Austria's Beater

LIVE Today: France vs. Spain in the Semifinals

The moment the match swung in Spain’s favor: Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot to make it 1–0 against France …(Bild: AFP/FRANCK FIFE)

They have now cleared seven of eight hurdles, leaving “only” one more to go before claiming their second World Cup title in history, following their 2010 victory—Spain’s “Furia Roja” is headed to the 2026 World Cup final after a semifinal victory over France! Coach Luis de la Fuente’s team, which had knocked Austria out of the tournament in the round of 32, proved to be a tougher opponent than expected for the French—who had performed so dominantly up to that point—on their national holiday of all days, and prevailed 2–0 in front of approximately 71,000 spectators at AT&T Stadium in Dallas/Arlington.

Extreme air temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius—which felt like 39 degrees—oppressive humidity in the range of about 70 percent, and the latent threat of severe weather—once again, it proved to be almost a lifesaver that a match in the 23rd World Cup in history wasn’t played outdoors, but rather in the Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium, which was air-conditioned to a comfortably cool 22 degrees.

The French team(Bild: AP/David J. Phillip)

The Spanish team(Bild: AP/David J. Phillip)

A moment of silence before kickoff
But just before things really got underway, before referee Ivan Barton blew the whistle, everyone paused once more, and the stadium fell completely silent: A minute of silence was observed in memory of the victims of the barbaric Islamist terrorist attack in Nice exactly 10 years ago—more info on that is available HERE!   While the Spanish team, under coach De la Fuente, lined up in their familiar 4-2-3-1 formation with no changes from the quarterfinal against Belgium when in possession, France’s head coach Didier Deschamps made two changes to his starting lineup from their previous match: Aurélien Tchouaméni and Bradley Barcola replaced Manu Koné and Désiré Doué in the “Les Bleus” lineup, which also played in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

“High-Speed Stalkers”
Big scoring chances, dramatic attacking plays, or last-minute saves? No! That’s not what the clash between the World Cup runners-up and the European champions had to offer at first. Even though all 22 players on the field were flawless in their ball control and uncompromising in their tackling, the match initially amounted to little more than a sort of “high-speed stalemate” between the penalty areas. One thing was striking, though: While the Spanish team’s usual possession-based style—perfectly orchestrated by Rodri—was clearly evident from the kickoff, the French offense, which typically pushes forward quickly and vertically, remained disjointed.

A curious scene involving free-kick spray
Speaking of possession: Even Spain’s goalkeeper, Unai Simón, didn’t hold back, creating the first moment of excitement in his own penalty area with a deft feint against the charging Kylian Mbappé, demonstrating nerves of steel and great self-confidence (2nd minute). The second moment of excitement came shortly afterward with a rough foul by French midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who was lucky to get away with just a yellow card after a foul on the edge of the penalty area (8th minute) and gave the Spaniards a good free-kick opportunity. The third moment of excitement followed hot on its heels: Referee Barton had some bad luck with his free-kick spray and had to get a new can from the fourth official before he could set up the wall.

(Bild: AFP/DAVID RAMOS)

A silly penalty foul, Oyarzabal scores
After Álex Baenas’s free kick came to nothing (10th) and a promising French counterattack was thwarted when three Spanish players somehow managed to stop Mbappé—who was all alone—from reaching the goal (16th), it was none other than “Les Bleus” defender Eric Digne who set Spain on the path to victory just before the water break: with a penalty-worthy foul on Lamine Yamal. Marc Cucurella’s cross to the right flank had actually gone awry; Digne had intercepted the ball and was trying to clear it—but he failed to notice the approaching Yamal and struck him in the hip—a clear penalty! And Real Sociedad forward Mikel Oyarzabel, after a natural (!) run-up, scored to make it 1–0 for the Spaniards, converting his fifth penalty in his fifth attempt while wearing the Spanish jersey.

