Spain Outclass France to Reach World Cup Final

Result

France 0-2 Spain: La Roja booked their spot in Sunday's World Cup final with a composed and clinical performance at Dallas Stadium. Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute after Lamine Yamal, one day past his 19th birthday, was clipped by Lucas Digne inside the box. Pedro Porro doubled the lead just before the hour mark, finishing off a slick one-two with Dani Olmo by burying the ball in the bottom corner. France, who had looked the tournament's most dangerous attacking side through the earlier rounds, could not find a way past a Spanish defence that has now kept six clean sheets in seven matches.

Pool impact

For Last Man Standing players, Spain's victory will have been a popular pick among those who backed the in-form European champions. Anyone still alive who put their faith in Les Bleus is out. Over in Score Predictor, the 2-0 scoreline rewards anyone who called a Spanish clean sheet, though the margin means perfect-score bonuses were relatively rare. Both competitions now head into the final stages with the remaining players eyeing Sunday's showpiece and Saturday's bronze final as their last chances to score points.

Pre-match forecasts

France entered the semi-final widely seen as the tournament's standout attacking unit, with Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise all in sparkling form. Spain, meanwhile, had built their campaign on defensive solidity, conceding only once across their first six matches. Most forecasts pointed to a tight, tactical affair, and that is largely what materialised, though it was Spain who found the cutting edge. The pre-match consensus that France's firepower would eventually tell proved wide of the mark, as Spain's structure and discipline nullified Deschamps' forwards and left Les Bleus looking unusually blunt in the final third.

Standout stats

Spain have now kept six clean sheets in seven matches at this tournament, conceding just two goals in total, matching the record for the fewest goals conceded by a World Cup winner shared by France in 1998, Italy in 2006 and Spain themselves in 2010. Oyarzabal's penalty was his 18th goal in his last 20 appearances for Spain, and made him only the sixth player to reach 30 goals for the national side, joining David Villa, Raul, Fernando Torres, Alvaro Morata and David Silva in that company. Pedro Porro was named Player of the Match for his all-round display and spectacular second goal. This is Spain's first World Cup final appearance since their triumph in South Africa sixteen years ago.

What comes next

Spain now await the winner of Wednesday's second semi-final between England and Argentina, with the final set for Sunday 19 July at New York New Jersey Stadium. France head to the bronze final on Saturday 18 July, where they will face the loser of that same tie. For Didier Deschamps' side, it is a chance to salvage something from a campaign that promised more, while Spain stand one win away from a second World Cup crown.

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