France got there first. Spain made them wait a day, then made themselves sweat for it. Now the two best sides left in the World Cup meet in the last four on Tuesday, and the fixture arrives with a good deal of history attached: this is the third major tournament running that France and Spain have been drawn together in the knockout rounds, and Spain have won the previous two.
The date is the twist. It is 14 July, Bastille Day, France's national holiday, at the stadium in Arlington that FIFA has rebranded Dallas Stadium for the tournament. Kick-off is 3pm on the east coast, 2pm in Texas, per World Soccer Talk.
France reached the semi-final by beating Morocco 2-0 on Wednesday, the first side into the last four. Spain joined them the hard way the following night, Mikel Merino settling a 2-1 win over Belgium in stoppage time, per Opta.
Two semis, two Yamal masterclasses
The reason France will not feel like favourites, whatever the form guide says, has a name and a face that keeps turning up. Lamine Yamal has been the difference in both recent meetings. At Euro 2024 he curled in a 21st-minute effort in the semi-final, a goal that made him the tournament's youngest-ever scorer and sent Spain on their way to a 2-1 win.
Twelve months later, in the Nations League semi-final of June 2025, he scored twice in a 5-4 victory, the highest-scoring match in that competition's history, per UEFA's report.
Two semi-finals, two defeats, one teenager doing most of the damage. Deschamps has had a year to think about it, and no obvious answer has presented itself.
France's list clears, with two caveats
The news out of the French camp is better than it might have been. Manu Kone, Bradley Barcola and Michael Olise all went into the quarter-final a single booking from a ban, and all three came through unmarked. So Deschamps keeps his first-choice options for the last four, per beIN Sports.
Two worries remain. Aurelien Tchouameni, out since early July with a groin problem, was named among the substitutes against Morocco but did not get on, and stays a doubt. And Kylian Mbappe, France's talisman and the tournament's leading scorer, limped off in the 77th minute with an ankle knock.
Mbappe's fitness is the story to watch. He told M6 afterwards that he was "completely fine", and France will badly want that to hold. He has eight goals and eleven goal contributions here, the most productive World Cup by any player since Gerd Muller's 13 in 1970, per ESPN. Whether he starts, and at what level, may settle the tie on its own.
The wall Spain have built
Spain arrive with the meanest defensive record the tournament has ever seen. They have not conceded in six matches, a run of 649 minutes and an all-time World Cup record, per Opta. This is only the second semi-final in their history and the first since they won the thing outright in 2010.
They also have a man for the late moments. Merino has now scored a stoppage-time winner in back-to-back knockout ties, against Portugal in the last 16 and Belgium in the quarter-final, the first Spain player to strike twice in the 80th minute or later at a single World Cup, per Opta. Whatever France build over 90 minutes, they will have to see it out to the last of them.
Luis de la Fuente has a selection headache of his own. Ferran Torres was booked against Belgium and is a doubt to start, a yellow away from a suspension that would rule him out of a possible final.
Bastille Day, and the prize
So the shape of it is clear enough. France, rested and close to full strength, against a Spain side that does not concede and does not stop until the whistle. The tournament's leading scorer against a defence yet to be breached: that is the contest in a single line. A place in the final is the reward for the winner, against an opponent still to be decided on the other side of the bracket.
Deschamps has beaten better teams than this and worse. What he has not managed lately is to beat this one, and the last two times the reason has been the same precocious teenager in red. End that on Bastille Day and France go through. Fail, and Spain, unbeaten, unbreached and peaking late, will fancy the trophy they last lifted 16 years ago.
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