Spain has secured its place in the finals of the 2026 World Cup after suffocating France in the first semi-final on Wednesday, securing a 2-0 victory. 

Now, Spain will have the opportunity to win the World Cup for the first time since 2012. Spain had complete dominance over the game. For this reason, France, the most aggressive team in the tournament, did not even get a chance to move. As soon as the whistle blew, Spain had France under its grip like an ‘anaconda’.

Every pass and control of the ball was in Spain’s hands. France’s attack was considered the sharpest in the entire tournament, the team had scored 16 goals in the previous 6 games, but this attack proved to be weak against Spain. 

Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro scored for Spain. But a two-goal victory does not show how much control Spain had over the game. Spain, who are also European champions, had complete unilateral control of the ball and also kept the pace of the game in their favor. In this situation, France also had to struggle to build an attack worthy of saying "Aha!". 

After the match, Pedro said, "This is a dream come true. Honestly, I didn't think the game would go our way. I didn't even dream of it. Everything went well in our game. We have beaten the best team in this World Cup." 

Spain will have the opportunity to win the World Cup for the second time in a row with the Euros. Poro, who scored the second goal in the game, commented after the match, "The main aspect of our game is the great control of the ball. The French team itself is good. Their players are no less than anyone. But our performance was even higher than that. I think this victory belongs to all 26 of us." 

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente was equally happy. He said, "We faced a team that can still be called the best in world football. But we should not forget that they have an equally strong team. In my opinion, that was the main difference in this game.’ Spain won the Nations League in 2023 and the Euro title in 2024 under his leadership. 

This victory maintained Spain’s dominance over France at a crucial juncture. Spain won its third consecutive victory against the same team to prevent France from reaching a third consecutive World Cup final. Spain defeated France 2-1 in the Euro 2024 semi-final. Similarly, Spain also defeated France 5-4 in the Nations League semi-final last year. 

Yamal is still excellent

Young player Lamine Yamal saw the opportunity and stepped forward. French defender Lucas Digne was trying to ‘clear’ the ball, while trying to head it in a strange way, in his own penalty area. He did not see Yamal moving forward and tried to kick the ball. This shot hit Yamal’s body and Spain got a penalty opportunity. That’s when Spain managed to take the lead. 

Yamal has scored only one goal in this World Cup, but his team has reached the final. Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente believes that goals are not everything, Yamal's performance is still excellent. This Barcelona star celebrated his 19th birthday the day before the match. Even at such a young age, his performance was mature even in a competition like the World Cup. 

De la Fuente added, 'The overall performance of the team was good.' For him, the team came first rather than any star player. That's why the penalty was taken by Mikel Oyarzabal. This was his fifth goal in the tournament. Later, Oyarzabal said, 'Everyone knows what is important for the team. What else is needed to win the game with all the players contributing?'

Spain's record unbeaten 

With the victory over France, Spain has extended its unbeaten journey in international football to 37 matches. This is equal to Italy's record. Now, in the final, they will have the opportunity to improve on this unbeaten performance record against Spain. Yamal has not lost a single match since playing for Spain. He has had the opportunity to start in 12 matches for Spain. 

Spain has won all matches in the World Cup and Euro. In this way, Spain's performance has been 100 percent when Yamal is there. This is the highest performance by a player for any team in these two major tournaments of world football. Similarly, Spain has become the first team to keep a clean sheet in six matches in a single edition of the World Cup. Spain also did not concede any goals against France and maintained an unmatched performance from the defense.