FIFA / FIFA

Limelight moved from Kylian Mbappe to Oyarzabal and Porro. They were the cynosure of all eyes as they powered the European champions to their second FIFA World Cup final since 2010. They not only derailed the Mbappe-led French but also reiterated that their continental championship title was real.

Spain frustrated France at one end and punished its European rival at the other to deservedly win its FIFA World Cup semifinal at Dallas Stadium. La Roja, as Spain is known, limited Les Bleus (France) chances through some flawless defending and scored through Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro.

Spain now awaits the winner of the semifinal clash between defending champions Argentina and England to set up a summit clash at New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday. They emerged triumphant in their only previous appearance when Andres Iniesta sank the Netherlands at Soccer City in 2010.

Runners-up in the last edition, France started as favorites and, though Kylian Mbappe threatened on the break, Lamine Yamal gave Luis de la Fuente's side the game's first big chance. The winger, a day after his 19th birthday, got to the ball before Lucas Digne and was clipped inside the box.

It was Oyarzabal who turned up to take the penalty. He made no mistake as his powerful kick went past the French custodian, considered a spot-kick-saving specialist, Mike Maignan.

Pedro Porro added to the agony of the Mbappe team when he played a palatial one-two with Dani Olmo, taking the return impeccably and burying the ball in the bottom corner.

France did try hard to get back into the game after conceding the second goal. Desire Doue and Rayan Cherki came in and tried to push France back into the game, where goalkeeper Unai Simon stood his ground admirably well. He acted astutely as a sweeper-keeper, and Marc Cucurella made an excellent challenge on Mbappe. The final whistle sparked ecstasy for the Spaniards and agony for the French.

The French will no longer hold the silver they grabbed in 2022. Instead they will have a shot at bronze on Saturday, when Mbappe could boost his hopes for another adidas Golden Boot.

Incidentally, like Lionel Messi of Argentina, Mbappe could not take his tally past eight in this tournament, the same as the Argentine captain.

Mikel Oyarzabal, who put Spain in the lead with a penalty, has scored 18 goals in his last 20 games for Spain. His penalty made him the sixth man to reach 30 goals for Spain after David Silva (35), Alvaro Morata (37), Fernando Torres (38), Raul (44) and David Villa (59).

Spain has kept its slate clean in seven matches at this tournament. It has conceded just two goals in North America. The record for a triumphant team in a World Cup is two, shared by France in 1998, Italy in 2006 and Spain itself in 2010.

Its impressive win over France served as a reminder that there's no team better at passing the ball in world football.

Spain also happens to have the best defensive record in the tournament. France managed only one shot on target prior to added time, and the way that Yamal played here suggests that he may be peaking at just the right time.

Spain had some embarrassment after it drew its opening match against Cape Verde. It had better things to talk about in the remainder of a group stage that featured wins over Saudi Arabia and a poor Uruguay side.

Its impressive win over France served as a reminder that there's no team better at passing the ball in world football.

On top of that, there was also the Lamine Yamal dilemma. Hampered by a hamstring injury that curtailed his involvement early on, Yamal hasn't been the headline act that many expected him to be. "Lamine's great day is still to come at this World Cup," Luis de la Fuente said on the eve of the France game.

"We started almost four years ago with an idea, and we've been faithful to that idea and it's brought us here. Today we faced one of the best national teams in the world, but in front of them they had the best team in the world. That is the difference. These players deserve everything. Day after day, they've shown their commitment, solidarity, generosity and talent. They make the difficult look easy," said Luis de la Fuente, Spain coach, in his post-match media interaction.

"It's a dream come true. It's honestly beyond my wildest dreams. I think we played a great game, did everything we had to do to reach the final. We knew we were up against a really, really tough team. This is the team's achievement, not mine at all. It's simply about congratulating everyone because they played a fantastic match," commented Pedro Porro, who scored the second goal for Spain.

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