Tuesday’s gargantuan clash between France and Spain is worthy of being played a few days later on Sunday in the shadow of New York City at MetLife Stadium in the World Cup Final, but the luck of the draw means we must be satisfied with it being a semifinal.
This is a meeting of two of the world’s most successful programmes as of late, and one in which an unstoppable force faces an immovable object.
Spain, the reigning European champions, has allowed just a single goal in six matches at this summer’s World Cup, doing so in the 41st minute of its 2-1 quarterfinal win against Belgium. Charles De Katalaere’s header snapped what had been a 650-minute shutout streak — the longest in World Cup history.
It has recent bragging rights over France, having defeated Les Bleus in the semifinal of the 2024 Euros and then in the 2025 Nations League semis, 5-4, behind Lamine Yamal’s brace. But this French team is significantly different — and it was that loss to Spain that helped manager Didier Deschamps begin the reshaping of his squad.
France is looking to make a third straight World Cup Final after winning it all in 2018 and falling short against Argentina in Qatar four years ago. Only West Germany (1982, 1986, 1990) and Brazil (1994, 1998, 2002) have qualified for three straight World Cup Finals. But to get here, Deschamps changed his tactics, going from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1, which promotes a more attacking brand.
He also poached France’s youth ranks, taking notable young stars Michael Olise of Bayern Munich and Desire Doue of PSG from an under-23 Olympic squad that won silver in Paris two years ago.
Both have joined forces with reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele to create an unstoppable trio that sits just behind Kylian Mbappe, the indelible French striker who leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals and three assists.
They provide the toughest test yet for Spain, especially considering Deschamps’ men have conceded just one more goal than La Roja at this tournament. Can Luis de la Fuente’s side adjust? Yamal has just one goal in six matches and will surely need to show more to get Spain past what has been the French buzzsaw.
