Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Spain's defender #12 Pedro Porro celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the 2026 World Cup football tournament semi-final match between France and Spain at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington on July 14, 2026.  (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)

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<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1784071968883AFP__20260714__C27Q4GD__v2__HighRes__TopshotFblWc2026Match101FraEsp.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Spain&#x27;s defender #12 Pedro Porro celebrates scoring his team&#x27;s second goal during the 2026 World Cup football tournament semi-final match between France and Spain at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington on July 14, 2026. <em>Photo by Paul Ellis/AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>ARLINGTON (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) -- Spain ended France&#x27;s dream of a third World Cup triumph on Tuesday, taming their star-studded attack in a 2-0 victory to reach the final against England or Argentina.</p><p>Didier Deschamps&#x27; men were hot favourites to lift the trophy after a string of breathtaking attacking displays in the United States but they met their match against the slick European champions in the semi-finals.</p><p>Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring for the 2010 winners with an emphatic penalty in the first half in Arlington, Texas, and Pedro Porro doubled their lead in the second half.</p><p>Shell-shocked France could not find a way back into the match despite their wealth of attacking riches on a bitterly disappointing day for the two-time winners.</p><p>&quot;We started almost four years ago with an idea and we&#x27;ve been faithful to that idea and it&#x27;s brought us here,&quot; said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente.</p><p>&quot;These players deserve everything,&quot; he added. &quot;Day after day they&#x27;ve shown their commitment, their solidarity, their generosity, their talent. They make the difficult look easy.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/7/13/world-cup-gets-set-for-pair-of-blockbuster-semi-finals-2030">READ: World Cup gets set for pair of blockbuster semi-finals</a></div><p>The game at the AT&amp;T Stadium caught fire midway through the first half when Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton pointed to the penalty spot after a reckless challenge by France left-back Lucas Digne on Spain winger Lamine Yamal.</p><p>Oyarzabal hammered the ball past France goalkeeper Mike Maignan for his fifth goal of the World Cup to leave France trailing for the first time in the tournament.</p><p>It was the Real Sociedad forward&#x27;s 18th goal in his past 20 games for Spain.</p><p>Deschamps threw on Desire Doue for Bradley Barcola in the 57th minute in a bid to supercharge his attack but a minute later they were 2-0 down after a stunning team goal for Spain involving Dani Olmo and defender Porro.</p><p>Spain, who have conceded just once in the entire tournament, are the first team in World Cup history to keep six clean sheets at a single edition.</p><p>They have now gone 37 games without defeat in all competitions, equalling the record unbeaten streak by a European nation.</p><p>But defeat in Texas is a bitter blow for a France team that reached the past two finals, winning in 2018 and finishing as runners-up four years ago.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/7/13/-final-before-final-france-face-spain-in-world-cup-blockbuster-0827">READ: France face Spain in World Cup blockbuster</a></div><p>Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe was just one cog in a star-studded attack that also included Ballon d&#x27;Or winner Ousmane Dembele and the elegant Michael Olise.</p><p>Defeat leaves just the third-place play-off on Saturday for long-serving coach Deschamps, who is stepping down after 14 years in charge.</p><p>The 57-year-old, who has won the World Cup as a coach and player, said his players were &quot;devastated&quot;.</p><p>&quot;First of all, it&#x27;s our fault, I don&#x27;t want to blame anyone,&quot; he said.</p><p>But Deschamps could not resist a dig at referee Barton.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ll ask a loaded question and I won&#x27;t answer it,&quot; said the France coach. &quot;Is the referee at the level required to officiate a World Cup semi-final?</p><p>&quot;And I&#x27;m not saying this just because we lost today. There were quite a few situations. There were some favorable calls, too,&quot; he added, without elaborating.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Kane v Messi -</strong></div><p>In the other semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday, England and Argentina will lock horns in the latest chapter of one of the game&#x27;s most compelling rivalries.</p><p>The history of matches between the nations is peppered with incidents, set against a lingering sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as the Malvinas, in the South Atlantic Ocean.</p><p>The encounter takes place 40 years after Diego Maradona&#x27;s infamous &quot;Hand of God&quot; goal helped Argentina to a 2-1 win at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.</p><p>England captain Harry Kane, who is competing with Lionel Messi and Mbappe for the Golden Boot, said his team would not be distracted by emotional baggage around the fixture.</p><p>&quot;From a player&#x27;s point of view it&#x27;s us against a great team, who are smart, who are tactical, who know how to buy fouls, know how to slow the game down -- like many different teams you come up against throughout your whole career,&quot; Kane told ITV.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G6V_RbXbLBM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Spain ended France's dream of a third World Cup triumph on Tuesday, taming their star-studded attack in a 2-0 victory to reach the final against England or Argentina.</p>

Spain ended France's dream of a third World Cup triumph on Tuesday, taming their star-studded attack in a 2-0 victory to reach the final against England or Argentina.

Spain deliver World Cup masterclass against France to reach final

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Spain deliver World Cup masterclass against France to reach final

Rob Woollard,

Agence France-Presse

Published July 15, 2026 07:34 AM PHT

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Updated July 15, 2026 02:50 PM PHT

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