The tournament bracket:

France with an expected goals (xG) value of 0.04
Austria had already learned in the Round of 32 that falling behind against Spain is not a good idea—no question about it: especially against a team that, objectively speaking, isn’t as well-equipped as France’s. And yet, let’s reveal this much right now: “Les Bleus” had an expected goals value of 0.04 by halftime. There was simply no fight back from the French team, which—with slow transitions after winning the ball (Tchouaméni!), a lack of precision in their attacking play, unprecedented difficulties in retaining possession, and unstructured—and thus fruitless—pressing, offered little resemblance to their previous matches.

The reigning European champions posed a greater threat, although the attempts on goal by Dani Olmo (34th min.), Álex Baena (35th min./offside), Pedro Porro (37th min./over the bar), or Fabián (38th min./Dayot Upamecano made the save) ultimately came to nothing.

(Bild: AFP/FRANCK FIFE)

The French Showed a Very Brief Flashof Fire
 After the restart, the French—set up by their coach Deschamps to press higher up the field—seemed determined to finally gain the upper hand over the Spaniards. But while the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak—just as in the first half, the “Furia Roja” proved to have a tight-knit defense and, when in possession, displayed a confidence with the ball that “Les Bleus” simply lacked.

After the faint glimmer of a French comeback attempt quickly fizzled out, Coach De la Fuente’s team delivered the final blow to their opponents, with Oyarzabal and company “guillotining” them once and for all: Fullback Porro, who had already scored against Austria, pushed forward—more admired than challenged by substitute Doué and Michael Olise —into the opponent’s penalty area after a give-and-go with Dani Olmo and then, unmarked from about seven meters out, slotted the ball into the right corner; goalie Maignan had no chance—2–0 for Spain.

Yamal nearly made it 3–0
Was the game decided? One could certainly have assumed so at that moment, as the French had not even come close to replicating the form they’d shown so far in the World Cup tournament. And it almost became 3–0 shortly afterward, but the soccer gods took pity on the French, who were celebrating their National Day today: As beautiful as the Barcelona super-youngster’s left-footed shot was, he had been offside just before it (61st minute).

(Bild: AFP/LARS BARON)

Spain holds on to the 2–0 lead
In fact, a 3–0 score would likely have been too much, not quite reflecting the difference between Spain and France on this ill-fated evening for “Les Bleus.” But in the end, there was no doubt that the “Furia Roja” would advance to the World Cup final:

• Partly because defender Cucurella was just able to get in the way of a Mbappé shot from 16 meters (67th minute),

• a “dive” by Spain’s goalkeeper Simón—including a misplaced header to Doué—wasn’t capitalized on by Doué with a long-range shot into the net (81'),

• Cucurella once again cleared the ball away from Mbappé, who was ready to shoot (90th minute), and

• reigning World Player of the Year Ousmane Dembélé failed twice in stoppage time with weak shots straight at goalkeeper Simón (95th, 97th).

It’s almost unbelievable: The “Équipe Tricolore’s” expected goals (xG) figure rose from a meager 0.04 at halftime to just 0.30 by the final whistle—even Austria had reached 0.32 against Spain in the Round of 32.

In the end, the score remained 2–0 for the 2010 World Champions—who now seem well on their way to reclaiming the throne of world soccer 16 years later. Whether the reigning world champions will face the World Cup runners-up in Sunday’s final will be decided in the second semifinal between Argentina and England...

The result:
France – Spain 0–2 (0–1)
Dallas/Arlington, AT&T Stadium, 70,176 spectators, Referee Ivan Barton (El Salvador)

Goals: 0–1 (22' (penalty) Oyarzabal, 0–2 (58') Porro

Yellow cards: Rabiot, Mbappé and Cucurella

France: Maignan – Koundé, Upamecano, Saliba (30. Lacroix), Digne (72. T. Hernández) – Tchouameni, Rabiot (46. Kone) – Dembélé, Olise (72' Cherki), Barcola (57' Doue) – Mbappé
Spain: Simon – Porro (83' Llorente), Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella – Rodri, Ruiz (77' Pedri) – Lamine Yamal, Olmo (77. Merino), Baena (83. N. Williams) – Oyarzabal (74. Torres)