Dominant Spain oust Deschamps and France to secure World Cup final berth

Spain's Pedro Porro reacts after scoring his side's second goal. Pic: AP Photo/Ashley Landis

World Cup semi-final: France 0 Spain 2

For over 300 years, Texas was part of the Spanish empire. In all that time though, they never quite took complete control of the place. If only they’d had Rodrigo Hernández Cascante.

Luis de la Fuente’s conquistadors of 2026 will head north now, the second Spanish side to ever make it all the way to a World Cup final.

They will be led that way by Rodri, who commanded one of the most dominant displays in the tournament’s recent history here on Tuesday afternoon. A privilege of a thing to witness.

Didier Deschamps’ historic French era is over. It was ended not with a valiant defeat but one where anything France did do — and they were allowed to do almost nothing by Spain’s death squeeze — was all in vain. 

Kylian Mbappe and the summer’s most lethal attack was a rabble of disparate blunt parts, not a shot on target until the game was 82 minutes old and over. 

To turn a battle of such esteemed outfits into a phoney war was more impressive than anything De la Fuente’s team did on the fields of Germany two summers ago.

From top to bottom, the European champions looked like world champions in waiting. 

Now they will wait, getting up to New York a day earlier than either Argentina or England content to watch on and know that history very much favours the victors of a first semi-final when it comes time for the final. 

Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty and Pedro Porro’s brilliant second were more than enough to secure their watching brief. Even in the metropolis of Manhattan, Spain will do well to find a TV like the one here.

The screen which dangles over Dallas Stadium is absurdly enormous. In a state where everything is bigger, it occupies so much space it’s simply unignorable. Even when two of the top three nations in the world are doing their thing down there — more accurately one of them were — the eye is still sucked up to the 160ft x 72ft HD TV. 

Time Magazine once described it as “a four-sided, Cleopatra's barge of video screens”.

But when things aren’t going your way below, it hangs 90ft above like the jumbotron of Damocles. Its clock ticked exactly to 45 minutes when Adrien Rabiot, a man perpetually in a rush, arrived late and stamped down on Fabian Ruiz. Already on a yellow and under the eye of one of the pickiest officials in the sport, Rabiot was blessed not to be off.

Michael Olise too was arguably blessed not to be off for an earlier tackle on Rodri. William Saliba was off, a back injury forcing him to the sidelines. Deschamps could have taken any one of a handful of his starting XI off when the whistle arrived. 

Les Bleus were blessed to be just a single goal down. Their worst half of this tournament arrived on their biggest day yet. It wouldn’t get any better.

They’d never got started and then weren’t allowed to. Erling Haaland left Dallas with a treasure trove of trinkets. 

Let’s hope he picked up a sheriff’s badge for his club captain. Rodri was clicking around the middle of Arlington and may as well have had spurs on the back of his orange boots. He was the law here. With Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo alongside him, as they had been in another semi-final victory over France in Munich in 2024, Spain’s captain put in his most impressive display for perhaps two years.

The only good news for France was the scoreline that also loomed from above: 1-0 to Spain. 

It could have been more, never more so than on 38 minutes when La Roja produced maybe the move of the summer, Alex Baena intercepting a Mike Maignan pass and the ball fed to the right where Lamine Yamal had already done damage. 

A gorgeous flick from Olmo released him and he crossed for Ruiz but Dayot Upamecano got back at the last moment.

So, 1-0 it was. But given France had turned from the tournament’s best attack into the most toothless thing in Texas, it may already have been enough. In our preview we'd wondered whether Lucas Digne had the speed of foot or thought for a now almost fully-fit Yamal. 

When he swiped an oblivious leg to clear on 20 minutes we had our answer. Yamal had hovered into the space and Ivan Barton whistled immediately. Oyarzabal’s penalty was perhaps the tournament’s most unstoppable.

Mbappe and his cast of creators were blunted to a staggering degree. Michael Olise was most anonymous, Ousmane Dembele off-key and Bradley Barcola getting nothing off Porro with Rodri never far away.

By the time Deschamps opted for change, it was already too late. On 57 minutes he swapped Desire Doue for Barcola for the umpteenth time and watched as the winger, and fellow sub Manu Kone allowed Spain to streak off towards the sunset. 

Porro, enjoying a magnificent campaign, played a fast and fluid one-two with Olmo and raced in to bury past Maignan. Yamal had a stunning third ruled out for offside soon after.

There were still 32 minutes left but the French race was run. In Deschamps’ previous three World Cups they have won one and lost to the eventual champions in the other two. On Sunday that could become three.

The noise the rest of the way came courtesy of that giant screen. 

Actor Timothée Chalamet, in a France jacket, was sad. David Beckham was happy. 

Jerry Jones, who owns this place and its Cowboys, was jeered to the rafters. Late on, the place got really loud. Up there in HD were the boys of 2010 — Xavi, Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos.

In five days time, Rodri and his Roja of 2026 will get the chance to match their glory. Spain already look all-conquering.

France (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne; Tchouameni, Rabiot’ Dembele, Olise, Barcola; Mbappe.

Subs: Lacroix for Saliba (30), Kone for Rabiot (HT), Doue for Barcola (57), Cherki for Olise (73), Theo Hernandez for Digne (73).

Spain (4-1-2-3): Simon; Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri; Fabian, Olmo; Yamal, Oyarzabal, Baena.

Subs: Torres for Oyarzabal (74), Merino for Olmo (78), Pedri for Ruiz (78), Williams for Baena (83), Llorente for Porro (83) Goals: Oyarzabal (22, Pen), Porro (58).

Referee: Ivan Barton Cisneros (El Salvador).

Att: 70,176