Stingy Spain shuts down Kylian Mbappé, France to advance to World Cup final
ARLINGTON, Texas — Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot after a heady play by teenager Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro added another goal, and Spain advanced to its first World Cup final since winning in 2010 with a 2-0 victory over France Tuesday.
A day after his 19th birthday, Yamal was denied a goal on a close offside call that came soon after Porro’s give-and-go with Dani Olmo in the 58th minute had put Spain up by two. But it was Yamal’s smart play against a veteran defender that put Spain in the lead.
“They were facing the best team in the world,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said.
Spain, which will play in the final for only the second time, will face either defending champion Argentina or England on Sunday (3 p.m.) in East Rutherford, N.J.
“So difficult to get to this moment, but we want more,” midfielder Rodri said. “We want to win this World Cup.”
Kylian Mbappé and France, FIFA’s top-ranked team, were trying to become only the third team to reach three consecutive World Cup finals. They instead will play in the third-place game in Miami Saturday, the day before the final at MetLife Stadium across the river from New York City. Argentina and England face each other on Wednesday in Atlanta in the other semifinal.
This win on soccer’s biggest stage marked the third summer in a row that Spain beat France in a tournament semifinal. Yamal scored in a 2-1 win in the 2024 European Championship semifinals just days before his 17th birthday, and La Roja won, 5-4, in Nations League play last year.
After a quarterfinal win over Belgium last Friday, Yamal said he believed France should fear Spain. Those words certainly proved true.
“In so many ways, France was missing everything today,” France midfielder Rayan Cherki said through a translator. “Truly, everything was missing today. We’ll be back in four years and we won’t make the same mistakes.”
Oyarzabal’s penalty kick in the 22nd minute came after Yamal drew a foul when kicked by defender Lucas Digne.
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After a poor first touch with his head, Digne was trying to clear the ball when Yamal raced in from behind to challenge in the penalty area. The ball hit off the elbow of the leaping teen before he was kicked by Digne, playing in his 63rd game for France only six days before his 33rd birthday.
Oyarzabal’s fifth goal of this year’s World Cup marked the first time either team had trailed in their seven games in this tournament. It was his 30th goal in 60 international games for Spain.
Porro broke free for the second goal and received a pass back from Olmo, who got the touch just before getting knocked off his feet by defender Dayot Upamecano.
“We gave it our all in order just to go through to the final,” Porro said. “We knew that we’re a very tough team, we’re doing things really well. This is our team, it’s not about me.”
France had allowed only two goals in its first six games in this tournament. Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón has six shutouts while allowing only one goal in seven matches so far.
Spain had two other real scoring chances in the first half.
There was the a free kick from just beyond the box after Adrien Rabiot drew a yellow card for a foul on Olmo in the eighth minute. Alex Baena’s kick went directly into the wall of French players.
After France keeper Mike Maignan’s attempted clearing pass in the 38th minute instead went straight to Baena, there were several quick nifty passes before Fabian Ruiz’s close-range shot was denied.
Spain’s run at this year’s World Cup has extended its unbeaten streak in regular time to 37 matches (28 wins, 9 draws) since March 2024. That broke the country’s previous record of 35 in a row from 2007-09.
The loss broke France’s record-matching streak of six consecutive World Cup wins, which also was accomplished in the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
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