The reality that emerged from the 2026 World Cup semifinal match at Dallas Stadium, Texas, United States, on Wednesday (July 15) is that no team can afford to be trailing 0-2 against a team as strong as Spain because a two-goal deficit is too big and can put a team on the brink of defeat.
That's what happened to France, who before the semifinal match had a higher xG or goal probability than Spain, and were filled with stars and had a strong and neat game organization.
Spain's xG factor is 12.75, while France's is 13.31.
But France failed to capitalize on that factor, and instead Spain won convincingly 2-0 thanks to Mikel Oyarzabal's penalty and Pedro Porro's tap-in.
Pedro Porro was also named the best player or " player of the match " in the first semifinal match of the 2026 World Cup.
The victory over France not only secured a ticket to the final, but also had a further impact on the FIFA rankings.
Before this match, Spain was second behind Argentina in the FIFA ranking system. But now La Roja is in first place.
Facing Spain, France, coached by Didier Deschamps, lost the momentum to bounce back after La Roja fought spartanly on all fronts.
The Spanish players were always quick to close down France's maneuvering space when under attack. They immediately harassed their opponents as soon as they lost possession and launched attacks as soon as they gained possession, ironically more vertically than France usually does.
The semifinal match in Dallas also confirmed that Spain's defense is as effective and stinging as their midfield and attack.
Spain were nearly perfect in every department, including goalkeeper Unai Simon, who, like Spain's two scorers, was instrumental in the semi-final victory that sent La Roja to their second World Cup final, after the 2010 edition.
This will be an early warning to England or Argentina that to beat Luis de la Fuente's side, they will need a strong and cohesive team across all departments.
Spain's collective strength cannot be countered only by the individual skills of its stars, but also by a team that has high cohesion, and is more creative both when attacking and when breaking down the Spanish defense.
