France vs Spain Predictions - World Cup semi-final preview: Who will reach the final?

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Two of the tournament favourites will face off for a place in the World Cup final as 2018 winners France take on European champions Spain this week.

Both giants have come through the summer unscathed to this point, with the only blemish on either of their records being Spain’s shock 0-0 draw with Cape Verde to open the tournament.

But Les Bleus and La Roja have largely met expectations and will feel confident of their chances of progressing beyond the semi-finals, even if there can only be one winner.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this blockbuster matchup…

Where to watch France vs Spain

Date: Tuesday July 14 (local) / Wednesday July 15 (Australia)

Stadium: Dallas Stadium, Arlington, United States

Kick-off time: 2:00pm (July 14, local) / 7:00am AEST (July 15, Australia)

TV channel/stream: Broadcast: SBS and SBS On Demand

Form

France are certainly living up to their billing as the team to beat this World Cup, winning all five of their games so far, scoring 16 times and conceding only twice. Across all of 2026, they have emerged as victors in all but one of their ten fixtures, losing to Cote d’Ivoire in a pre-tournament friendly.

In the red corner, Spain have put together an impressive unbeaten run stretching back 37 matches to March 2024, pre-dating their European Championship triumph. However, their performances haven’t quite been as convincing as France’s stumbling to late wins in their last two knockout games against Portugal and Belgium, while that draw with Cape Verde still lingers.

Head-to-head

As two of Europe’s most esteemed teams, France and Spain share plenty of history. This will be their 39th meeting, with La Roja winning 18 of those and seven finishing as draws.

Their previous two encounters had major consequences. In June 2025, Spain ran out 5-4 winners in a thrilling Nations League semi-final, but the more important meeting came a year prior at Euro 2024 when they again met in the last four.

On that occasion, France were billed as favourites to outsmart a young Spain side who had played a fast and flowing brand of football. But Lamine Yamal and Co had other ideas, flipping the script and winning 2-1 to see them into the final, where they would beat England by the same scoreline.

Their last head-to-head at a World Cup came in 2006, with Zinedine Zidane inspiring a 3-1 comeback to knock Spain out at the last-16 stage.

Team news

Didier Deschamps will hope to be able to call upon Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who has sat out France’s last two matches with a groin issue. His replacement in the starting XI, Manu Kone, has filled in excellently however and could yet retain his place even if Tchouameni proves his fitness in training.

The other major call for Deschamps to make is who will start on the left wing having rotated between Paris Saint-Germain duo Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola this tournament. Doue was given the nod in their most recent outing versus Morocco.

There could be pressure on Luis de la Fuente to throw Nico Williams back into Spain’s lineup following his comeback from injury off the bench against Belgium. Pedri is also expected to be restored having been replaced by Fabian Ruiz to begin that quarter-final win.

Match insights

Revenge for France?

Yamal has wasted no time fanning the flames of Spain’s rivalry with France. Speaking on Friday after beating Belgium, he told the press: “The last two times we played France, we beat them. We're not afraid… There are two options: either they reach three consecutive World Cup finals, or we beat them three times. I don't know what might happen, but we're not afraid.”

There’s no doubt that will provide extra motivation for a France team out to finish the job and prove they are indeed the best team in international football.

TAB have France to win priced at $2.30

Super-sub Merino

Spain have avoided extra-time in their last two matches thanks to late goals from Arsenal’s Mikel Merino, twice coming off the bench and coming to his country’s rescue.

As such, it’s understandable that he could expect a shot in the starting lineup, but if anything he’s managed to trap himself into this bench role, proving the perfect game-changer thanks to his off-ball intelligence in the final third.

TAB have Merino to score first at $11

Mbappe vs Yamal

All eyes will be on another instalment of this generation’s next great rivalry. Kylian Mbappe is now up to 20 World Cup goals, a tally only bettered by Lionel Messi, and has delivered again following his successes of 2018 and 2022.

The story hasn’t quite been the same for Yamal, who still appears jaded following a hamstring injury which severely disrupted his rhythm coming into the tournament. He’s shown flashes of his brilliance without quite taking our breath away yet. But if a superstar was ever to burst into life, this is the stage to do so.

TAB have Mbappe to score first at $5 and Yamal to score first at $8

Prediction

This is a semi-final that could easily go all the way to penalties, but there’s no fun in predicting that, is there?

If we were to pick a winner, it has to be France. They have been the dominant force this summer and their incredible array of forwards could feast on a Spain backline that showed real signs of vulnerability against Belgium. The World Cup is Mbappe’s playground and you shouldn’t be surprised if he runs amok again.

*Odds correct as of 12/07/26

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