Spain ended France’s FIFA World Cup campaign with a composed 2-0 victory on Tuesday, booking a place in the final for only the second time in the nation’s history.
La Roja also secured their first knockout victory at the tournament since lifting the trophy in 2010, producing a disciplined display to keep Didier Deschamps’ side at bay.
The opening stages were evenly contested, although Spain gradually took control of possession.
France threatened through Kylian Mbappé after Ousmane Dembélé released him with a through ball, but Pau Cubarsí, Pedro Porro and Aymeric Laporte combined to stop the danger.
Spain struck first in the 22nd minute after Lamine Yamal won a penalty when he was brought down after stealing possession from Lucas Digne. Mikel Oyarzabal calmly converted from the spot to hand La Roja the lead.
France suffered another setback shortly after the hydration break when William Saliba was forced off with an injury.
Bradley Barcola showed flashes of promise but failed to hit the target, while Spain almost doubled their advantage after a mistake by Mike Maignan, only for Dayot Upamecano to make a vital intervention to deny Fabián Ruiz.
Les Bleus created one meaningful opening before the interval, but goalkeeper Unai Simón reacted quickly to race off his line and beat Mbappé to Adrien Rabiot’s through pass. Deschamps introduced Manu Koné at half-time before sending on Désiré Doué in the 57th minute in search of a response.
However, Spain doubled their advantage moments later. Pedro Porro exchanged passes with Dani Olmo before finishing confidently past Maignan to score his second international goal and put Spain firmly in control.
Yamal thought he had added a third soon afterwards, but his effort was ruled out for a marginal offside. France briefly threatened a comeback, but Aurélien Tchouaméni headed over the crossbar before Marc Cucurella diverted Mbappé’s effort wide.
Spain comfortably saw out the closing stages, with Ferran Torres heading wide and Doué failing to capitalise after an unconvincing clearance from Simón. The clean sheet was Spain’s sixth in seven matches at this World Cup and sends them into the final, where they will face either England or Argentina.
For France, the defeat ended another World Cup run and denied Deschamps a place in a third consecutive final, despite the milestone of becoming the first manager to take charge of 26 World Cup matches.