World Cup 2026 Bracket Update: Spain Reach Final After Beating France
Spain beat France 2-0 in Dallas — Oyarzabal penalty, Porro strike. Updated World Cup 2026 bracket: Spain await England or Argentina at MetLife. FIFA stadium-local times.
Spain are in the World Cup final. France are not. At Dallas Stadium in Arlington on July 14, La Roja beat Les Bleus 2-0 and locked the first berth in Sunday’s showpiece at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Mikel Oyarzabal’s 22nd-minute penalty and Pedro Porro’s 58th-minute finish settled a semi-final that never truly opened for FIFA’s top-ranked side. The bracket now has a name in the final box — and an open half still waiting on England against Argentina in Atlanta.
Updated semifinal bracket
Quarterfinal paths, the Dallas result, and the remaining FIFA schedule — stadium-local kickoffs first.
How Spain closed the door
A day after turning 19, Lamine Yamal beat Lucas Digne to the ball in the box and was clipped as Digne tried to clear. Oyarzabal drove the penalty past Mike Maignan — his fifth goal of these finals and, FIFA noted, his 30th for Spain. William Saliba left injured soon after and was replaced by Maxence Lacroix.
After the restart, Porro exchanged a one-two with Dani Olmo and swept home. FIFA named Porro Superior Player of the Match. Yamal thought he had a third; the flag said offside. France pushed with Désiré Doué and Rayan Cherki. Marc Cucurella deflected a Mbappé drive. When Unai Simón misjudged a header outside his box, he still recovered to block Doué. The chances never stacked.
https://x.com/KhelNowWF/status/2077135930876711277
The numbers behind the result
Opta’s post-match read: France managed about 0.3 xG from 10 shots, three on target. Spain equalled Italy’s European record of 37 matches unbeaten. They also became the first team in World Cup history to keep six clean sheets in a single edition. France have still never won a World Cup finals match when trailing at half-time (D1 L12 in Opta’s ledger).
Spain’s only previous World Cup final was 2010. For France, the third straight final is gone. The bronze match remains Saturday in Miami — where Mbappé, level with Messi on eight goals in the Golden Boot race entering the semi according to AP, can still add to his tally.
What the bracket still owes
Spain have now beaten France in three straight major-tournament semi-finals (Euro 2024, Nations League 2025, Dallas). That streak does not decide MetLife. It does explain why Luis de la Fuente’s side look ready to wait for whoever walks out of Georgia.
Sources: FIFA France–Spain match report; FIFA knockout schedule; Opta Analyst; Sky Sports; AP. Featured: MetLife Stadium (MiracleMiles / Wikimedia CC BY 4.0). Bracket: JournalArta Sports Desk. X card photos from @KhelNowWF. Independent rewrite.
