{"id":129378,"date":"2026-07-15T12:10:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T07:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=129378"},"modified":"2026-07-15T12:10:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T07:10:36","slug":"majestic-spain-stun-france-to-reach-fifa-world-cup-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129378\/","title":{"rendered":"Majestic Spain stun France to reach FIFA World Cup final"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(National Times)- Spain stunned tournament favourites France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final on Tuesday, producing a tactical masterpiece to shatter Les Bleus\u2019 dreams of winning the title for the third time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A first-half penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal and a 58th-minute Pedro Porro goal sealed an utterly clinical victory for the European champions at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain, World Cup winners in 2010, will now face either Argentina or England in Sunday\u2019s final in New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France had entered the showdown as the overwhelming favourites for the tournament after a dazzling, goal-laden run to the semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But France\u2019s vaunted front four of captain Kylian Mbappe, Ballon D\u2019Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Michael Olise were snuffed out by a combination of Spanish poise and power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain, who had beaten France in their previous two competitive meetings, had vowed to go on the front foot in the pre-match build-up and they proved as good as their word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A commanding performance by Spain\u2019s midfield led by Manchester City star Rodri and assisted by Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo never allowed the French to gain a foothold in the contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain\u2019s midfield quickly overran the outnumbered French duo of Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni, passing around their opponents with ease to control the early exchanges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first signs of French frustration came after just nine minutes when midfielder Rabiot was booked for treading on Olmo\u2019s foot on the edge of the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet despite the early dominance, it was France who looked the more threatening when venturing into the final third, and it needed a desperate late block by Pau Cubarsi to thwart Mbappe in the 16th minute as the French captain looked to break clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Early dominance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Spain\u2019s early dominance got its reward in the 20th minute, though, when a hopeful cross by Marc Cucurella flew across the penalty area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucas Digne didn\u2019t get enough purchase on his attempted headed clearance and as the Aston Villa player instinctively swung out a leg he kicked Yamal, sending the Barcelona star crashing to the turf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton pointed immediately to the spot and after a brief delay as French players loitered, Oyarzabal stepped up to sweep in a spot-kick that beat the dive of French goalkeeper Mike Maignan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France\u2019s rocky start got worse after 31 minutes when key central defender William Saliba hobbled off with an injury to be replaced by Maxence Lacroix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain almost doubled their lead with a sublime passing move on 38 minutes when wonderful interplay on the edge of the area sliced open France\u2019s defence, with Dayot Upamecano\u2019s block denying Fabian Ruiz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France enjoyed their best spell in the closing minutes of the first half and only excellent anticipation from Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon denied Mbappe after Rabiot\u2019s clever through ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain though reasserted themselves at the start of the second half and Deschamps\u2019 failure to adjust France\u2019s tactics again left the Spanish midfield in charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 58 minutes, Spain struck the hammer blow. Porro and Olmo worked a sensational one-two on the edge of the area that sent Porro through and the Tottenham defender clipped a fine finish past Maignan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only a fractional offside decision denied Spain a third goal in the 61st minute, when Lamal had the ball in the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deschamps made a flurry of substitutions but France were unable to penetrate Spain\u2019s smothering defence, their best chance coming when Mbappe\u2019s shot was blocked at the near post by Simon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French frustration was symbolised by Mbappe in the closing minutes, booked for following through on Simon as Spain closed out the victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(National Times)- Spain stunned tournament favourites France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final on Tuesday, producing a tactical masterpiece to shatter Les Bleus\u2019 dreams of winning the title for the third time. A first-half penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal and a 58th-minute Pedro Porro goal sealed an utterly clinical victory for the European champions at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nMajestic Spain stun France to reach FIFA World Cup final - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129378\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Majestic Spain stun France to reach FIFA World Cup final - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(National Times)- Spain stunned tournament favourites France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final on Tuesday, producing a tactical masterpiece to shatter Les Bleus\u2019 dreams of winning the title for the third time. 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