France and Spain meet in World Cup semifinal rematch

The semifinal kicked off Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 14:00 in Dallas, which meant 21:00 in Paris and Madrid. France met Spain at Dallas Stadium with a place in the World Cup final on the line, and Warren Zaïre-Emery framed the French mood around belief in the players who can decide it. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, born March 8, 2006, in Montreuil, said France had the quality to make the difference and wanted to end its recent run against Spain.

It was the first semifinal of the tournament, and France was one win away from reaching a third consecutive World Cup final.

Spain carried its own edge into the match. Spain had won the last two official meetings between the sides, beginning with a 2-1 victory over France in the UEFA EURO 2024 semifinal in Munich and continuing with a 5-4 win in the 2025 UEFA Nations League final four. In that EURO semifinal, Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo scored for Spain, while Randal Kolo Muani scored France’s goal.

France had Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Désiré Doué on the front line. France reached Dallas after eliminating Senegal, Paraguay and Morocco, a path that kept Deschamps in contention for his fifth semifinal appearance in a major tournament as coach of the national side.

Spain arrived with cleaner numbers and a tighter defensive profile. It reached the semifinal after beating Belgium 2-1 in the quarterfinals and had conceded only one goal in five matches, while recording five clean sheets in the tournament.