Spain eliminate France to advance to World Cup final

For the first time since winning the World Cup in 2010, Spain are in the final after defeating France 2-0 in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday. After Lucas Digne conceded a penalty for a foul on Lamine Yamal, which Mikel Oyarzabal drove home for a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute, the Spanish midfield went to work shutting things down. They then capitalized on a French mistake for Pedro Porro to double the lead in the second half of play. Spain have continued their run of defeating France, which they also did on the way to becoming the European champions in 2024, and they'll now face either England (who they defeated in that Euro Championship) or Argentina.Didier Deschamps has already announced that this was his final World Cup in charge of France after winning in 2018 and coming in as runners-up in 2022, but this tournament will end in disappointment, despite playing dominant soccer until this point, Spain's defense delivered and shut down the tournament's most fearsome attack. Luis De La Fuente's squad have only allowed one goal during this tournament, with a record six shutouts in one tournament. The early goal mattered as from there Spain were able to play the game at their preferred pace, but it's such an impressive job to stop a French attack that has the Golden Boot leader (Mbappe), assist leader (Michael Olise), and another player with five goals (Ousmane Dembele). France also suffered a major injury during the match as center back William Saliba went down with a non contact injruy during the match. He was banged up coming into the World Cup, dealing with a back injury, and if he misses any time, it could be a major blow to Arsenal as they look to retain their Premier League title. While it has been an excellent World Cup for France, they exited with more of a whimper as Spain's teenagers, Pau Cubarsi and Yamal, got the better of the game as France were held to only 0.30 expected goals. Rodri continues his run of dominance for club and country with his own role in Spain's dominant defense, anchoring the base of midfield, but facing France, it was keeper Unai Simon whose aggression paid off. Simon had multiple times when he came off his line to stop French counterattacks from happening, and while that's easier to do with a defense of Aymeric Laporte, Cubarsi and Rodri supporting you, it's still impressive how Spain didn't allow one of the top-scoring teams to get into their attacking flow.It's important to remember that this level of dominance isn't exactly normal for Spain. Coming from coaching the Spanish youth sides, De La Fuente led the ranks and took over the senior team in 2022, and they haven't looked back since. It has been an overhaul with the youth system performing in a similar way to the senior side, and it shows with how many young players have contributed. Nico Williams only played six minutes due to going through his own injury recovery at a time when he was expected to start for the squad, and they didn't miss a beat. Similarly with Pedri on the bench for Fabian Ruiz, De La Fuente is spoiled for choice.It's not over for France yet as they can send Deschamps off on a high note in the third-place game in Miami, and it's also a time where Mbappe will be looking to secure the Golden Boot. He's level with Lionel Messi on eight goals right now, but currently has the lead due to having more assists, but that will be something to play for even if their bid for a third consecutive World Cup final appearance came up just short.