Spanish delight Photo: Flashfootball
Spain outclassed France to win 2-0 and reach the FIFA World Cup (WC) final for the second time in their history, having previously not won a knockout match since their 2010 triumph.
It was a slightly cagey start with so much at stake, but La Roja looked more confident and had more of the ball. Even so, Ousmane Dembélé looked to have provided the moment of quality that could unlock their backline when he played the ball through for Kylian Mbappé, but Pau Cubarsí, Pedro Porro and Aymeric Laporte teamed up to halt him. Instead, Lamine Yamal nipped in intelligently to steal the ball from Lucas Digne and was kicked to win a penalty, which Mikel Oyarzabal clinically finished to open the scoring in the 22nd minute.
That blow came moments before the hydration break and another came shortly after it, with William Saliba forced off through injury. While Bradley Barcola showed good feet at the other end, he ultimately struck off target and La Roja were soon back to creating problems when a beautiful passage of play following Mike Maignan’s mistake required Dayot Upamecano to get across and deny Fabián Ruiz. Les Bleus still posed a question despite their severely disappointing half, as Unai Simón had to rush out superbly to meet Adrien Rabiot’s through ball ahead of Mbappé.
Didier Deschamps called upon Manu Koné ahead of the restart and then Désiré Doué in the 57th minute, but both changes were futile as Spain doubled their lead within moments of the latter. Pedro Porro played the ball to Dani Olmo and got it back before coolly beating Maignan for his second international goal. Lamine Yamal thought he had further added to Spain’s joy moments later, but saw his goal ruled out for a marginal offside call. France finally looked like conjuring a response after that reprieve, although Aurélien Tchouaméni sent a flick over the crossbar and Marc Cucurella deflected Mbappé’s strike wide.
That potential threat didn’t last long, as Spain regained control with Ferran Torres guiding a header wide. Doué then failed to punish Simón’s unconvincing header as La Roja kept a sixth clean sheet from their seven matches at this WC to set up a final against England or Argentina. That will be the first of the last three finals not to feature France, leaving Deschamps disappointed on the day he became the first-ever manager to take charge of 26 matches at the WC.
–Flashfootball
