Spain just put France in a 2-0 hole during the 2026 World Cup semifinal, and Kylian Mbappé’s face told the whole story. The man who entered the match with eight tournament goals, tied with Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot, looked like someone who just watched his hardware wallet get drained in real time.

The July 14 semifinal in the 2026 FIFA World Cup was supposed to be Mbappé’s coronation moment. Instead, Spain’s midfield strangled France’s attack so thoroughly that Les Bleus managed just 0.26 expected goals across the match. For context, that means France had roughly a one-in-four chance of scoring even once, let alone mounting a comeback.

Spain’s tactical masterclass

Spain, the defending European champions, came into this match with a clear game plan: dominate the midfield, control possession, and make France’s explosive speed irrelevant. It worked almost comically well.

France had looked unstoppable in their quarterfinal, dispatching Morocco 2-0 with goals from Mbappé and Dembélé. Spain played more like a patient accumulator, controlling the ball, squeezing space, and waiting for precisely the right moment to strike. They found that moment twice.

What this means for the tournament

Spain’s dominance in this semifinal resets the narrative heading into the final. The defending European champions have now demonstrated they can neutralize the tournament’s most dangerous attacker.

Mbappé’s Golden Boot race with Messi also takes on new dimensions. With eight goals apiece entering the semifinals, Mbappé needed continued opportunities to pull ahead. Spain’s suffocating defensive approach, which held France to just 0.26 expected goals, limited those opportunities to almost nothing.