France Knocked Out As Spain March Into World Cup Final

Oyarzabal and Porro fire Spain past France into World Cup final
 

Spain outclassed France with goals from Oyarzabal and Porro to book a World Cup final vs England or Argentina. La Roja kept a sixth clean sheet in seven games.

Brilliant Spain beat below-par France to reach second World Cup final...

Spain dominated France in a 2-0 win to book their place in the FIFA World Cup final for just the second time. It’s their first knockout victory at the tournament since winning it all in 2010.

  

The opening was tense given what was on the line, but Spain looked calmer and controlled possession.

France did find a spark when Ousmane Dembele slipped Kylian Mbappe in behind, but Pau Cubarsi, Pedro Porro and Aymeric Laporte combined to shut him down.

Spain struck first instead. Lamine Yamal pressed smartly to take the ball off Lucas Digne, was fouled, and won a penalty. Mikel Oyarzabal stepped up and coolly converted in the 22nd minute to make it 1-0.

France’s problems doubled around the water break. Just before it they conceded, and soon after William Saliba had to come off injured.

 

Bradley Barcola did show some neat touches for France but fired wide. Spain quickly got back on the front foot, and after a Mike Maignan error sparked a slick move, Dayot Upamecano had to slide in to stop Fabian Ruiz.

Even with a poor first half, France still caused trouble. Unai Simon had to sprint out quickly to get to Adrien Rabiot’s through ball before Kylian Mbappe.

Didier Deschamps turned to Manu Kone at half-time and brought on Desire Doue in the 57th minute, but neither change made a difference. Spain made it 2-0 almost immediately after Doue came on. Pedro Porro exchanged passes with Dani Olmo before slotting past Mike Maignan for his second goal for Spain.

Lamine Yamal looked to have made it 3-0 shortly after, but his goal was ruled out for a very tight offside.

 

That let-off gave France some hope. Aurelien Tchouameni flicked an effort over the bar, and Marc Cucurella then got a touch to turn Kylian Mbappe’s shot wide.

The brief French pressure faded quickly. Spain took back control, with Ferran Torres heading wide from a good position.

Desire Doue couldn’t capitalize on an uncertain header from Unai Simon. Spain held on for a sixth clean sheet in seven games at this World Cup, booking a final against either England or Argentina.

 

It’s the first World Cup final in the last three editions without France. It was a bitter day for Didier Deschamps, who also made history by becoming the first manager to take charge of 26 World Cup matches.