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Published : 13 Jul 2026, 09:28 AM
France are one victory from extending one of the most extraordinary eras of World Cup dominance, with a third successive final and a fifth appearance in the showpiece match in eight tournaments within reach when they face Spain on Tuesday.
To get there, Didier Deschamps’s side must overcome the team who have repeatedly blocked their path in recent years and whose defence has been breached only once at this tournament.
Spain, who have had a see-saw progression here, eliminated France in the Euro 2024 semi-finals and beat them again in a nine-goal Nations League thriller last year, but this time Les Bleus arrive with the competition’s two most prolific forwards - Kylian Mbappe on eight goals and Ousmane Dembele on five -- and a much more balanced team.
There is considerable continuity between the teams who met in Munich two years ago, when Spain recovered from Randal Kolo Muani’s early header to win 2-1 with goals from Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo.
Seven of the players who started for France that night could again be in the line-up in Dallas, but the resemblance largely ends there.
France arrived at the Euro 2024 semi-final as a team still searching for fluency.
Mbappe had been hampered by the fractured nose he suffered in their opening game, Antoine Griezmann was struggling to impose himself and the side had reached the last four despite failing to score freely from open play.
Different Foundation
Their progress in the United States has been built on a very different foundation.
Mbappe and Dembele have scored 13 goals between them, Michael Olise has provided invention and control between the lines while Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue have offered another explosive option either from the start or off the bench.
France have become more coherent without the ball and more varied with it, capable of attacking at speed, slowing down the game or defending in a compact block for long periods without appearing uncomfortable.
That tactical flexibility was evident in their 2-0 quarter-final victory over Morocco, when they resisted pressure, denied their opponents clear chances and waited patiently for the openings that eventually decided the match.
It is precisely that balance which will be tested against Spain, who will be able to rely on Lamine, a player rediscovering his groove after arriving at the tournament nursing a hamstring injury.
Luis de la Fuente’s side have retained the collective philosophy that carried them to the European title, using possession not merely to create chances but to suffocate opponents and protect their own defence.
Their record of one goal conceded underlines how rarely teams have been able to play through them, although Belgium showed during Spain’s 2-1 quarter-final win that they can be unsettled when opponents escape the initial press and attack the space behind their midfield.
France appear better equipped than most to exploit those moments.
Mbappe’s pace will discourage Spain’s defenders from holding too high a line, while Dembele’s ability to attack from the flank can create uncertainty over where the greatest threat will emerge.
Olise, meanwhile, has become one of France’s most important connectors, drifting inside to combine with the midfield before brutally accelerating attacks.
Deschamps will need to decide whether he wants to reinforce the midfield or remain faithful to the attacking structure that has made France the tournament’s most feared side.
Committing four attacking players would give Spain more to worry about but could also leave France exposed if their press is bypassed.
History Within Reach
“We are the only ones to have beaten them twice in a row, but this third match will be very different,” De la Fuente said after the victory over Belgium.
“These are two very high-level teams who are going to face each other.”
France, however, have history within reach.
They reached the World Cup final in 1998, 2006, 2018 and 2022, winning twice, and victory in Dallas would send them into a fifth final in eight tournaments.
It would also make them the first nation since Brazil between 1994 and 2002 to appear in three consecutive World Cup finals.
That consistency has been built around Deschamps’s ability to renew his team without sacrificing its competitive identity. The side who won in 2018 was founded on defensive solidity and ruthless transitions; the 2022 finalists leaned heavily on Mbappe’s brilliance. This version appears deeper, more adventurous and less dependent on a single route to victory.
Spain may be the only opponents capable of exposing any remaining flaws.
They have conceded only once, possess the technical quality to deprive France of the ball and have repeatedly shown they can turn long spells of control into decisive bursts around the penalty area.
Yet France enter the meeting with more firepower, greater confidence and a sense that their evolution has brought them to a point where recent defeats no longer define the matchup.
