Time to say goodbye: Spain beat France 2-0 to make it to World Cup 2026 final

It was said that this World Cup belonged to France and that the firepower it possessed up front would vanquish all before it.

The displays up to today were scintillating and football purists loved the way “ Les Bleus” played the game.

France were the favourites to beat Spain.

But today, the team coached by French legend  Didier Deschamps were underwhelming and showed no fight.

Spain thoroughly outplayed the great France and made their victory look easy.

Organised and compact, the Spanish midfield was outstanding today, with Rodri and Fabian Ruiz making significant contributions in linking the play.

Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele ( The Three Musketeers), it was said, made France invisible and would see to it that France made it three consecutive World Cup finals, a feat only attained by Germany and Brazil. The French attacking line drove fear into other teams, and coaches were preoccupied with how they could be neutralised.

Coming into this semi-final game at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, there must have been some level of fear facing off against such an attack force, but Spain’s defence dealt with them comfortably and saw to it that they were unable to shine.

Aymeric Laporte and Marc Cucurella have to be singled out for praise and made Spain impregnable. Cucurella was brilliant in joining the attack without leaving Spain vulnerable. He should be the Man of the Match. Today he put in a warrior’s shift. Real Madrid’s coach, Jose Mourinho, would have taken note of Cucurella’s fluidity and his willingness to join the attack. It is a splendid signing.

Laporte reads the game so well, and today he put on a masterclass in the art of defending.

In the first half, Lucas Diane brought down Lamine Yamal with a reckless high challenge in the box, a certain penalty.  Mickel Oyarzabal stepped up and confidently blasted the ball in the top right corner. France never recovered.

Spain continued to pass the ball with fluidity and controlled the tempo of the game. Spain, the current European champions, has now gone 37 consecutive games without a loss under its coach, Luis de la Fuente. With the half-time whistle and the teams disappearing into their respective tunnels, Didier Deschamps had to come up with an answer. France didn’t look likely to blow away an organised Spain, who had more shots on target.

This was Deschamps fourth World Cup as coach. He also captained a French team that won the World Cup in 1998. The prospect of going out a loser was real. The favourites were on the ropes

Come the second half, Spain continued to be the better team, with the French attack unable to spark into life. Deschamps made a couple of changes but that did not alter the game in France’s favour.

A beautiful one -two between Dani Olmo and Pedro Porro saw the Tottenham defender neatly tuck away Spain’s second goal in the fifty-eighth minute. The writing was on the wall for France. Spain who won the World Cup sixteen years ago in South Africa, was on its way to the final.

Shortly after Porro’s goal, the teenage phenom Lamine Yamal had a superb goal disallowed after being found offside.

Could  Les Bleus find the key to unlock Spain’s defence? They could not. France has not lost a World Cup game by 2-0 since 2010, the year Spain won the trophy. France was totally outplayed by a wonderful performance by Spain, who deserved the win that sees Luis de la Fuente’s team into Sunday’s final in New Jersey. 

This is the end of the road for Didier Deschamps, who will go down in history as one of France’s greatest coaches with a stellar record as both a player and a coach. 

After the game, Rodri said, “ It was a collective effort of everyone. Today we did our best performance of the World Cup so far. France is a very strong team and can punish you everywhere. But everyone in our team rose to the level.

“I said it before. We are showing the character of being mature in big moments, and this was the most important moment to wait for. Because in the big moments, France will punish you, so composure was the key.”

Match winner Pedro Porro added, “We gave it our all in order just to go through to the final. We knew that we were a very tough team; we’re doing things really well. This is our team, it’s not about me.”