Spain into World Cup final for second time after victory over France

Image caption: Spain's Pedro Porro celebrates after the match as Spain qualify for the World Cup final

Published 9 minutes ago

Reading time: 3 minutes

Spain renewed their victory over neighbors France, beating them 2-0 to reach the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday in Dallas.

Mikel Oyarzabal (22' penalty) and Pedro Porro (58') scored Spain's goals, as they eliminated 'Les Bleus' in three consecutive different tournaments, following Euro 2024 (2-1) and the 2025 UEFA Nations League final (5-4).

Spain into World Cup final for second time after victory over France

Spain will meet in the final next Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford (New Jersey/New York) with defending champions Argentina or England, who meet on Wednesday in the second semi-final in Atlanta.

This is the second time Spain have reached the final, the first being in 2010 when they won the title in South Africa against the Netherlands 1-0 after extra time.

Spain denied their neighbors a third consecutive final appearance in their quest for a third title after 1998 at home against Brazil and 2018 in Russia against Croatia, noting that France lost the last edition's final to Argentina.

France, who played in the semi-finals for the third consecutive time and the eighth in their history (only Germany with 12 have more), failed to follow in the footsteps of Brazil and Germany, who reached three consecutive finals.

Coach Luis de la Fuente outperformed his counterpart Deschamps, and his team was the better side for most of the match, succeeding in his plan to limit the threat of France's attacking quartet led by captain and top scorer Kylian Mbappe, and particularly playmaker and Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise, who seemed lost in midfield.

2026 World Cup by numbers

What you need to know about the 2026 World Cup

World Cup: Eternal numbers tell the story of 92 years of the tournament

"A dream come true"

Image caption: Spain coach Luis de la Fuente

De la Fuente said: 'We started about four years ago with an idea, and we remained faithful to it, and it brought us here. Today we faced one of the best teams in the world, but standing in front of them was the best team in the world. And that is different. These players deserve everything; they have shown day after day their commitment, solidarity, generosity and talent. They make the difficult look easy.'

Skip most read and continue reading

"How Israel recruited former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?" - New York Times

Two Arab referees in the World Cup semi-finals, Jaid and Al-Makhadma, make history

Spain into World Cup final for second time after victory over France

US naval blockade on Iran officially begins, Revolutionary Guards threaten to shut down oil and gas exports

Porro, scorer of his second international goal, said: 'It's a dream come true, honestly I didn't imagine it even in my wildest dreams. I am very, very happy with the mentality of the team from start to finish. I think we played a great match, and we did everything we had to do today to reach the final.'

Porro added: 'We knew we would face a very, very strong team, and they showed great things, and honestly this is an achievement of the entire team.'

Porro won the Man of the Match award.

Spain, who reached the semi-finals for the second time in their history after 2010, achieved their 19th win in 39 meetings against France, compared to seven draws and 13 losses, including eight wins in the last 11 matches (one draw and two losses).

"The fault lies with us first"

Image caption: France coach Didier Deschamps

This is Spain's third consecutive win in the knockout stages of this edition, noting that they had not won any match in these stages since 2010. They also maintained their unbeaten record in 37 matches, having not suffered any loss in regular time since March 22, 2024, when they fell to Colombia in a friendly (27 wins and 10 draws).

France coach Didier Deschamps said after the loss: 'We have to be rational and admit that we were today at a lower technical level against a team that controlled the flow of the match better. But the fault lies with us first, and I don't want to blame any party.'

Skip short clips and continue reading

Short clips

Short clips end

1994 World Cup: The 'Soccer' and 'Samba' World Cup, Maradona's expulsion and Escobar's murder June 6, 2026

From the glory of triumph to the shock of the 7-1 and the 'Maranacão', stories of hosts in the World Cup June 5, 2026

Three countries, 104 matches and huge financial prizes, features of the 2026 World Cup by numbers June 8, 2026