ARLINGTON, Texas — As the 2026 FIFA World Cup enters its final stretch, two of the tournament’s most in-form sides prepare to face off in the first semifinal clash on Tuesday, with only one earning a spot in the sport’s biggest championship match.
Both France and Spain are making their 17th World Cup appearances, but this will mark just their second ever meeting on soccer’s global grandest stage, with their only prior matchup coming in the 2006 World Cup round of 16. Tuesday’s showdown will kick off at AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, bringing together two powerhouse teams stacked with generational talent and momentum heading into the contest.
Entering the tournament as the world’s top-ranked side per FIFA, France has dominated its path to the semifinals, outscoring all opponents by a combined 14-2 margin. Leading the charge is 27-year-old Kylian Mbappé, the 2022 World Cup Golden Boot winner, who has already netted eight goals in this tournament — tying him with Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the tournament’s scoring lead. Mbappé now sits just one goal behind Messi’s all-time World Cup career record of 21, holding 20 goals across just 20 World Cup matches dating back to his historic 2018 performance, when he became just the second teenager ever (after Pele) to score in a World Cup final during France’s title-winning run against Croatia.
Questions briefly emerged over Mbappé’s fitness after he was substituted off in the 77th minute of France’s 2-0 quarterfinal victory over Morocco, immediately after scoring the side’s opening goal, but the French star has confirmed he is fully fit and ready to compete. The match will hold extra symbolic meaning for France, as it falls on Bastille Day, the country’s national holiday. A win would also make French football history: Didier Deschamps’ side would join Brazil (five-time champions) and Germany (four-time champions) as the only nations to qualify for three consecutive World Cup finals, a feat last achieved by Brazil between 1994 and 2002, and by West Germany ahead of its 1990 title win.
Standing in France’s path is a Spain side that, like France, has yet to trail at any point in this tournament. Leading La Roja’s young core is 19-year-old winger Lamine Yamal, who celebrated his birthday on Monday, and already has two prior head-to-head wins over France to his name. Just days before his 17th birthday, Yamal scored in Spain’s 2-1 semifinal win over France at the 2024 European Championship, and the Spanish side earned another victory over Les Blues in Nations League play last year. Confident heading into the rematch, Yamal made his stance clear after Spain’s quarterfinal win over Belgium: “I believe if France has to fear anyone, it should be us, in my opinion. We were the ones that knocked them out before.”
Yamal entered the World Cup recovering from a nagging left hamstring injury that forced him to miss the final weeks of the Barcelona club season, but he has still notched one goal and put 10 shots on target through Spain’s run to the semifinals. Spain’s path has been defined by more than just Yamal’s young stardom: substitute striker Mikel Merino has emerged as the side’s unlikely clutch hero, netting late winning goals in both of La Roja’s last two knockout matches. The Arsenal forward scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time to secure a 1-0 round of 16 win over Portugal at AT&T Stadium, and followed that up with an 88th-minute match-winner in the 2-1 quarterfinal defeat of Belgium.
Spain’s defense and goaltending have also been historically impressive, with keeper Unai Simón setting a new World Cup record for the longest shutout streak at 650 minutes, which only ended when Belgium found the net in the 41st minute of the quarterfinal. Overall, Spain has outscored opponents 10-1 through the tournament, after a surprising opening-group scoreless draw against underdog Cape Verde.
This 2026 World Cup marks the first time since 1990 that all four semifinalists are former World Cup champions. The second semifinal will take place Wednesday in Atlanta, where 2022 champion Argentina led by Messi faces off against England. The championship match is scheduled for Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, while the third-place match will be held this Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Looking back at prior history between the two sides: their only World Cup meeting was a 3-1 France win in the 2006 round of 16 in Germany. Both nations have lifted the trophy since that matchup: Spain claimed its first (and to date only) World Cup title in 2010, while France won its second trophy in 2018. France is making its seventh semifinal appearance, its fifth in the last eight World Cup tournaments, while Spain has only reached the semifinal stage twice before, in 1950 and during its 2010 title run.
Tuesday’s match will be the ninth 2026 World Cup contest held at AT&T Stadium, more than any other venue in this expanded 48-team tournament. The North Texas arena, which has previously hosted a Super Bowl and NCAA championships for college football and men’s basketball, has already seen no shortage of iconic moments during this month-long tournament: Messi broke the all-time World Cup career scoring record here in a group stage win over Austria, while 41-year-old Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo played what is widely expected to be his final World Cup match here in Spain’s 1-0 round of 16 win.