Spain beat France 2-0 in World Cup semifinal, reach final for second time
Spain defeated France 2-0 on Tuesday in the FIFA World Cup semifinal, advancing to the final for only the second time in their history. They will face the winner of the other semifinal between England and Argentina.
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Spain became the first finalist of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a 2-0 victory over France in the semifinal. It is only the second time Spain has reached the final, the first being in 2010 when they won the tournament.
In the first half, Spain took the lead from a penalty after Lucas Digne handled the ball in the box, hitting Lamine Yamal. Mikel Oyarzabal converted the spot kick. Shortly after, France suffered an injury to William Saliba, who was replaced by Maxence Lacroix.
Early in the second half, Spain doubled their lead in the 58th minute. Dani Olmo set up Pedro Porro, who fired home from close range. Yamal later scored, but the goal was ruled out for offside. France pushed for a comeback, but Spain's defense held firm. Goalkeeper Unai Simón rushed out to block a chance from Désiré Doué, and Kylian Mbappé received a yellow card for protesting Simón's time-wasting.
Spain's World Cup campaign started with a surprising 0-0 draw against Cape Verde, followed by wins over Saudi Arabia (4-0), Uruguay (1-0), Austria (3-0), Portugal (1-0), and Belgium (2-1). France won all their group matches against Senegal (3-1), Iraq (3-0), and Norway (4-1), and kept clean sheets in the knockout rounds against Sweden (3-0), Paraguay (1-0), and Morocco (2-0).
The other semifinal between England and Argentina takes place on Wednesday. This is the first World Cup with 48 teams, hosted across Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
