2026 World Cup favourites France crashed out of the tournament at the semi-final stage as Spain produced an impressive 2-0 victory to send Les Bleus home and limit Kylian Mbappé’s hopes of securing the tournament’s Golden Boot.
Spain took the lead through a composed penalty from Real Sociedad’s Mikel Oyarzabal, after imminent Paris Saint-Germain signing Lucas Digne took out Lamine Yamal in a clumsy challenge early in the first half. France struggled to bounce back, failing to record a shot on target
in a first half in which they also lost key central defender William Saliba to injury. New Real Madrid arrival Ibrahima Konaté remained an unused substitute.
Spain left-back Marc Cucurella was key to the shutdown of the French attack, tasked with stopping Michael Olise down France’s right-flank. He picked up a yellow card after hacking him down twice in quick succession in the first half, but was otherwise caused few problems, winning five duels and crucially intervening in injury time to deny Mbappé the chance to break through in the box.
In midfield, Aurélien Tchouameni returned after missing the last two games with a thigh strain for France, but he struggled to gain control in a dynamic midfield battle with Rodri and Fabián Ruiz dominating for Spain. Despite recording 88% pass accuracy, Tchouameni completed only three passes into the final third.
In the second half, Spain doubled their lead as Pedro Porro broke through from right-back and split the French defence with a one-two with Dani Olmo in the middle, adding a deft finish beyond an onrushing Mike Maignan.
Mbappé’s best chance came after that, on 67 minutes, as he pulled a shot just inches wide from inside the box from a tight angle. It was his only attempt on goal from open play, despite having more touches in the box than anyone else on the field with six. He also fired a free-kick comfortably over the bar in the 89th minute as hopes faded for France.
In a game of few standout moments for the France captain, being hacked down by Lamine Yamal 10 minutes later was one of few involvements where Mbappé seemed to threaten Spain’s well-organised defence. His game was best summarised by his late yellow card for an elbow to Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón as he won time late on.
La Fábrica product Marcos Llorente also got minutes for Spain as he replaced goalscorer Porro for the final seven minutes and injury time.
The result means that it will be Marc Cucurella’s Spain who will play in Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey. That game will pit them up against either Jude Bellingham’s England or Argentina, with the other semi-final to be played on Wednesday in Atlanta. The loser of that game will face France, including Real Madrid’s three representatives, in Miami on Saturday to secure third place.
