The first finalist of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be determined with the semi-final match between France and Spain this evening.
Slovak referee Ivan Barton will referee the match, which will be hosted by the 70 thousand-seat Dallas Stadium. The match will start at 22.00 GMT.
France, which won the tournament in 1998 and 2018, and Spain, which won the cup in 2010, will face each other for the second time in the World Cup.
In the first match of the last 16 rounds in Germany in 2006, Spain took the lead with a goal scored by David Villa from the penalty spot, while France left the field with a ticket to the tour with the goals of Franck Ribery, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane.
France, which finished as the leader of Group I with 9 points in the fight against Norway, Senegal and Iraq, defeated Sweden 3-0 in the last 32 rounds and Paraguay 1-0 in the last 16 rounds.
Defeating Morocco 2-0 at Boston Stadium with goals from Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, France reached the World Cup semi-finals for the third time in a row.
Spain, which was undefeated in Group H, which included Cape Verde Islands, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, beat Austria 3-0 in the last 32 rounds and Portugal 1-0 in the last 16 rounds.
Spain, which faced Belgium in the quarter-finals and conceded a goal for the first time in this match, advanced to the semi-finals with goals from Fabian Ruiz and Mikel Merino.
In the last two matches between the two teams, Spain was the winner. Spain, which beat its opponent 2-1 in the semi-finals of the 2024 European Football Championship and became the champion in the tournament, won 5-4 at the same stage in the Nations League last year.
In the 38 official matches between France and Spain, Spain had an 18-13 advantage over its opponent. Equality remained in 7 matches.
France won the last 7 matches against European teams in the tournament.
French star Kylian Mbappe shares the top spot with Lionel Messi in the golden shoe race by scoring 8 goals in 6 matches in this tournament.
Mbappe, who scored two goals each against Senegal, Iraq and Sweden, and one against Morocco and Paraguay, only left the field without scoring a goal against Norway. The French star assisted 2 goals in this match.
Yamal likes semi-finals against France
Lamine Yamal scored 3 of the 7 goals he scored for Spain against France.
The 19-year-old football player, who scored once in the semi-finals of the 2024 European Football Championship, also scored twice in the semi-finals of the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League.
With 27 wins and 9 draws in the last 36 matches, Spain achieved the longest unbeaten streak in its history.
Spain was last defeated 1-0 by Colombia in the friendly match played in London on March 22, 2024.