World Cup S/final: France, Spain in a battle of European titans in Texas

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‎Two-time FIFA World Cup champions France square off against one-time winners Spain in a clash of European titans at the semi-final stage in Texas.
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‎Last lifting the World Cup back in 2018, France have enjoyed an almost flawless run in this tournament thus far, claiming the maximum of nine points on offer in Group I before progressing through three knockout games without conceding.
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‎ Sweden (3-0, last 32) and Paraguay (1-0, last 16) were both downed before a dominant quarter-final showing saw Les Bleus beat Morocco 2-0, even after star man Kylian Mbappé missed an early penalty.
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‎A third consecutive World Cup semi-final appearance means history has already been made by Didier Deschamps’ side, with France now having reached the last four of the tournament on eight occasions, a tally only bettered by Italy (12).
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‎On the day which sees Deschamps break the record for most World Cup matches managed (26), reaching a third final on the spin in the game’s greatest tournament would put them into an even more exclusive club of just three teams to achieve the feat, and more importantly, would present an opportunity to avenge the heartbreak of four years ago, when only a penalty shootout defeat to Argentina in Qatar stopped them going back-to-back. 
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‎Reigning European champions Spain shockingly failed to beat underdogs Cape Verde in their opening game of Group H (0-0), but recovered to top the table with seven points and have gone from strength-to-strength since.
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‎Prior to this summer, La Roja hadn’t won a knockout game at a World Cup since their 2010 triumph in South Africa, but saw off both Austria (3-0, last 32) and Portugal (1-0, last 16) before eventually conceding their first goal at the tournament as they beat Belgium 2-1 in the quarter-finals, with Mikel Merino the hero of the hour having grabbed late winners in their last two games.
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‎Following on from 2010, this marks only Spain’s second appearance in the last four of a World Cup, with the positive omen here that they have progressed in six of their last seven semi-finals at major tournaments overall.
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‎Another positive for Spain is that Luis de la Fuente has managed more games across World Cups and Euros without losing than anyone, and his side will be confident of another success here having not lost any of their last 36 games in regulation time dating back to March 2024.
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‎If that remarkable run is extended here, they would equal Italy’s all-time record of 37 set back in 2021.
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‎Spain have won 18 of the pair’s 38 head to heads to date ( they drew 7 and lost 13), including seven of the last ten ( one draw and two losses), with semi-final victories in each of their two most recent meetings: 2-1 at Euro 2024 and 5-4 in the 2025 UEFA Nations League finals.
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