France vs Spain 2026 World Cup semifinal preview

Two ogbonge teams for di World Cup go jam each oda for di first semifinal clash for dis year tournament.

France bin dey rank number one for di Fifa world ranking and Spain dey third for di world.

Dis teams dey fine form for di tournament so far, wey many sabi pipo don tip Les Bleus to win di trophy.

But Spain wey be reigning European champions also wan try to reach anoda World Cup final to see if dem fit win am for di second time afta dia 2010 victory.

Tins don set well well for dis game wey go happun for di Dallas Stadium later for Tuesday night.

If France manage to defeat Spain, dem go reach dia third consecutive World Cup final, di only oda teams wey bin achieve dat na Germany (1982, 1986, 1990) and Brazil (1994, 1998, 2002).

Di stakes don dey high for dis game – France bin reach dis stage wit three wins for di group stage against Senegal, Iraq and Norway.

Dem later sama Sweden for di R32 bifor dem defeat Paraguay for di R16.

Les Bleus also sama Morocco for di quarterfinal to reach dis semifinal stage - dem score 16 goals so far.

Kylian Mbappe score half of dose goals (8) wey Dembele (5), Barcola (2), Doue (1) be di oda scorers.

For Spain, dem begin di competition wit scoreless draw wit Cape Verde, bifor dem sama Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.

La Roja later defeat Austria for R32 wey dem comot Portugal for R16 bifor dem defeat Belgium for di quarterfinals to reach dis stage.

Dem don score 11 goals for di process – Mikel Oyarzabal (4), Mikel Merino (2), Yamal (1), Baena (1), Pedro Porro (1), Fabian Ruiz (1) and one own goal.

Team news

Didier Deschamps get im full squad fit, except Aurelian Tchouameni wey still dey struggle wit injury.

All di odas dey available especially di key players Mbappe, Olise, Dembele, Rabiot and Saliba.

E dey likely say Deschamp go repeat di starting XI from dia last game against Morocco.

For Spain, Luis De La Fuente get all im squad fit and available including Lamin Yamal and Nico Williams wey both enta di tournament wit injury.

De La Fuente dey set to start Pedri for di game alongside Rodri afta im bench di Barcelona midfielder for di game against Belgium from di beginning.

Kylian Mbappe be di man to watch for France, di 27-year-old get 20 goals from 20 World Cup games wey im dey only one goal behind Lionel Messi for all-time goal scorers for di tournament.

Di Real Madrid striker go rely on Michael Olise to provide di assists for di game – di Bayern attacker currently be di player wey get di most assists for dis tournament (5).

For Spain, dem go use dia usual style to dominate possession of di ball; Rodri di captain bin dey lead wit di highest accurate passes for di tournament (597).

But di Spaniards go hope say dia striker Mikel Oryazabal go find im scoring boot for dis game wey dem go also count on dia super sub-Mikel Merino to comot di bench to score again as im do against Portugal and Belgium.

Dem also go hope dia 19-year-old starboy Lamin Yamal go fit shine for dis game.

Di defence go also dey important for dis game, di team wey go fit defend beta, get chance to win.

Wetin di two coaches and key players tok ahead of di game

Spain dey confident say dem fit beat France sake of dem sama dem for dia last two meetings.

La Roja beat France 2-1 for di 2024 Euros wey Spain eventually bin win, wey dem also sama Les Bleus 5-4 for di 2024/25 Nations League.

Didier Deschamps tok say Spain na favourites wey im dey expect thriller.

"Dis fit be spectacular game, me and Spain coach sabi how to defend and wit di quality of di two teams for attack, dis game go sweet.

"Di last two games wey dem sama us, na past tin, now we don dey anoda level, we wan reach di final," Deschamps tok.

Spain coach De La Fuente also don tok say wetin Didier Deschamp tok say Spain na favourites, no dey mean anytin.

"We be two ogbonge national teams wey dey face each oda, wetin di France coach tok no dey mean anytin, we already dey under pressure to do well for our kontri."

De La Fuente add say "dis game fit be World Cup final bifor, we gatz dey careful so we no go make mistakes and give di opponent chances, we gatz control di game and dey clinical for di penalty area."

France captain Kylian Mbappe say dia target na to reach di final.

"We dey happy say we bin dey for semifinal, but we get long way to go, wetin dey ahead of us dey tough pass di ones we don play but we dey ready for anytin."

For Spain winger Lamin Yamal, dis fit be di game to celebrate im 19th birthday.

"Dis na di most important match I go eva play, wey I dey happy I don reach dis far. Evribodi dey happy for dis game."

Possible lineups

Di two teams don appear for di World Cup 17 times but dem only jam each oda once.

For dat game for di R16 for Germany 2006, David Villa bin score for Spain but Franck Ribéry, Patrick Viera and Zinedine Zidane all score to win di game 3-1 for France.

How dis second World Cup meeting between dem go end?

Time go tell.

France XI

Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne; Kone, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Doue; Mbappe

Spain XI

Unai Simon; Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Baena; Oyarzabal

Di game go happun at 7PM GMT (8PM WAT) for di Dallas Stadium.