World Cup: France, Spain unbeaten before semis, but only one can make final

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Kylian Mbappe and France have not trailed at all in this year’s World Cup. Neither has Spain, with teenage sensation Lamine Yamal and clutch goal-scoring substitute Mikel Merino.

Only one of those teams can make it to the final.

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France and Spain, both at their 17th World Cup, have met only once previously on football’s biggest stage. They play Tuesday’s match at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys in the first of two powerhouse semifinal matches.

After entering this tournament as FIFA’s top-ranked team, France have outscored their opponents 14-2. Mbappe, the 2022 Golden Boot winner, has eight goals to match Lionel Messi for the scoring lead this time, and is one behind the Argentina captain’s career record of 21 at the World Cup.

“We are confident, of course, with the course we have done so far, and we have to be,” France midfielder Adrien Rabiot said. “But always with this humility that has characterised us since the beginning of the competition.”

The 27-year-old Mbappe has 20 goals in his 20 World Cup matches, including one in the 2018 win over Croatia, as he joined Pele as the only other teenager to score in a World Cup final. Coach Didier Deschamps said Mbappe is fine physically after exiting in the 77th minute of Les Bleus’ quarterfinal win over Morocco after scoring a goal.

Yamal, who turned 19 on Monday, has already been part of two semifinal wins with Spain over France. He was just days shy of his 17th birthday when he scored in a 2-1 win during the 2024 European Championship semifinals, and Spain won 5-4 in Nations League play last year.

“I believe if France has to fear anyone, it should be us, in my opinion,” Yamal said after Spain’s quarterfinal victory over Belgium. “We were the ones that knocked them out before.”

The teenager has only one goal from 10 shots on target in this World Cup, still nursing a left hamstring issue. He missed the final weeks of the season for Spanish club Barcelona.

“It’s the most important match I’m going to play,” Yamal said ahead of the game, adding his best birthday gift would be a victory and trip to the final. “We are all so excited, especially me.”

France defender Jules Kounde also plays for Barcelona, so he knows Yamal well and did not feel disrespected by the earlier comments.

“He always does it with [Barcelona]. He trusts a lot in his virtues, in the virtues of the team where he plays,” Kounde said in translated remarks. “An extra motivation for him and that’s it, that’s all.”

Spain have outscored opponents 10-1 since a scoreless draw against surprising Cape Verde to open group play, but La Roja got late decisive goals from Merino as a late substitute in the past two games. And goalkeeper Unai Simon set a World Cup record of 650 minutes without allowing a goal until Belgium scored in the 41st minute of their quarterfinal game.

“I think that from the first game until today, the team needed to catch the rhythm; we had been without seeing each other for a long time,” Spain midfielder Alex Baena said, adding that with more games and practices “the better the team has been.”

Merino scored in the 88th minute for that 2-1 win over Belgium on Friday. That came after the Arsenal forward’s goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time for the 1-0 win over Portugal in the round of 16 at the same stadium where Spain’s semifinal match will be played.

Kylian Mbappe of France celebrates his goal against Morocco

Quartet of past World Cup winners in 2026 semifinals

This is the first World Cup since 1990 when all four semifinalists are former champions.

Messi and defending champion Argentina, which beat France for the title in 2022, play England in the other semifinal match Wednesday in Atlanta.

The championship match is on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, across the river from New York. A third-place game will be played on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.

In their only previous World Cup meeting, France beat Spain 3-1 in a round-of-16 game at the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Both teams have won the World Cup since then – Spain claimed their only title in 2010 and France won their second in 2018.

France, who will be playing on their Bastille Day national holiday, are trying to join five-time champions Brazil and four-time winners Germany as the only teams to make three consecutive World Cup finals. Brazil did it in 1994, 1998 and 2002 – winning two and losing to hosts France in the middle of that run.

Germany’s championship in 1990 came after being runners-up in the previous two World Cups – all playing as West Germany at the time.

Argentina beat France in a penalty shootout in 2022 after playing to a 3-3 draw.

This is France’s seventh semifinal appearance, their fifth in the last eight World Cups. Spain’s only other semifinals were in 1950 and then 2010 on the way to the title.

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Messi scored three goals in Argentina’s two group games, the first on June 22 when, after missing a penalty kick, he broke the World Cup career scoring mark with the first of his two goals in a 2-0 win over Austria. He added another goal as a late substitute in the final group match against Jordan on June 27.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the 41-year-old superstar from Portugal, finished his sixth and final World Cup in the 1-0 round-of-16 loss to Spain on July 6.

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