An excellent performance from Spain saw La Roja reach their first FIFA World Cup final since 2010.

It ended France’s tilt at the trophy, although Les Bleus’ summer isn’t done just yet – they now have to go through the motions in the third-place play-off.

Here are our Scout Notes from Tuesday’s semi-final, featuring match stats from our World Cup Toolkit page.

FRANCE 0-2 SPAIN

• Goals: Oyarzabal pen, Porro
• Assists: Olmo
• Penalty won: Yamal
• Tackle bonus: Rodri, Ruiz, Tchouameni, Olise
• Top points scorers: Porro (14), Simon (8), Laporte, Cubarsi, Oyarzabal (all 7), Cucurella, Olmo (both 6)

TEAM STATS

PLAYER STATS

SCOUT NOTES

• Going into this match, Spain’s defence had been the best at the tournament. Five clean sheets, just one goal conceded, and the lowest expected goals against (xGA) figure. But how would they fare against the bookies’ World Cup favourites and, in many people’s eyes, the best attack in the competition? Pretty damn well, it turns out. Luis de la Fuente’s side utterly neutralised France, whose star names all cut frustrated figures.
• Les Bleus didn’t manage a single shot on target until the 80th minute. They’d had only two efforts in the box going into second-half stoppage time, too. While they matched Spain for shots (10-10) and the possession was almost level (49%-51%), their total xG was a paltry 0.30 compared to La Roja’s 1.63.
• Kylian Mbappe‘s ($10.5m) three efforts epitomised France’s struggles. Each of them was a wild, desperate attempt from the edge of/outside the area, and his simmering annoyance resulted in a late booking.
• Unai Simon‘s ($5.0m) three saves were all routine, too. The first only came about because of a momentary lapse from Simon, who rushed out of goal and headed the ball straight to substitute Desire Doue ($7.5m), only for the winger to produce a tame finish straight at the Spanish goalkeeper. Ousmane Dembele‘s ($10.0m) two injury-time attempts on target were both of the resigned, hopeful variety, too. None of France’s front four, or the substitutes, made any sort of impact, with Bradley Barcola ($8.0m) and Michael Olise ($9.5m) taken off early.
• It was a brilliant containing display from Spain, with Rodri ($7.5m) and Fabian Ruiz ($6.8m) – again preferred to Pedri ($8.1m) – excellent in the middle, the centre-halves imperious, Marc Cucurella ($5.1m) superb, and even Pedro Porro ($5.5m), whose defensive qualities have been questioned in the past, nullifying Barcola and Doue.

“Our message was that today we were facing perhaps one of the best national teams in the world, but standing across from them was the best team in the world. That is the best way to neutralise any tactical approach – in this case, the rivals’ footballing style – but also by playing with discipline, balance, sacrifice, and effort, and with immense footballing talent, while reading the phases of the game very well.” – Luis de la Fuente

• It wasn’t a backs-to-the-wall performance, however. Spain were excellent in possession and looked threatening when they sporadically ventured forward. Lamine Yamal ($10.0m) was a constant menace, and more dangerous than the stats – zero shots and one key pass – suggested. It was he who won the first-half penalty that Mikel Oyarzabal ($8.1m) converted, and the winger was himself denied a superb solo goal by a tight offside. Some of Dani Olmo‘s ($7.7m) touches around the box were superb, too, one of which assisted an advanced Porro for a game-sealing second goal. No defender left in the tournament has a better points-per-match average than the Tottenham Hotspur full-back (9.6).
• There were other chances for Spain, too, with Ruiz denied by a last-ditch block after a flowing move, while substitute Ferran Torres ($7.8m) nodded narrowly wide late on. The 2010 World Cup winners started the tournament slowly in terms of attacking flow – even by their own manager’s admission – but are hitting their stride now.

“We obviously knew we had to keep improving little by little. Of course, we would have liked to win the first match [the 0-0 draw with Cabo Verde] – especially since we’d be on the verge of breaking yet another record – but it was a process where everything was pre-planned to ensure we reached the key moments in the best possible shape. Right now, I think we’re in a fantastic spot. The players are riding an incredible high, but in terms of both football and fitness, the team is performing at a very, very high level. At this stage of the season, that’s a real achievement.” – Luis de la Fuente

• There were a couple of scares for Spain, with Yamal spotted limping after the game and Porro requesting to be substituted. Assessment will follow but de la Fuente didn’t seem overly concerned, especially regarding Yamal.

“Oh, no, Yamal doesn’t have anything, as far as I know. I’ve just spoken to the doctors. It looks like Pedro Porro has some muscle overload, too, but we’ll assess it tomorrow.” – Luis de la Fuente

• France suffered an injury blow of their own, with William Saliba ($5.3m) limping off early on. The Arsenal centre-back has suffered with back issues for months and has struggled through the tournament, and the same injury appears to have reared its head this time. We await an update on Saliba from Didier Deschamps (none was forthcoming after the game) but his participation in the third-place play-off, maybe even the start of 2026/27, may be in jeopardy.

You could just read on William Saliba’s lips: « my back is gone, my back is gone » as he stopped playing. Nightmare start for France.

— Julien Laurens (@LaurensJulien) July 14, 2026

• Deschamps may be forced into one change in the play-off, then, but what else will he do with his team selection? Will fringe players like Rayan Cherki ($8.0m) and Malo Gusto ($5.1m) get more of a chance? Or will he want to go out on a high in his final France match in charge? We await his pre-match presser later in the week, as he gave little indication last night. You’d assume Mbappe starts, of course, as he pursues the Golden Boot. The good thing is that Fantasy managers will get to see the teamsheets from the third-place play-off before committing to French players, and a new Scouting Bonus pick or two – Cherki, for instance – may present themselves when the line-ups drop. You’d also think that French attackers would have an easier night than they had against Spain, with neither England nor Argentina particularly watertight at the rear.

“Obviously, this Spanish team is strong – they’ve proven it – and we fell a bit short. We made
errors, more technical errors than we had previously, and even though I thought the squad had recovered well [from the last game], we were a step off the pace at times.” – Didier Deschamps

• As for Spain, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Their manager named an unchanged side for this match, and assuming Porro and Yamal are fine for Sunday, you’d imagine he does the same again in the final.