FIFA World Cup 2026: Biggest takeaways from the semifinals
The semifinals are now behind us, with plenty of key moments and incidents to digest ahead of Sunday’s final. After 102 games over five weeks
The semifinals are now behind us, with plenty of key moments and incidents to digest ahead of Sunday’s final. After 102 games over five weeks, the FIFA World Cup is down to the first all-Spanish-speaking final since the inaugural tournament in 1930. And, for the first time, the title game will match the reigning World Cup and Copa America champions, Argentina, with the current European champions, Spain. In the semifinals, France made life easy for Spain by conceding an early penalty in La Roja’s 2-0 win. England made things difficult for Argentina before their late defensive shell game cracked open. La Albiceleste’s 2-1 victory sent the Three Lions away with their tails between their legs. Here are the key takeaways from the semifinals Spain outclass France all over the pitch A day after his 19th birthday, Lamine Yamal outfoxed France left back Lucas Digne, earning a penalty kick. Spain gratefully accepted the gift, Mikel Oyarzabal converting in the 22d minute. Plenty happened in this match – won by Spain 2-0 – but nothing more consequential than Digne booting Yamal, after apparently being caught by surprise while attempting a clearance. Meanwhile, as Dani Olmo, Rodri and Fabian Ruiz bossed the midfield, Marc Cucurella and Pedro Porro shut down the wings. That meant Pau Cubarsi and Aymeric Laporte only had to contain Kylian Mbappe. Unai Simon advanced out of the penalty area a couple of times – stopping a hypersonic Mbappe, then retreating to stymie Desire Doue.
Porro’s 58th minute goal upped the advantage. And Spain’s keepaway tactics made holding off the tournament favourites seem relatively easy. Spain have improved since an opening 0-0 draw with Cape Verde, partly because of the addition of Olmo to the midfield. Luis de la Fuente also had Olmo on the bench at the start of Spain’s 2024 Euro championship run, before Olmo got in the lineup and scored or produced game-winning plays in four games. Waiting for Zizou Hardly anything went right for Didier Deschamps in his 186th game in charge of France. Maybe Deschamps stayed on too long; Les Bleus were unlucky, or they simply are not as competent or versatile as the co-favourites. In any case, Deschamps will be in charge of the third-place game, before e superstar player Zinedine Zidane takes over. As is often the case in the World Cup, European teams are unused to non-UEFA officiating, and Deschamps questioned the level of Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton post-game. But the time for that is earlier, and it is done behind the scenes by federation officials. Yes, a Central American referee will often call it differently from a European counterpart. So, Deschamps probably should not have been taken off guard when Adrien Rabiot was issued a yellow card, and once Rabiot was cautioned, Deschamps was not going to risk leaving him in. But Deschamps also might have been taking a chance with Aurelien Tchouameni, who appeared less than full speed after a thigh injury.
The BriefWire