Spain shut down France and Mbappé to reach the World Cup final

On Tuesday Spain did the thing half of us expected and none of us quite believed, strolling past France 2-0 in Arlington to reach their first World Cup final since 2010. No shootout, no late scramble, just a penalty, a give-and-go and a defence that never blinked.

Oyarzabal and Porro do the damage

Mikel Oyarzabal buried a penalty in the 22nd minute after Lucas Digne clattered into Lamine Yamal in the box. Pedro Porro added the second in the 58th, a give-and-go with Dani Olmo that opened France up like the defence had somewhere better to be. Unai Simón barely had to break a sweat for his sixth clean sheet of the tournament.

Yamal’s night, a day after his birthday

Yamal turned 19 the day before and spent the evening reminding France why they should have been worried. He won the penalty, tortured the flank, and had a goal chalked off for a hair’s-width offside in the 58th. Before kickoff he said he did not fear France because Spain are European champions. Turns out the birthday bravado had a point.

France run out of answers

Didier Deschamps’ side never got going. Kylian Mbappé, still nursing the ankle from the Morocco game, was smothered all night and picked up a yellow in the 86th for a collision with Simón. William Saliba limped off with a back problem in the 30th, replaced by Maxence Lacroix. That’s three straight losses to Spain now, after Euro 2024 and last year’s Nations League, and France are denied a third World Cup final in a row.

Semifinal: Spain 2-0 France in Arlington, into their first final since winning it all in 2010.

See who Spain meet on Sunday on the live table.

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