"A Lesson for the World" - Press Reactions to Spain's Success

Spain

"Marca": "Spain is in the World Cup final! For the second time in our lives, we will fight for the World Cup title! We want the second star!"

"AS": "A lesson for the world."

"Mundo Deportivo": "After the lost Nations League final, they announced it. 'July 19, 2026', Pedri posted on Instagram. The date of the World Cup final. And Lamine Yamal shared it. They kept their word."

"El País": "Spain has once again made history. After 16 years, the Spanish national team is back in the final of the Football World Cup."

France

"L'Équipe": "The accident in Dallas. After a tournament in which they had not faced any serious challenge, Les Bleus received a veritable footballing lesson from the Spanish in Arlington. 0-2 and the astonishing, at times almost unsettling feeling that it was never really a contest against Spanish superiority."

"RMC Sport": "Les Bleus fail in the World Cup semi-final, the American dream comes to an abrupt end. France never found a way to decide the match against the impressively controlled Spanish."

"Le Figaro": "The dream is over for Les Bleus, who were decisively knocked out of the World Cup by La Roja. On paper, it looked like a real duel. On the pitch, it was not. France was clearly outclassed 0-2 by Spain in the 2026 World Cup semi-final in Dallas."

USA

"The Athletic": "Perhaps we underestimated Spain. Perhaps we were so fixated on France, Kylian Mbappe and the rest of their dangerous attack, that we overlooked the quality of the Spanish team, which (if you exclude the penalty shootout defeat against Portugal in last year's Nations League final) has not lost a game since March 2023."

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France's Magic Fades! Spain Reaches World Cup Final

Football World Cup

"We failed" – Disappointment for "Les Bleus"

Football World Cup

England

"Daily Mail": "Lousy Les Bleus. We all simply expected France to be superior to Spain, even though we all knew how strong Luis de la Fuente's team is. It's not just about the result, which is certainly possible, but above all about the performance. They were far from reaching their self-imposed goal at this World Cup."

"The Guardian": "For all who had branded Spain as underdogs, this was a spectacular lesson. How much they enjoyed giving a lesson here, securing a showpiece match in New Jersey on Sunday and relegating France to mere bystanders."

"The Sun": "Sacre bleu. France fails at the final hurdle. This is not how the team had envisioned the end of the Deschamps era. What will pain their supporters even more is that their team miserably failed tonight in Dallas. Today is National Day in France, an irony of history, as their World Cup dreams ended like Pompeii."

Italy

"Gazzetta dello Sport": "Spain, Triumph amidst 'Olé' chants: France was devastatingly defeated. After 16 years, 'La Roja' is back in the final."

"Corriere dello Sport": "Spanish Revolution in Dallas: Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro crush France on July 14."

Switzerland:

"NZZ": "Spain deflates France and reaches the World Cup final for the first time since 2010 - once again, anti-hero Mikel Oyarzabal leads the way."

Netherlands:

"De Telegraaf": "Dominant Spain reaches 2026 World Cup final with victory over top favourite France. Spain ended France's title dreams in the semi-final of the 2026 World Cup. In Dallas, the Spanish were surprisingly clearly superior to Kylian Mbappe & Co.: 2-0."