France and Spain face off at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas for a place in the World Cup final. The match kicks off at 21:00 local time. A minute of silence is observed for the 86 victims of the Nice attack, ten years after the tragedy.
“Hijo de puta Mbappe” can be heard chanted by Spanish supporters in Madrid. The French anthem was also whistled and booed in the fan zone.
The two anthems have just rung out. The kickoff is imminent. But first, a minute of silence in tribute to the victims of Nice on July 14, 2016.
France and Spain enter the pitch of the AT&T Stadium in front of nearly 90,000 spectators. The two teams stand before the giant flags of their countries.
The players are in the tunnel. The kickoff approaches. The captain of Les Bleus, at not even 28, will play his 21st World Cup match, more than any other French international in history.
France’s lineup: Maignan – Koundé, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne – Tchouaméni, Rabiot – Dembélé, Olise, Barcola – Mbappé. Spain’s lineup: Simon – Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella – Rodri, Fabian Ruiz – Lamine Yamal, Olmo, Baena – Oyarzabal.
If French supporters hope for a final on Sunday in New York, the World Cup final will see a small revolution. As reported by RMC for several weeks, the halftime of the final will be longer than the usual 15 minutes. According to several sources, it should last 20 minutes on paper, but some within FIFA speak of 25 to 30 minutes to set up the grand halftime show in New York.
Didier Deschamps’ group is ready. It’s time for warm-up. Before that, the French players came to check the field condition. Kickoff is in less than 40 minutes.
A guest of honor for the team presentation: the iconic UFC announcer Bruce Buffer will introduce the players.
“We know their qualities. They have players capable of making a difference. They have dangerous players, we will try to keep the ball,” explained Mikel Oyarzabal.
Other football stars present in Dallas: Marcel Desailly, André-Pierre Gignac, Carles Puyol, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Javier Pastore, Alessandro del Piero, Fernando Torres, and Roberto Carlos.
Asked by beIN Sports, Didier Deschamps’ assistant said he expects a tight match. He also justified the choices in the lineup. “Aurélien had a muscle issue and was able to resume gradually. Today he is fit to play. Bradley (Barcola) on the previous six matches, they played six matches each with Désiré (Doué). Bradley will start because it corresponds better to what we expect today. But both have been performing since the start of the World Cup.”
If the objective set before the competition is already achieved, Philippe Diallo dreams of a final victory for France. Interviewed by beIN Sports before the duel against Spain, the president of the FFF praised the mentality of Les Bleus. “It’s an extraordinary moment, the national holiday in France, the French team is again in the semi-finals for the third time in a row. It’s fantastic to live through,” noted the coach. “I think there is great serenity. We have players accustomed to big events.”
With already eight goals, Kylian Mbappé has shone in this World Cup. “We have good conditions today, good playing conditions. I worked a lot to come back as quickly as possible with the group. Today I am ready,” assured Aurélien Tchouaméni on beIN Sports before the semi-final.
“The barbs between French and Spanish? Honestly, it’s part of the game and we love it. We know it will be a big match against a great opponent but we focus on ourselves and we know what we are capable of. We will have to play at our level. We know Lamine Yamal is one of the best players in the world and he demonstrates it every time he is on the pitch. But we also have very great players in our team. We will face a beautiful collective, they have very good players and we will have to be at our level and compact defensively and continue to produce what we do offensively.”
The Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton has been appointed for the semi-final. He distinguished himself in the group stage for strictly applying a new rule of the competition.
Spain has opted for its away jersey for this match against France.
Several great names of football will attend the semi-final: Arsène Wenger, Youri Djorkaeff, Blaise Matuidi, Claude Makélélé, and David Trezeguet.
Imprisoned in Algeria since May 2024, Christophe Gleizes has received support from the four nations qualified for the World Cup semi-finals, who published a joint statement via Reporters Without Borders. “French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes should be among us to cover this World Cup, tell the exploits of the players, share the emotions of football and freely exercise his profession. Instead, his seat in the press tribune remains empty,” the statement said. The FIFA president Gianni Infantino had decided to accredit Christophe Gleizes for this World Cup. According to our information, the French journalist will have a reserved seat this evening in the press tribune of the AT&T Stadium.
The Spanish lineup is the same as against Belgium in the quarter-finals. No Pedri at kickoff, Luis de la Fuente prefers Fabian Ruiz alongside Rodri in midfield.
Member of the Cofidis team, Benjamin Thomas told the show Rothen s’enflamme how he would follow the semi-final during the Tour de France 2026. “We have Spanish staff, we also have two Spanish riders in the team so we will follow that. Banter? The bus driver is Spanish and he told us that if the Spanish don’t go through, tomorrow we’ll go to the start on foot.”
“Whatever happens tonight, the identity of this French team will forever be engraved: the Avengers.”
No problem of storm or heatwave this Tuesday for the semi-final between France and Spain. Like against Senegal for its first match, the French team will play in blue-white-red. Blue jersey, white shorts and red socks for the tricolor selection.
Everything is already in place in the locker room of Les Bleus.
If the city of Paris decided not to install a gathering place for French supporters during the World Cup 2026, the city of Madrid took the opposite decision. Hundreds of Spanish supporters queue to enter the fan zone at Plaza de Colón, in the heart of Madrid. Enthusiasm rises in the Spanish capital a little more than two hours before kickoff.
Seduced by the play of Les Bleus since the start of the World Cup, Jérôme Rothen wants more. In his show on RMC, the former midfielder explained that an elimination would constitute a sporting failure for France. “If you lose tonight, you’re out so that means you lost the World Cup. It would be missed from the result point of view because you wouldn’t have won it. It’s an objective, everyone and the players themselves didn’t hide. I remember Cherki during the preparation who said we weren’t going to win but to crush everyone. So we know the objective, we saw it on some internal speeches with leaks, the objective is that they are all on a mission. Even the staff repeats it. It’s not because you win that everything is perfect. But when you lose, generally, there is a lot of negative and that’s logical. It’s clear, the World Cup is played now.”
Visiting Paris this Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez reportedly told his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu and Brigitte Macron that he was “so ashamed
