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, United States — Spain stunned tournament favorites France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final on Tuesday, producing a tactical masterpiece to shatter Les Bleus&#x27; dreams of winning the title for the third time.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/7/13/world-cup-gets-set-for-pair-of-blockbuster-semi-finals-2030">World Cup gets set for pair of blockbuster semi-finals</a></div><p>A first-half penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal and a 58th-minute Pedro Porro goal sealed an utterly clinical victory for the European champions at the AT&amp;T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.</p><p>Spain, World Cup winners in 2010, will now face either Argentina or England in Sunday&#x27;s final in New Jersey.</p><p>&quot;Today we faced one of the best national teams in the world, but in front of them they had the best team in the world,&quot; delighted Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said afterwards. &quot;That is different.&quot;</p><p>France had entered the showdown as the overwhelming favorites for the tournament after a dazzling run to the semi-finals that had seen them pile up 16 goals in six matches.</p><p>But France&#x27;s vaunted front four of captain Kylian Mbappe, Ballon D&#x27;Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Michael Olise were snuffed out by a combination of Spanish poise and power.</p><p>France coach Didier Deschamps admitted his team had been outplayed.</p><p>&quot;The players are devastated because we had a lot of ambition, even though we also have to be realistic and acknowledge that today we were a notch below on the technical level against a team that controlled the game well,&quot; said Deschamps, who is stepping down after the tournament.</p><p>Spain, who had beaten France in their previous two competitive meetings, had vowed to go on the front foot in the pre-match build-up and they proved as good as their word.</p><p>A commanding performance by Spain&#x27;s midfield led by Manchester City star Rodri and assisted by Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo never allowed the French to gain a foothold in the contest.</p><p>Spain&#x27;s midfield quickly overran the outnumbered French duo of Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni, passing around their opponents with ease to control the early exchanges.</p><p>The first signs of French frustration came after just nine minutes when midfielder Rabiot was booked for treading on Olmo&#x27;s foot on the edge of the area.</p><p>Yet despite the early dominance it was France who looked the more threatening when venturing into the final third, and it needed a desperate late block by Pau Cubarsi to thwart Mbappe in the 16th minute as the French captain looked to break clear.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>EARLY DOMINANCE </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Spain&#x27;s early dominance got its reward in the 20th minute, though, when a hopeful cross by Marc Cucurella flew across the penalty area.</p><p>Lucas Digne didn&#x27;t get enough purchase on his attempted headed clearance and as the Aston Villa player instinctively swung out a leg he kicked Yamal, sending the Barcelona star crashing to the turf.</p><p>El Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton pointed immediately to the spot and after a brief delay as French players loitered, Oyarzabal stepped up to sweep in a spot-kick that beat the dive of French goalkeeper Mike Maignan.</p><p>France&#x27;s rocky start got worse after 31 minutes when key central defender William Saliba hobbled off with an injury to be replaced by Maxence Lacroix.</p><p>Spain almost doubled their lead with a sublime passing move on 38 minutes when wonderful interplay on the edge of the area sliced open France&#x27;s defence, with Dayot Upamecano&#x27;s block denying Fabian Ruiz.</p><p>France enjoyed their best spell in the closing minutes of the first half and only excellent anticipation from Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon denied Mbappe after Rabiot&#x27;s clever through ball.</p><p>Spain though reasserted themselves at the start of the second half and Deschamps&#x27; failure to adjust France&#x27;s tactics again left the Spanish midfield in charge.</p><p>On 58 minutes, Spain struck the hammer blow. Porro and Olmo worked a sensational one-two on the edge of the area that sent Porro through and the Tottenham defender clipped a fine finish past Maignan.</p><p>Only a fractional offside decision denied Spain a third goal in the 61st minute, when Lamal had the ball in the net.</p><p>Deschamps made a flurry of substitutions but France were unable to penetrate Spain&#x27;s smothering defence, their best chance coming when Mbappe&#x27;s shot was blocked at the near post by Simon.</p><p>French frustration was symbolized by Mbappe in the closing minutes, booked for following through on Simon as Spain closed out the victory.</p><div><br/></div><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="640" height="360" 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 stunned tournament favorites France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final on Tuesday, producing a tactical masterpiece to shatter Les Bleus' dreams of winning the title for the third time.</p>

Spain stunned tournament favorites France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final on Tuesday, producing a tactical masterpiece to shatter Les Bleus' dreams of winning the title for the third time.

Majestic Spain stun France to reach World Cup final

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Majestic Spain stun France to reach World Cup final

Rob Woollard,

Agence France-Presse

Published July 15, 2026 07:34 AM PHT

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