back. After the match, Porro said: „Das ist ein Traum, der Wirklichkeit wird. Ich hätte das niemals für möglich gehalten. Wir haben ein großes Spiel gemacht“.

Coach Luis de la Fuente, who led Spain to the European Championship title in 2024 and whose contract runs until Euro 2028, had already spoken before the match of a „Finale vor dem Finale“. After the victory he said: „Ich habe ihm gesagt, er soll ruhig bleiben und es genießen. Der große Tag von Lamine Yamal kommt noch bei dieser WM. Ich hoffe, es ist morgen – oder im Finale, wenn wir uns qualifizieren.“ He also added: „Wir müssen wir selbst bleiben … Wir müssen stark bleiben und die Stärken unseres Gegners kontern.“ His counterpart Didier Deschamps, who took charge of his 26th World Cup match as coach with this game and is now the sole record holder, had said before the match: „Ich will mein Gegenüber nicht unter Druck setzen, aber die Erwartungen an Spanien sind hoch“ as well as „Ich verändere unsere Taktik sicherlich nicht wegen eines Gegners.“ In his halftime interview he demanded: „Wir müssen einfach mehr tun“.

Reactions to the match

The 19-year-old Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona, whose market value is estimated at 200 million euros and who had celebrated his birthday the day before, failed to score in the semifinal despite winning the penalty and having a later goal disallowed for offside. He had previously scored one goal in six games at the tournament. „Ich mache mir keine Sorgen, ob ich treffe oder nicht“, Yamal said. „Wenn jemand Angst haben sollte, dann sie.“

France will play in the third-place match on Saturday at 23:00. The game is also expected to be the last for Didier Deschamps as national team coach after 14 years in charge. Zinédine Zidane is widely expected as his successor. Among the spectators at the stadium in Arlington were Usain Bolt as well as David and Victoria Beckham. Reporting from the stadiums was provided by, among others, ZDF correspondents Anne Arend and Isabel de la Vega.

Outlook on the final

Spain now faces the winner of the second semifinal between Argentina and England on Sunday in New York. Should Spain win the final, Lamine Yamal, at 19 years and six days old, would be the youngest World Cup winner from a European team in a long time. Messi, meanwhile, remains the undisputed number one on the all-time World Cup scoring list for at least the next four years.

The match between Spain and France was broadcast live on ORF and ORF1; the third-place match will be shown on Saturday evening. In Germany, ZDF reported on the match with correspondents from both camps. SRF zwei and the SRF Sport app also broadcast the game.