After 102 games over five weeks, the FIFA World Cup will be the first all-Spanish-speaking final since the inaugural tournament in 1930.
The first title match will feature Argentina, the reigning World Cup and Copa America champions, and Spain, the current European champions.
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In the semi-final, France made it easy for Spain by giving away an early penalty, and La Roja won 2-0.
England made things difficult for Argentina before the defensive attack began in the closing stages. La Albiceleste’s 2-1 win saw the Three Lions sent off with his tail between his legs.
Here are the key takeaways from the semi-finals:
Spain outscored France across the pitch
The day after his 19th birthday, Lamine Yamal beat French left-back Lucas Digne to earn a penalty. Spain gratefully accepted this gift, with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring in the 22nd minute. Many things happened in the match, which Spain won 2-0, but none was more important than Digne’s kicking of Yamal after he was caught off guard as he attempted to clear.
Meanwhile, Dani Olmo, Rodri and Fabian Ruiz led the midfield, while Marc Cucurella and Pedro Polo rounded out the flanks.
That means Pau Kvarsi and Aymeric Laporte only had to contain Kylian Mbappé. Unai Simon advanced outside the penalty area several times to stop a hypersonic Mbappé, then retreated to deny Desiree Douai.
Polo’s goal in the 58th minute further increased the advantage. And Spain’s keep-away tactics made it seem relatively easy to hold off the favorites to win the tournament.
Spain has improved since the opening match against Cape Verde, which drew 0-0, partly due to the addition of Olmo to the midfield. Coach Luis de la Fuente also left Olmo on the bench for Spain’s opening game of the 2024 European Championship, but Olmo has since been included in the lineup and produced a goal and a game-winning play in four games.
waiting for jizou
Very little went right for France coach Didier Deschamps, who was playing his 186th game in charge of France.
Perhaps Deschamps stayed too long. Les Bleus were either unlucky or simply not as capable or versatile as co-championship contenders. In any case, Deschamps will be in charge of the third-place match before former superstar Zinedine Zidane takes over.
As is often the case at World Cups, European teams are not used to non-UEFA referees, and Deschamps questioned the level of Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton after the match. But the timing is much earlier and is being done behind the scenes by federation officials.
Yes, Central American referees are often called differently than European referees. So Deschamps probably shouldn’t have been caught off guard when Adrien Rabiot was shown a yellow card, and once Rabiot was booked, Deschamps wasn’t going to risk sending him off. But Deschamps could also have taken a chance on Aurélien Choameny, who did not appear to be reaching full speed with a thigh injury. So much for France’s central midfield.
And the proud attack on France.
Deschamps dropped Michael Oliseh deep to escape Rodri, but it proved too deep to be effective. Substitute Rayan Cherki changed the pace, but it was too late. Bradley Barcola couldn’t get past Polo. Substitute Desir Douet had a chance, but Simon, who was far from the goal, did not let the chip fall and shot directly at Simon.
There was little Deschamps could do about William Saliba, who left midway through the first half with a back problem.
Messi contributed against England and won the match
Argentina looked overly reliant on Lionel Messi in the first five games. Messi scored eight goals in total, but close calls against Cape Verde and Egypt exposed La Albiceleste’s weaknesses.
Messi set up the goal in the quarter-finals that followed, but Argentina didn’t need him to score in extra time to beat Switzerland. Perhaps La Albiceleste is becoming less dependent on Messi.
There was once again no Messi goal in the semi-final, which meant Enzo Fernandes had to wait until the 85th minute to equalize for England.
What led to Fernandes’ goal was his willingness to try his luck from afar, rather than leaving it up to Messi.
Fernandes had two high shots, but the third shot was zero. Messi set up Fernandes from the right and England began sending two defenders at Messi in the final minutes (including 12 minutes of stoppage time). But no luck. Messi simply crossed with his right foot and Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal.
This is Messi’s 11th consecutive World Cup goal or assist since 2022, making him the longest consecutive appearance in the tournament in at least 60 years.
Argentina, cry for me
It was an emotional result for Argentina forwards Lautaro Martinez and Giuliano Simeone, who shed tears in their post-match interviews.
Martinez said he had dreamed of scoring “this goal” since the day his father bought him his first pair of shoes.
Simeone said he was shocked to learn that he would be starting in his second World Cup appearance.
Too early for Tuchel
Defensive lockdown worked well for England against Mexico and Norway.
Against Argentina, Thomas Tuchel joined the five-man line-up in the 72nd minute, just after the water break. But even with the addition of Ezri Konsa, Dan Byrne and Nico O’Reilly, England were unable to maintain their lead.
One way to break up dense defenses is long-range sniping, something Mexico and Norway lacked, but Tuchel may not have been counting on Fernandes.
As for the threat of a counterattack, that threat disappeared with Anthony Gordon’s sending off, and Argentina were able to get everyone on the offensive in the final 30 minutes (including 12 minutes of stoppage time).
Tuchel was also questioned for not using Marcus Rashford or Bukayo Saka sooner. They could have created a chance for a second goal, or at least helped relieve the pressure on the Argentine flank.
