Spain and France kicked off the World Cup semifinals in Dallas on Tuesday, with the match at the heart of a tournament co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The Spanish lineup showed no changes from the starting eleven that faced Belgium, with Pedri on the bench and Fabián among the starters. Unai Simón; Pedro Porro, Cubarsí, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián, Dani Olmo; Lamine Yamal, Baena, and Oyarzabal were the eleven players chosen by Luis de la Fuente.
France, meanwhile, saw two changes from Deschamps, with Tchouameni replacing Koné and Barcola coming in for Doué. The starting eleven for Les Bleus: Maignan; Koundé, Saliba, Upamecano, Digne; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembélé, Olise, Barcola; Mbappé.
Before the match, a minute of silence was observed for the victims of the Nice attack, exactly ten years ago.
The semifinals will conclude tomorrow with another high-voltage match, England vs. Argentina in Atlanta. The four teams still in contention are, oddly, the top four in the FIFA rankings—a situation that has occurred only three times before in World Cup history.
The European champion (Spain), the world and American champion (Argentina), as well as the World Cup runner-up (France) and the European runner-up (England) are all vying to lift the World Cup on Sunday in New York.
Spain has grown stronger as the tournament progressed, conceding only one goal. Their opponent, however, is formidable in attack, led by Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, and Michael Olise.
This is the third recent semifinal meeting between Spain and France. They faced off in Euro 2024 and the Nations League 2025, both Spanish victories. Only once have they met in a World Cup, in the round of 16 in 2006, which France won.
