Spain thrash France 2-0 to reach World Cup final in Dallas

Spain booked their place in the World Cup final with a commanding 2-0 victory over France in Dallas on Wednesday night, sending Spanish fans into raptures and leaving their French counterparts utterly deflated outside AT&T Stadium.

Pure joy on the Spanish side

It didn’t take long for the celebrations to spill onto the streets. Within minutes of the final whistle, Spanish supporters were singing, embracing strangers and waving red and yellow flags along Victory Plaza. “We’ve given the French a proper trashing,” shouted Marcos Delgado, 34, a builder from Seville who had flown 5,400 miles to watch the match. “I still can’t believe it. Two-nil. Deserved, completely deserved.”

Groups of fans had gathered as early as four hours before kick-off, filling the bars around the stadium with noise and nervous energy. By 10pm local time, that nervousness had dissolved into something close to delirium.

Heartbreak for the French

But walk fifty yards in the other direction and the mood was entirely different. French supporters stood in near silence, some staring at their phones, others just staring at nothing. Thierry Marchand, a 41-year-old teacher from Lyon, had watched the game with his teenage son. “We were simply not good enough tonight,” he said quietly. “Spain were faster, sharper, hungrier. You have to accept it.”

France had come into the semi-final having conceded just once in their previous four matches. Spain tore through that record inside 90 minutes.

A performance that demanded attention

The Spanish display was, by most accounts, the team’s best of the tournament. They pressed relentlessly from the first whistle, won 63% of possession and created eight clear chances over the course of the match. The first goal came on 27 minutes, the second midway through the second half, and at no point did France look capable of mounting a serious response.

Spain’s head coach called it a “complete performance” in his post-match press conference, adding that the squad had prepared meticulously for France’s defensive shape. “We knew where the spaces would be,” he said. “The players executed the plan to perfection.”

It was the kind of night that reminded everyone why international football still matters.

What comes next

So Spain now advance to the final, which takes place on Sunday at the same venue in Dallas. Their opponents will be confirmed after the second semi-final. For French fans making the long journey home, there’s little consolation tonight. And yet France’s tournament wasn’t without its moments — they reached the last four and pushed through a brutal knockout bracket to get here.

Still, sport is merciless in how it hands out its verdicts. On this particular Wednesday evening in Texas, Spain were simply better. The Spanish fans singing outside AT&T Stadium at midnight seemed very clear on that point. They won’t forget this in a hurry.