By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-07-18 17:28:12 | Updated at 2026-08-02 23:35:23
2 weeks ago
Spain were in total control against France in the World Cup semi-final, effectively stifling Les Bleus’ attack to book a place in the final.
Mikel Oyarzabal continued his fine form for Spain as he helped them to a 2-0 win over France, which sent them to the World Cup final for the first time since 2010.
La Roja will face either England or Argentina for the trophy, as Pedro Porro‘s goal gave them the insurance they needed against a lacklustre France side at Dallas Stadium.
It was a fairly quiet start for both sides, with Adrien Rabiot swinging a volley wide before Álex Baena hit the wall from a free-kick on the edge of the box.
But Spain got their opening from the penalty spot as Lucas Digne, unaware of his surroundings, kicked through Lamine Yamal as he tried to clear his lines.
Oyarzabal confidently stepped up from 12 yards and powered his fifth goal of these finals down the right, giving Mike Maignan no chance in the 22nd minute.
Bradley Barcola fired over in France’s best first-half chance, while they got a reprieve at the other end as Dayot Upamecano took the ball off Fabián Ruiz‘s toe after a lovely Spain move.
Spain continued to dominate after the break, though, and got their reward in the 58th minute as Porro played a lovely one-two with Dani Olmo to get in behind France and sweep home their second.
It almost got worse for Les Bleus three minutes later as Yamal peeled away, rounded Digne on the edge of the six-yard box and curled a wonderful finish past Maignan, but he had set off too early, with the offside flag denying him.
Kylian Mbappé sprang into life midway through the second half to drill a low shot across goal, but Marc Cucurella stuck out a leg to deflect it narrowly wide of the far post.
France were gifted a great chance to halve the deficit when Simon fluffed his header after rushing out of his box, but the goalkeeper recovered to block Désiré Doué‘s tame shot as Didier Deschamps’ side crashed out in the semi-finals.
Spain Show They Still Have France’s Number
Spain have now lost just two of their last 11 meetings with France in all competitions, with this their third straight win, all of which have come at the semi-final stage of a tournament (2-1 win in Euro 2024 and 5-4 victory in the 2024-25 Nations League).
Mbappé – who broke the record for the most appearances for France at the World Cup (21) – did not click into gear, being caught offside more times (twice) than he had touches in the opposition box (one) in the first half.
Instead, Oyarzabal took the headlines before the break. Only David Villa (13), Alvaro Morata (10) and Fernando Torres (nine) have scored more goals at major tournaments for Spain than his seven, while no Spanish player has ever scored more goals at a single World Cup (five).
In fact, since the start of 2025, he has had a hand in 24 goals across 19 appearances for La Roja in all competitions (17 goals, seven assists), 14 more than any other player.
Olmo also played his part by setting up the second goal. He has the joint-most assists for Spain on record at major tournaments (World Cup/Euros – since 1980), along with Cesc Fabregas (both eight).
Deschamps, who took charge of his 26th World Cup match, the outright most of any manager, will not be bowing out as France boss with another World Cup. His side managed just 10 shots worth 0.3 expected goals (xG), with only three of those on target.
It means that France have still never won a game at the finals when trailing at half-time (D1 L12) as Spain ensured they reached just their second final, having lifted the trophy in their first in 2010.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the France vs Spain stats from their 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final meeting at Dallas Stadium on 14 July.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
France vs Spain: Post-Match Opta Facts
- Spain have reached their second FIFA World Cup final after 2010 when they won the tournament; that was also the last time the reigning UEFA European Championship holders reached the final.
- Spain have equalled Italy’s run of 37 games between October 2018 and September 2021 for the joint-longest unbeaten streak by a European nation in history (both W28 D9).
- As manager of France, Didier Deschamps has lost more games against Spain than any other nation (5).
- Among European nations to contest at least two, Spain have the best progression rate in major tournament semi-final ties (World Cup/EURO), progressing from seven of their eight (88%).
- Excluding penalties, this was just France’s second defeat in a FIFA World Cup knockout stage match across their last 23, along with a 1-0 loss to Germany in 2014 at the quarter-final stage.
- France’s Kylian Mbappé failed to have a shot on target for only the second time across his last 15 FIFA World Cup appearances, also failing against England in the 2022 quarter-finals.
- Spain are the first European team ever to win eight consecutive knockout stage matches at major tournaments (World Cup/EURO).
- Spain are only the fourth team this century to reach a FIFA World Cup final without trailing in any of their matches after Argentina in 2014, Italy in 2006 and Germany in 2002.
- Spain are the first team in FIFA World Cup history to keep six clean sheets at a single edition – the xG figure they faced today of 0.3 is the fewest by a nation in a semi-final tie in the competition since Brazil vs Sweden in 1994 (0.1).
- Mikel Oyarzabal is the third Spanish player to score five goals at a single FIFA World Cup tournament after David Villa in 2010 and Emilio Butragueño in 1986 (both also exactly five).
- Dani Olmo has the joint-most assists for Spain on record at major tournaments (World Cup/EURO – since 1980) along with Cesc Fàbregas (both 8) – he has scored (1) or assisted (2) in all three of his major semi-final appearances for La Roja.
- Pedro Porro is the second Spanish defender to score multiple goals in a single FIFA World Cup after Fernando Hierro (2 in both 2002 and 1998).
- Across the last two FIFA World Cup tournaments, France have conceded the most penalties (6) and the most penalty goals (4 – excluding shootouts).
- France have failed to record a first half shot on target in three of their seven 2026 FIFA World Cup games (vs Spain, Paraguay and Senegal) – it only happened in four of their prior 59 games in the competition on record (since 1966).
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