Key Points
- France play Spain in the World Cup semifinal on Tuesday, July 14, at 3 p.m. ET.
- At AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; the winner reaches the July 19 MetLife final.
- France beat Morocco 2-0 on July 9; Spain edged Belgium 2-1 on July 10.
- France, led by Kylian Mbappé, enter as favorites; Spain remain unbeaten in the tournament.
The 2026 World Cup has come down to its heavyweights. France and Spain, the two most complete teams left in the field, meet in the first semifinal on Tuesday, July 14 at 3 p.m. ET at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with a place in the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on the line.
On the other side of the bracket, Argentina and England completed the semifinal field.
Both arrived on form. France beat Morocco 2-0 in the quarterfinals on July 9, Kylian Mbappé scoring after an earlier missed penalty and Ousmane Dembélé adding the second. Spain edged Belgium 2-1 a day later, Mikel Merino heading in the winner two minutes after coming off the bench. France's run also included a 3-0 dismantling of Sweden in which Mbappé set a knockout-round scoring record.
The contrast is the whole draw in miniature. France are the tournament favorite, built around Mbappé's directness and one of the deepest attacking rosters in the world. Spain have been the more controlled side, unbeaten and defensively miserly, winning without ever needing to open up. It also revives the Euro 2024 semifinal, where a 16-year-old Lamine Yamal's wonder goal helped Spain knock France out on their way to the title. Two years on, the same fixture decides who plays for the world.
The read: this is firepower against control, whether Mbappé's ability to settle a match in a single moment beats Spain's ability to make sure those moments never arrive. Whoever solves that problem earns a World Cup final ticket.
The semifinal airs on Fox and streams on the FOX One App, with Spanish-language coverage on Telemundo and Peacock, per Yahoo Sports.
Source: Yahoo Sports.
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