On Tuesday, July 14, at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, USA, the first finalist of the 2026 World Cup will be determined. In a super-principled clash, two European giants will meet — the national teams of France and Spain. Both teams have had a powerful tournament, although their trajectories have differed significantly.
The path of "Les Bleus" and "La Roja" to the semi-finals
France navigated the distance uncompromisingly and pragmatically, becoming the only team in the top four to finish all their matches in regular time. "Les Bleus" tore through the group: defeating Senegal 3-1, Iraq 3-0, and Norway 4-1. In the knockout stages, they confidently passed Sweden (3-0), then Paraguay (1-0) and Morocco (2-0). The French have already scored 16 goals, half of which are credited to Kylian Mbappé.
After an initial setback with Cape Verde (0-0), Spain switched on their trademark speed. "La Roja" crushed Saudi Arabia (4-0) and finished off Uruguay (1-0). In the knockout stages, the Spaniards dealt with Austria (3-0), and then demonstrated character in extremely difficult duels with Portugal (1-0) and Belgium (2-1). In both of the last matches, the team's savior was the joker Mikel Merino, who scored decisive goals at the end of the games.
History of the rivalry and coach quotes
Both coaches will be able to count on optimal lineups at the most important moment. Given the geographical proximity, France and Spain have regularly crossed paths on the football field, including in friendly matches — 26 of the 38 games played in history were friendlies. The overall statistics are in favor of the Spaniards, who have celebrated victory 18 times. The French triumphed in 13 duels, and another 7 encounters ended in a draw.
Interestingly, the tournament paths of the teams have crossed only once at the World Cup. This happened in 2006, memorable for Ukraine, when in the round of 16 "Les Bleus" proved stronger than the Spaniards — 3-1. Recent years have given fans real thrillers in the confrontations of these national teams. In the Nations League 2021 final, the French were stronger (2-1), however, the last two official matches were won by "La Roja" — the Euro 2024 semi-final (2-1) and the crazy Nations League 2025 semi-final (5-4).
"I consider Spain the strongest team of this tournament. They not only attack brilliantly but also concede almost nothing — only one goal in six games. Both teams will pay huge attention to defense, but due to the insane class of the attack, this match will be an incredible spectacle," — said the coach of the "tricolours".
"We have studied France in detail. The winner will be the one who finds the best balance on the field and wins personal duels. We have absolutely different styles of play, but we will try to impose our football through ball control. I told the boys just to go out and enjoy the moment to the fullest — no one knows if such a chance will come again," — declared the Spanish skipper.
Where to watch the match in Ukraine
In Ukraine, the live broadcast of the match will be shown by the official broadcaster of the tournament — the media service MEGOGO. The start of the match is scheduled for 22:00 Kyiv time. The game can be watched on the "MEGOGO Football First" channel, as well as in the special "Sport" section with the appropriate subscriptions ("Maximum" or "Sport"). Broadcasting will begin with the pre-match studio at 21:00. Experts Alexander Holovko and Yuriy Shevchenko will join host Serhiy Lukyanenko. Vadim Shevyakin and Vitaliy Pokhvala will commentate the confrontation.
