Oyarzabal, Porro Fire Spain Into First Final Since 2010
Spain produced a defensive and tactical masterclass in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday, dismantling tournament favourites France 2-0 to book a place in the 2026 World Cup final, their first appearance at that stage since they lifted the trophy in South Africa sixteen years ago.
A penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal in the 22nd minute and a coolly taken finish from Pedro Porro just before the hour mark settled a semi-final that had been billed as the meeting of the tournament’s two outstanding forces. France arrived at the Dallas Stadium, better known as the AT&T Stadium, as the overwhelming favourites, carrying the most feared attack left in the competition. They departed beaten, chastened, and without a single shot on target until deep into stoppage time.
The narrative before kick off framed the match simply. France carried the firepower, Spain carried the discipline. Something had to give, and it was France’s celebrated front line that folded. Luis de la Fuente’s side, the reigning European champions, had promised in the build up to take the game to Les Bleus rather than sit back, and they honoured that promise from the opening exchanges.
Spain’s midfield, anchored by Manchester City’s Ballon d’Or winner Rodri and supported by Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo, overwhelmed a French engine room reduced by circumstance to Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni. The imbalance told quickly. France midfielder Rabiot was booked inside nine minutes for a foul on Olmo, an early sign of the frustration that would define his side’s evening.
The breakthrough arrived in the 22nd minute. A cross from Marc Cucurella caused confusion in the France box, and left back Lucas Digne, attempting to clear, caught teenage forward Lamine Yamal on the leg. Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton pointed to the spot without hesitation. Oyarzabal stepped up and drove the ball past France goalkeeper Mike Maignan for his fifth goal of the tournament, leaving France behind for the first time in the competition.
France’s difficulties deepened moments later when centre back William Saliba was forced off in the 30th minute with a recurrence of a lower back problem, replaced by Maxence Lacroix of Crystal Palace. Spain almost doubled their advantage on 38 minutes, only for Dayot Upamecano to block Fabian Ruiz after a flowing move. By the interval France had managed just two attempts and none on target.
Didier Deschamps introduced Desire Doue for Bradley Barcola in the 57th minute in search of a spark. A minute later his side were two goals down. Porro fed Olmo on the edge of the area, continued his run, collected the return in classic give and go fashion, and slotted past Maignan. The Tottenham defender’s strike was a moment of composure that summed up Spain’s afternoon.
Spain thought they had a third in the 61st minute when Yamal turned the ball into the net, but the effort was ruled out for a marginal offside. France, for all their attacking wealth, never threatened a comeback. Kylian Mbappe, one of the joint leading scorers in the tournament, was smothered throughout, his frustration boiling over into a late booking. Michael Olise, the competition’s leading creator with five assists, was withdrawn on 72 minutes having barely influenced the contest. Two of France’s three shots on target came only after the 94th minute.
The statistical picture underlines how comprehensively Spain executed their plan. France, whose attack had produced sixteen goals on the way to the last four, were held to an expected goals figure of around 0.16, a remarkable suppression of one of the most expensive forward lines ever assembled. Spain, by contrast, have now conceded only one goal across seven matches in the United States, the meanest defence in the tournament alongside Colombia.
That single concession, scored by Charles De Ketelaere for Belgium in the quarter-final, remains the only blemish on a run that has otherwise produced five clean sheets. Spain opened with a goalless draw against Cape Verde before beating Saudi Arabia 4-0, Uruguay 1-0, Austria 3-0 in the round of 32, Portugal 1-0 in the round of 16, and Belgium 2-1. They arrive in the final unbeaten, with five wins and a draw.
France’s route had been more emphatic in front of goal. Deschamps’ men topped a group containing Senegal, Iraq and Norway, then eliminated Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco without conceding across the knockout rounds. The defeat to Spain was their first of the tournament and, significantly, denied them a third consecutive World Cup final after their triumph in 2018 and their loss on penalties in 2022.
For France, the identity of the team that ended their run will sting. Spain have now beaten them in three successive competitive meetings. La Roja edged France 2-1 in the semi-finals of Euro 2024 on their way to that title, repeated the result in the Nations League semi-finals in 2025, and have now done so again on the game’s biggest stage. The pattern points to a tactical familiarity that Deschamps was unable to solve, with his failure to adjust the shape after the interval leaving Spain’s midfield in command for long stretches.
The loss also brings a significant era to a close. The defeat is widely reported to mark the end of Deschamps’ fourteen-year tenure as France manager, a period that delivered a World Cup, a Nations League title and two further major finals. His side must now regroup for a third-place play-off on Saturday, an anticlimactic end to a campaign that had promised so much.
Spain will not know their opponents until Wednesday, when England and Argentina meet in Atlanta in a semi-final steeped in history. The fixture revives one of football’s most charged rivalries, played against the backdrop of the long standing sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas. The meeting falls forty years after Diego Maradona’s contested “Hand of God” goal helped Argentina to a 2-1 win at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
The individual subplot is equally compelling. England captain Harry Kane is locked in a race for the Golden Boot with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and the eliminated Mbappe. Kane, speaking to ITV, sought to play down the emotional weight of the occasion. “From a player’s point of view it’s us against a great team, who are smart, who are tactical, who know how to buy fouls, know how to slow the game down,” he said.
Sunday’s final in New Jersey now looms as the defining test of Spain’s generation. Should they overcome the winners of Wednesday’s tie, de la Fuente’s side would complete a rare double, adding the world title to the European crown secured in 2024 and confirming their status as the dominant force in the international game. Whether they face England, whom they beat in that Euro 2024 final, or the reigning world champions Argentina, Spain will carry into the decider the tournament’s most reliable defence and a growing sense that their moment has arrived.
For now, the abiding image is of a French machine brought to a standstill, and of a Spanish side that proved, once again, that control and organisation can silence even the most glittering attack.