Spain Reach World Cup Final With Masterclass Over France
Spain are through to the World Cup final after dismantling France in a semi-final that, according to The Guardian, bordered on the surreal in terms of how one-sided it became. Luis de la Fuente’s side made their way back to the dressing room in Arlington to the sound of Marc Cucurella’s voice booming above the celebrations: “What a fucking recital!”
It was hard to argue. France — a side who had been racking up an average of 2.4 expected goals per game — were reduced to just 0.31 xG against Spain, the lowest figure of their tournament campaign. They did not even register a shot on target until the final quarter of the match. Spain, meanwhile, accumulated 1.7 xG themselves, and they did it with a game plan built around patience and control rather than front-foot attacking intent.
For France, who were finalists at both the 2022 and 2018 World Cups and arrived in this tournament considered genuine contenders, it represented a humbling evening. Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise — a formidable collection of attacking talent on paper — had no answers. The on-pitch statistics told a stark story: Spain had allowed only 0.6 xG against per game going into the semi-final; France simply could not breach that pattern.
This is now the third successive time Spain have knocked France out at the semi-final stage across major competitions, following victories in the Euro 2024 last four and the 2025 Nations League semi-final. It is becoming a habit.
Much of the pre-match discourse centred on the Lamine Yamal versus Mbappé matchup, and on that individual duel the 19-year-old Spaniard extended his head-to-head record to nine wins against two. But De la Fuente and his players have consistently resisted the star-player narrative. “We’re the best team in the world,” the coach told his squad before kick-off, and the performance backed that assertion up.
Rodri described it as potentially “the game of our lives”, while Dani Olmo reflected that “it was written” Spain would journey from Atlanta to New York across this tournament. De la Fuente himself pushed back on any notion of restraint in the celebrations, saying the squad had every right to enjoy what they had achieved regardless of what comes next.
For UK bettors watching Spain’s progress, the final now beckons — check our World Cup 2026 hub for previews and odds, and keep an eye on the live standings as the picture becomes clearer ahead of the showpiece in New York.