Spain defeated France 2-0 to become the first team to make it to the 2026 FIFA World Cup final. Goals came from Mikel Oyarzabal in the 22nd minute and Pedro Porro in the 58th minute.
Spain 2-0 France
Spain puts two goals past a discombobulated France to advance to the final.
Spain started out controlling the ball although most of the action was in the middle of the field. Spain pulled ahead in the 22nd minute off a penalty caused by Lamine Yamal. The 19-year-old earned the call by not attempting to play the ball, but rather ran into Lucas Digne in his attempt to clear the ball from the box.
Although it could be argued that Yamal was going for the ball, it is pretty hard to do with his body turned and facing away from the ball. Not to mention that the ball hit Lamine’s arm in the process which could have negated the call should VAR have seen it. Oyarzabal kicked a hard shot to the right side of the goal, and it went in just over the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
For the rest of the game France played in a shocked state. William Saliba came off due to injury; his replacement had made only five appearances for France; their formation broke down; and all three main attackers, Mbappé, Dembélé and Olise struggled to make an impact, both individually and when playing off each other.
Spain continued to control possession and create most of the chances until the 58th minute when they were able to break through again. After a missed tackle by a French defender, Porro found himself with the ball completely unmarked and one-on-one with Maignan. He calmly placed the ball to the right of the keeper and into the goal.
France used all of their substitutes in an attempt to get back into the game but nothing they did seemed to work. Spain would maintain possession and waste time, seeing out the rest of the game.
The only big chance for France came off a free kick that should have been called a penalty. In the 87th minute, Désiré Doué fakes Yamal with a touch that would have taken him outside of the box had Yamal not tripped him while he was still inside the box. The referee called a free kick instead.
Spain advances to the final for only the second time. Their first being 2010 when they became champions. They will face the winner of the England vs. Argentina match that will take place on July 15 at 3 p.m. ET.
A couple things to note. In my opinion, Maxence Lacroix was not the right person to bring on for Saliba. He is too inexperienced and it showed. Manu Koné did not add anything to the game when he replaced Adrien Rabiot at halftime. Yes, Rabiot was on a yellow card, but it would have been worth the risk to keep him in as he was the only one trying to orchestrate things.
One thing for the fans at the game to improve on: When chanting Olé, the point is that it is said when a pass is completed, not when the pass is initially played. It sounds silly when hearing an ‘Olé’ as you are seeing the attempted pass being intercepted.
As always, stay tuned to Futbolhijo.com for in-depth coverage of the biggest World Cup yet. Check back for my next article, where I will be covering matches and news that occur throughout the tournament. You can also read my previous article where I broke down my 26 on the 26.
Cover Photo: Norway and England Advance. NOTE: Image generated using the prompt “generate an image that matches the following 2026 world cup article title: Spain advance to the world cup final,” by OpenAI, ChatGPT, 2026 (https://chatgpt.com/).
4 comments