Once again, Spain had France's number. Now, it's dialing the World Cup finalShow Caption
ARLINGTON, TX — Spain has a way of making Kylian Mbappé and France look mortal.Done it three summers in a row now, and no victory’s been bigger than this one. For the first time in 16 years, since winning their only championship, Spain is in the World Cup final.This is not luck. This is not France, which had been the class of the tournament, having a bad day.This is Spain ruthlessly dismantling Les Bleus 2-0, clogging up the midfield so Mbappé had nowhere to roam, smothering any semblance of attack and finding the holes in France’s defense. This is Spain having the number of what is arguably the second-best team in the world and shoving them off the mountain anytime they get close to the top.Spain will play either England or Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.Spain controlled entire gameFrance didn’t play badly. Spain just never let Les Bleus get comfortable. With the exception of a couple possessions here and there, Spain dictated the pace and the rhythm of this game and France was powerless to do anything about it.Through 80 minutes, France had no shots on goal. You read that right. None. Zero. Zip. A team that came in averaging almost three goals a game couldn’t even get a shot off. Mbappé, who leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals, might as well have been playing in a straightjacket.Spain, meanwhile, was opportunistic in its chances.In the 20th, Lucas Digne was careless with his effort to clear a ball, catching Lamine Yamal squarely in the thigh when he tried to clear out a goal. That’s about as textbook a penalty as you can get.Mike Maignan guessed correctly, and dove to his left. But he went just a touch too late, and Mikel Oyarzabal put the kick just beyond his outstretched hands to put Spain up 1-0. That would have been enough, but Pedro Porro doubled the score in the 58th for good measure.France had been class of tournamentPerhaps we should have seen this coming. First at the European championship in 2024, and again in last summer’s Nations League, Spain sent France home in the semifinals. Neither game was much of a contest.Oh, the 5-4 score last summer made it look competitive. Except Spain was hammering France 5-1 through 75 minutes, as Yamal reminded everyone a few hours before this semifinal. "There’s no revenge. The past is in the past," France coach Didier Deschamps said the day before the game. “Yes, they did win two games, but I’m looking ahead to tomorrow’s game.”And, indeed, if France was ever going to change the narrative against Spain, this was the time to do it. Spain had struggled in its opener, drawing with Cape Verde. It needed a late goal to dispatch pesky Beligum in the quarterfinal.France, meanwhile, had not been tested this tournament. They hadn’t even given up a goal since the group-stage finale, a stretch that climbed to 358 minutes before Oyarzabal converted his penalty.But Spain is the standard by which France is measured. And once again, Spain did not let Les Bleus measure up.Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist on social media @nrarmour.
