France to face Spain in World Cup semi-final after 20 years

France and Spain will clash in the FIFA World Cup after two decades.

France and Spain will face each other in the FIFA World Cup after 20 years. The first semi-final of the 2026 World Cup between the two teams will be played at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, known as the Dallas Stadium, at 12:30 AM Indian Standard Time on Wednesday night.

The last World Cup encounter between the two was in 2006, when France defeated Spain 3-1 in the Round of 16. Overall, the two teams have faced each other 38 times, with Spain winning 18 matches and France 13, while 7 matches ended in a draw.

France's captain Kylian Mbappé is in excellent form. He is leading the race for the Golden Boot with the most goals in the current World Cup, having scored 8 goals. On the other hand, Spain's hopes will rest on 19-year-old star Lamine Yamal.

Yamal has created several excellent opportunities throughout the tournament, although he has only one goal to his name so far. The two teams last met in the 2025 Nations League semi-final, where Spain won 5-4. Yamal scored two goals in that match. France has won all 6 of its matches in this tournament. In the group stage, France defeated Senegal 3-1, Iraq 3-0, and Norway 4-1. Then in the Round of 32, the team secured a 3-0 victory against Sweden. They went on to defeat Paraguay 1-0 in the Round of 16 and Morocco 2-0 in the quarter-finals.

If France wins this match, it will reach the World Cup final for the third consecutive time. They won the World Cup in 2018 and were defeated by Argentina in the 2022 final.

Spain has not lost any match in this tournament so far. The team has recorded 5 wins and one draw in 6 matches. In the group stage, Spain defeated Saudi Arabia 4-0 and Uruguay 1-0.

The match against Cape Verde ended in a 0-0 draw. In the Round of 32, they won 3-0 against Austria. Then they defeated Portugal 1-0 in the Round of 16 and Belgium 2-1 in the quarter-finals. If Spain wins the semi-final, it will play in the World Cup final for the first time. They defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in 2010.