World Cup 2026: Spain stun listless France to reach final; England v Argentina buildup – live

Key events

1h ago

Half-time of final to last 30 minutes – reports

2h ago

Preamble

“Outclassed” is a little harsh, in mine: I wasn’t watching thinking these teams don’t belong on the same pitch. Rather, Spain came with a plan, and France came assuming their attackers would get things sorted at some point. Such is Didier Deschamps and, if you’re asking, part of me is pleased his team lost because I think two World cup wins should be for elite managers only, and actually his return of one plus one final defeat is bare minimum given the players he’s had an opposition he’s faced.

So what happened to France, then? Well, in really basic terms, Spain happened. Never in the history of football has there been a style so hard to beat, and though it’s changed since the days of three consecutive tournament wins in a row, the fundamentals remain the same: control midfield, control the game.

Over the next three hours – and when I’m subbed off thereafter – we’ll reflect on France 0-2 Spain, and look forward to England v Argentina. England v Argentina in the semi-finals of the World Cup, oh my complete and utter daze days.

Greetings one and all. Anyone got any plans for later?

Anyway, time for today’s first baton change. Daniel Harris is here to guide you through the next couple of hours. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Time for today’s missive from friend of the blog Krishna Moorthy:

“Hello Tom, France played Spain like how Morocco played France. This is the shortest match report I can file.”

They weren’t quite as passive as Morocco were in that game, but France’s defeat did look as inevitable as Morocco’s did, for most of the game. And I did have a sense from early on in the tournament that this France side might be destined for Netherlands 74, Brazil 82, Romania 94, Argentina 2006 territory as great non-World Cup winners, but at least all those went out in a bit of a blaze of glory. France’s exit last night looked disjointed and resigned.

But we shouldn’t let it detract from the near-perfection of Spain’s performance.

What have been the goal of the tournament contenders? I’ve not noticed the UK TV channels running this staple yet, but it’s always worth a chinwag. Plucking five off the top of my head. I’m thinking Sidny Cabral for Cape Verde v Argentina, Alvarez’s similar effort against Switzerland, Isidor for Haiti against Morocco, Maeda for Japan v Sweden (a sumptuous team goal in a tournament that’s not had that many of them) and Mbappé v Morocco.

Thomas Tuchel says he channels his inner child to help him deal with the stresses and strains of the job. This from AP:

How does England coach Thomas Tuchel handle the pressure of a run to the semifinals of the World Cup ?

Simple. A bike, a parking lot and an ice cream.

Tuchel said ahead of England’s World Cup semifinal against Lionel Messi’s Argentina that he relaxes by reconnecting with his inner child.

“Sometimes you just go on a bike and then you just need a big parking lot, an ice cream in your hand for 15 minutes on a bike and then you feel like you’re 15 years old,” Tuchel said Tuesday. “You enjoy your evening on a warm, summer evening for 15 minutes with the ice cream and you reconnect to the beauty of that feeling that we all have inside of us and that’s sometimes all it needs.”

Our data expert Andrew Beasley on why England should still be wary of 39-year-old Leo Messi’s sprinting ability:

And when Messi hits top speed, he can still go at a decent pace. Data on Sofascore shows his top sprint at this World Cup was 30.9 km/h. That is faster than any run Lautaro Martínez (30.5) or Alexis Mac Allister (30.2) has made for Argentina, despite their being more than a decade younger. It is not far behind the best Kane (31.4) or Jude Bellingham (31.1) have offered either.

And Barney Ronay’s scene-setter:

There are shared qualities here. Both nations belong to that list of places where football occupies a position of overblown prominence in the national sense of wellbeing. And on the pitch these are two well matched teams; or rather, not really teams, but excitingly wonky collections of parts dragged to this point by star players and wild-eyed comebacks, emotion as opposed to process.

Whatever happens in Atlanta, it is unlikely to be rational, cold or free from further episodes of whiplash. England have been on the edge in their past two matches. Argentina have at least half a team’s worth of players with a thirst for confrontation. High-stakes VAR screen debacle anyone? A third-minute 50/50 with Cristian Romero? Emi Martínez in a penalty shootout against England? Never mind shithousery. Expect a shitmansion, a shitpalace.

World Cup Daily has dropped, and I’m listening to it as I type. Get your ears round it now. Lots to chew on, including Philippe Auclair claiming that for the first time ever most of the world is backing England in a match against Argentina, which may rouse readers in Glasgow, Dublin, Cardiff etc.

Half-time of final to last 30 minutes – reports

Fans at the final will get the chance to yam down an extra pint on the concourse, while their kids can successfully pester them for another tub of popcorn, for it’s been reported that half-time will last half an hour, Fifa has confirmed. This will create sufficient time for the much-vaunted Super Bowl-esque half-time show at which the likes of Shakira, Justin Bieber and Madonna will play the hits. Or maybe they won’t play the hits – perhaps they’ll go rogue and try out some experimental unreleased session tracks. We can but hope.

Preamble

Greetings everyone, and welcome to a massive World Cup day. We’ll be covering all the buildup to the England v Argentina semi-final throughout the day, but we need to talk about last night first don’t we? Yes, Spain are in the final after producing, if not a shock, then at least an unscripted moment, in a World Cup that’s sometimes felt as if it has had too many scripted ones. The billing for last night didn’t have France simply not showing up as among the plot twists.

But Spain were masterful, on and off the ball (and it was mostly the former such is their mesmeric knack for keeping possession), underpinned by flawless midfield performances from Fabián Ruiz and Rodri. The whole team didn’t put a foot wrong, and Pedro Porro, scorer of the second goal, is turning into an unlikely Spanish hero.

It all means that we have the possibility of a Spain v England major tournament final for the fourth summer in a row, following on from the women’s World Cup in 2023, men’s Euros in 2024 and women’s Euros last year. But England have considerable work to do first.

Anyway, here’s your essential reading from the game in Dallas: