Spain vs France: Oyarzabal and Porro send La Roja to the World Cup final
Spain beat France 2-0 in the first World Cup 2026 semifinal. Oyarzabal scored from the spot and Porro added a second. La Roja now await England or Argentina.
Spain are in the World Cup 2026 final. In the first semifinal, played on Tuesday, La Roja beat France 2-0 and are now one game away from lifting the trophy for a second time.
How did Spain score?
The first goal came from the penalty spot. Digne brought down Lamine Yamal inside the box and the referee pointed straight to the spot. Mikel Oyarzabal stepped up and made no mistake, sending the ball well beyond Maignan’s reach. Then, on 58 minutes, Pedro Porro played a quick give-and-go with Dani Olmo and side-footed home the second that settled Luis de la Fuente’s side.
France arrived at this stage as one of the tournament favourites but ran into a Spain that was sharper and better organised when it mattered. Mbappé was closely marshalled and never lit the game up the way he had in earlier rounds — the much-hyped duel with Yamal tilted firmly Spain’s way.
Who will Spain play in the final?
Their opponent comes from the second semifinal, between England and Argentina. Whoever it is, Spain go into the final as the in-form team, keeping a clean sheet in a big match with a golden generation at its peak. We are following every twist in our World Cup 2026 live diary, having already looked at the Yamal–Mbappé duel that dominated the build-up.
The final is set for 19 July. Kick-off times and venues can be confirmed on FIFA’s official tournament page. Until then, half the world will argue over whether this Spain side is already the best team on the planet — and France will have all the time they need to wonder what went wrong.
By Vasco Almada
Image: Rolandhino1 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
