For the first time at this World Cup, France was comprehensively outplayed, and at the worst possible time. Spain has beaten France 2-0 in what was a masterclass by Spain, answering many of the doubts surrounding them.

“More like I’m not sure France will know what to do when they are suffocated to death by Spain’s pressure. Brilliant efficiency from the Spanish. They continue to be underestimated by people, including me,” said soccer analyst Taylor Twellman.

Just a few days before the semifinal, Taylor Twellman believed Spain was now going to face its toughest opponent in France. He praised France’s attack, saying, “the Spanish team is really gonna have to deal with something,” talking about how Dembele, Olise, and Mbappe can rattle any defense. 

Twellman also questioned whether Spain had faced opponents carrying this much pace, quality, and attacking danger in this World Cup. He even admitted that he would be shocked if the World Cup final eluded France.

But once the game began at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, that prediction quickly began to move in the opposite direction. Spain settled into the game from the get-go, controlled possession, and never allowed France’s attack to find any real rhythm.  

Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring from the spot after Lamine Yamal nipped in ahead of Lucas Digne and won a penalty. That goal handed France their first deficit of the match and put the pressure onto Didier Deschamps’ side even before the hydration break. 

Spain never looked satisfied after taking the 1-goal lead and kept pushing while France struggled to even create a chance. Pedro Porro doubled the lead after a 1-2 with Dani Olmo before beating Mike Maignan. Soon after, Yamal thought he had scored, but he was clearly offside, and that kept France within reach. But by then, Spain had complete control of the game while France tried to do everything to get a goal back.

Rodri controlled the game’s tempo while Pau Cubarsi, Cucurella and Aymeric Laporte frustrated every French attacker. France’s dangerous front three didn’t look in touch despite having scored 13 goals between Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele and 10 assists between the front three.

Former France star Patrick Vieira also admitted Spain won the tactical battle.

“Spain won the game in every aspect. The French team didn’t turn up at all,” Vieira said. “I said before that Spain needed to be at their best to beat the French team and they did it. It was a big expectation of France to win the World Cup. We are all really disappointed by the result but mostly by the performance. We needed our top players to perform today and they didn’t do it. It wasn’t one or two, it was all of them collectively. It was really bad,” Vieira told ITV1. 

So, when the final whistle arrived, Spain celebrated a place in their first World Cup final since 2010. Just days before, many believed that Spain might be a good team, but France were too far ahead. But Spain have answered every question and earned a shot at calling themselves World Champions once again.