In a electric 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinal clash at Arlington, Texas, Spain secured a dominant 2-0 victory over top-ranked France on Wednesday, booking their spot in Sunday’s final and extending one of the most impressive unbeaten runs in international men’s football. The result marks the third consecutive summer that La Roja has knocked France out of a major tournament in the semifinal stage, capping a performance built on youthful creativity and clinical defensive solidity.
The opening goal came in the 22nd minute, sparked by 19-year-old Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, just one day removed from celebrating his birthday. After French defender Lucas Digne miscontrolled a clearance with his head, Yamal darted into the penalty area from behind to challenge for the loose ball. The young winger was kicked by Digne as he went for the ball, with the contact drawing a clear penalty from the referee. Mikel Oyarzabal stepped up to convert the spot kick past France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, putting Spain ahead — the first time either side had trailed in their seven matches of this World Cup. The goal was Oyarzabal’s fifth of the tournament and his 30th in 60 caps for Spain.
Spain doubled their lead in the 58th minute through a sharp give-and-go between Pedro Porro and Dani Olmo. After Olmo received the ball, he was knocked off his feet by defender Dayot Upamecano just after slipping a return pass to Porro, who calmly finished past Maignan to put La Roja up 2-0. Moments later, Yamal thought he had added a third, but his close-range finish was ruled out by an offside call that denied the teenager a birthday goal.
From that point, Spain’s defense and goalkeeper Unai Simón held firm against a French side that could not find a way back into the game. Heading into the semifinal, France had conceded just two goals in their entire tournament run, and Simón entered the match having kept six clean sheets and conceded only one goal across seven games. That solid defensive showing held, as Simón shut out all of France’s attempts to pull level, extending his tournament tally of shutouts.
The final scoreline leaves France disappointed, as the top-ranked side in the world missed their chance to become just the third men’s team in history to reach three consecutive World Cup finals. Instead, Didier Deschamps’ side will drop into the third-place match against the loser of Thursday’s second semifinal between Argentina and England, scheduled for this Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.
After the final whistle, Spanish head coach Luis de la Fuente praised his side’s effort against a side he called the best in the world. Midfielder Rodri echoed that sentiment, emphasizing how hard the team had worked to reach this stage. “So difficult to get to this moment, but we want more,” Rodri said. “We want to win this World Cup.” Porro, who scored the decisive second goal, deflected credit to the entire squad, saying: “We gave it our all in order just to go through to the final. We knew that we’re a very tough team, we’re doing things really well. This is our team, it’s not about me.”
French midfielder Rayan Cherki acknowledged his side’s underperformance in the match. “In so many ways, France was missing everything today,” Cherki said through a translator. “Truly, everything was missing today. We’ll be back in four years and we won’t make the same mistakes.”
The result extends Spain’s incredible unbeaten streak in regular international play to 37 matches, dating back to March 2024. The run, made up of 28 wins and nine draws, breaks the Spanish men’s national team record of 35 consecutive unbeaten matches set between 2007 and 2009. For France, the loss ends their streak of six consecutive World Cup wins, a run that matched the record set by their 2018 and 2022 squads.
Notably, Wednesday’s win is the third straight summer that Spain has defeated France in a major tournament semifinal. Two years ago, Yamal scored in a 2-1 Spanish win over France in the 2024 European Championship semifinal, just days before his 17th birthday. Last year, Spain downed France 5-4 in a Nations League semifinal. Ahead of this clash, Yamal had publicly said France should fear his Spanish side, a prediction that proved fully accurate after the final whistle.
Spain will now face the winner of Thursday’s semifinal between defending champion Argentina and England in Sunday’s World Cup final, held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from New York City. While fans in central Madrid celebrated jubilantly immediately after the final whistle, the Spanish squad now turns its focus to ending their historic run with the sport’s biggest prize.