One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
Spain sparkles to shock France 2-0 and advance to the World Cup final
Spain's Pedro Porro celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the World Cup semifinal against France on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.
(
Paul Ellis
/
Getty Images
)
Spain is going back to the World Cup final, after defeating France 2-0 in a dominant semifinal performance.
It was a tough end for France, which had entered this tournament as a favorite, after winning the 2018 World Cup and losing to Argentina in the 2022 final. But France had no match for Spain, which has only allowed one goal this World Cup — and has not been beaten in two years (a 37-game streak: 28W - 9D - 0L).
In fact, neither team had trailed in this World Cup until a Spanish penalty kick in the 21st minute put them up 1-0. Spain got another goal in the 58th minute to seal the victory and managed to stifle the stellar French attacking trio of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise. Mbappé had entered the game as the tournament leader in the Golden Boot race (eight goals and three assists, just ahead of Argentina's Lionel Messi with eight goals and two assists).
Spain, the reigning European champion and 2010 World Cup winner, enters Sunday's final on a high note and will play the winner of Wednesday's semifinal between Argentina and England.
France will have one more game to play, the third-place match against the losing team of the other semifinal on Saturday.
Copyright 2026 NPR
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
