Spain bounces France to reach World Cup Final
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José de Jesus Ortiz, Founder & Editor in Chief
- July 14, 2026
La Roja returns to the World Cup Final for the first time since 2010
ARLINGTON, Texas – Shortly after Spain’s Pedro Porro found the back of the net, the right back tugged his jersey toward his lips and kissed the Spanish crest on his chest. Then he joined his teammates to celebrate near the right corner flag before sitting triumphantly on the Dallas Stadium pitch.
Spain benefited from a fluke play to take the lead over France in the first half of the World Cup semifinal, but there was nothing fluky about Porro’s brilliant goal for La Roja in the second half.
Porro delivered a piece of magic before a subdued crowd of 70,176 Tuesday afternoon while helping Spain beat France 2-0 to earn a spot in the World Cup Final.
Spain, which won its only FIFA Men’s World Cup title in 2010, will now await the winner of the semifinal between Argentina and England, which will be held Wednesday afternoon at Atlanta Stadium.
The World Cup Final will be held on Sunday at New York-New Jersey Stadium. France, which won the 1998 and 2018 World Cups, was denied a chance to appear in a third consecutive World Cup Final.
Powerful penalty strike
Spain capitalized on France’s inability to make what initially seemed like a routine clearance. After Spain’s Marc Cucurella sent an errant cross into the right corner of the box from the left wing, France defender Lucas Digne assumed he had time to head the ball behind his back to set up his clearance.
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Digne didn’t realize that Spain prodigy Lamine Yamal was breaking toward the ball. As Yamal hit the ball with his triceps, Digne was already turning to kick the ball. Digne kicked Yamal instead, bringing him down to draw a penalty kick.
Mikel Oyarzabal buried the penalty kick into the right corner of the goal with a powerful left-footed strike in the 22nd minute. France goalkeeper Mike Maignan guessed correctly while diving to his left, but he had no chance to stop the powerful strike.
Pedro Porro then made it 2-0 in the 58th minute. He drove down the right wing, passed to Dani Olmo and then sprinted into the box to receive the wall pass to set up a one-v-one. Porro then beat Maignan to give Spain a 2-0 lead.
France never recovered, and now Spain is headed to the World Cup Final.
José de Jesus Ortiz
Founder & Editor in Chief
Award-winning writer Jose de Jesus Ortiz, a former lead sports columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has covered Major League Baseball since 1997 in Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, New York and Houston. He was the first Latino to serve as president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
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