2026 World Cup: Spain dismantle France to storm into Sunday's final

France arrived as one of the favourites to lift the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but Spain tore them apart in Dallas on Tuesday night, cruising to a commanding 2-0 semi-final victory that booked their place in Sunday's final.

Luis de la Fuente's side dominated possession and limited France to very few clear chances. Mikel Oyarzabal's first-half penalty and Pedro Porro's clinical finish capped a display of complete control as La Roja moved to within one win of football's biggest prize.

The Spain coach named the same starting XI that defeated Belgium in the quarter-finals, keeping faith with Fabián Ruiz alongside Rodri and Dani Olmo in midfield despite Pedri's return to fitness. His counterpart, Didier Deschamps, made changes for France, bringing Aurélien Tchouaméni and Bradley Barcola into his line-up.

The opening stages were cagey, with Spain enjoying most of the ball while France looked to threaten on the counter through Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé.

The breakthrough came early, in the 22nd minute, when Lucas Digne kicked Lamine Yamal's thigh inside the penalty area as he waited for the ball to drop.

Spain's top scorer at the tournament, Oyarzabal, calmly converted the resulting spot kick, placing the ball into the top right-hand corner despite Mike Maignan going the right way. This was his fifth goal of the tournament and his 30th for Spain.

In response, France struggled to create meaningful opportunities before half time, failing to register a shot on target. Their best opening came just before the interval when Unai Simón raced off his line to deny Mbappé, preserving Spain's 1-0 advantage.

Deschamps made changes after the break in an attempt to turn the game around, but Spain doubled their lead soon afterwards when Dani Olmo combined neatly with Pedro Porro, whose composed finish beat Maignan in a one-on-one to make it 2-0.

Lamine Yamal briefly thought he had added a third after being sent through on goal, only for it to be ruled out for offside.

France pushed forward in the closing stages, with Mbappé going closest after his effort was deflected wide by Marc Cucurella, while Simón continued to deal confidently with the few dangerous moments that arose.

But despite the late push, Spain comfortably saw out the closing minutes to complete a convincing win and seal their place in the final at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday. In New York/New Jersey, they will now face either England or defending champions Argentina as they bid to win a second world title.