First finalist of the 2026 World Cup determined

In the 2026 World Cup semi-final match, France and Spain faced off at Dallas Stadium. The first part of the match, officiated by Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton, was marked by back-and-forth attacks. Following a cross from Cucurella on the left wing, the referee pointed to the penalty spot after Lucas Digne, attempting to clear the ball inside the right side of the penalty area, made contact with Yamal, who was trying to intervene. In the 22nd minute, the Spaniards took a 1-0 lead with a penalty goal scored by Mikel Oyarzabal. France struggled to create chances after the goal, and the first half ended with a 1-0 score. In the 58th minute of the match, during a passing sequence by Spain, Pedro Porro played a wall pass with Dani Olmo inside the penalty arc and moved into the penalty area. Pedro Porro, finding himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, scored the goal that extended the lead to 2. While the French struggled to generate opportunities in the remaining minutes, Spain won 2-0 and secured their ticket to the final. France, who played in the final of the 2022 World Cup, bid farewell to the tournament in the semi-finals.

Kylian Mbappe, who played a major role in France reaching the semi-finals and left his mark with his goals, finished the tournament with 8 goals. The 27-year-old footballer reached 20 goals in the World Cup, in which he competed for the 3rd time.

Spain in the final for the 2nd time

The students of the reigning European champion Luis de la Fuente will succeed in playing in a World Cup final after 16 years. Spain had reached the final in the tournament first held in South Africa and reached the championship by defeating the Netherlands 1-0.

Spain will play against the winner of the England - Argentina match in the 2026 World Cup final.

Kept a clean sheet again

Drawing attention with their defense in the 2026 World Cup, Spain completed another match without conceding a goal. Goalkeeper Unai Simon kept a clean sheet in all 3 group stage matches and did not concede in the round of 32 and round of 16.

Spain, who conceded their first goal of the tournament in the quarter-finals against Belgium, did not allow their opponent to score in the semi-final. In 2010, when they won their first world championship, Spain conceded 2 goals while keeping a clean sheet in 5 matches.

News Source: İHA