Editor’s note:Follow our live France vs. Spain World Cup semifinal coverage here.
Kylian Mbappé will have to wait another day for another potentially legacy-defining performance.
The 27-year-old French striker’s attempt to reach his third consecutive World Cup final in his third tournament ended at the hands of Spain on Tuesday, July 14, with La Roja topping France 2-0 in the semifinals.
Now, France moves to the Saturday, July 18 third-place game against the loser of the Argentina vs. England semifinal on Wednesday, July 14. Mbappe was held scoreless in the semifinal, despite multiple attacking chances.
With eight goals in seven games at the tournament thus far, Mbappé’s play has made him a golden boot frontrunner. He’ll have a chance to add to that total, but won’t compete for soccer’s biggest prize in 2026.
Here’s a recap of Mbappe’s difficult match against Spain:
France’s run at World Cup gold may be over, but soccer fans will get one final chance to watch Kylian Mbappe’s brilliance during this tournament. Mbappe and France will play in the third-place game, held at 5 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 18 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. France will play the loser of the Wednesday, July 15 semifinal between England and Argentina.
The frustration of the match’s final seconds behind him, Mbappe regained his composure to share a moment with coach Didier Deschamps before saluting the French fans after the semifinal:
It’s official: Spain is on to the World Cup final on Sunday, July 19, while France will fall to the third-place game one day earlier.
A late Spain foul gave Mbappe another chance, but it wasn’t meant to be as the France star’s tough day continued with a miss that sailed above the net:
A hard challenge between stars has led to a France free kick in the 77th minute, but again, no scoring chance for Les Bleus:
Fox Sports caught this reaction to Spain’s second goal of the match:
He can create pressure quickly. An Mbappe shot led to back-to-back corner kicks for France, but no goal. Minutes later, another Mbappe try goes wide as France attempts to trim the Spain lead.
Things aren’t looking good for France in the 59th minute, as they’re down 2-0 on Pedro Porro’s goal that caught the French defense out of place. Less than a minute later, a Lamine Yamal would-be goal was negated when Yamal was called offside.
Our Nancy Armour profiled L.J. Rader of popular social media account “Art, But Make It Sports” earlier this year. Now Rader’s done it again with this gem:
The players have had their rest. Now on to the final 45 minutes (or so) of play between France and Spain. Follow our live France vs. Spain World Cup semifinal coverage here.
There’s been plenty of action for Kylian Mbappe and France, but an untimely foul has been the difference in the first half. France fell into its first deficit of the tournament on Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty kick 20 minutes in. While Mbappe has made numerous sprints at the Spain goal, France remains without a meaningful chance against the stout Spanish defense.
Well, that was exciting. A Mbappe run at the goal, a corner and bobble by the Spain keeper, but no goal for France.
Might the French men be pressing a bit while facing their first deficit of this World Cup? Mbappe was called offside on consecutive touches as the match hit the 40-minute mark.
He’s back up, but a hard challenge in the 28th minute brought the French star down hard to the pitch. Moments later, William Saliba came off for Spain after suffering an apparent injury.
A France foul on Lamine Yamal in the box led to a Spain penalty kick after the 20-minute mark. Mikel Oyarzabal ripped the ball past the keeper for a 1-0 lead. Follow our live France vs. Spain World Cup semifinal coverage here.
Who would win in a footrace: Mbappe or streamer/wrestler IShowSpeed? The French star’s dad has a surprising answer:
It took three Spain defenders, but La Roja was eventually able to corral Mbappe after a deep pass sent him into action in front of the Spain goal.
France had an early advantage with a corner kick in the early stages, but Mbappe couldn’t get a head on the chance as Spain recovered.
Here we go. After more than a month of play, the 2026 World Cup has reached its semifinal stage. Follow our live France vs. Spain World Cup semifinal coverage here.
The players are on the pitch for France vs. Spain in the World Cup semifinals, with Mbappe leading his team out in front of the fans:
No surprises here: Kylian Mbappé is starting as striker for France in today’s semifinal vs. Spain. Here’s a look at the full lineup for France.
Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro and Mikel Oyarzabal are all in the Spain lineup for today’s semifinal. Here’s the full Spain lineup.
France’s man of the hour is in the house at AT&T (or Dallas) Stadium for the France vs. Spain World Cup semifinal.
Mbappé exited France’s 2-0 quarterfinal win over Morocco in the 77th minute and could be seen icing his ankle on the sidelines. His participation in the team’s post-match celebrations revealed that the France star wasn’t suffering any serious injury, a fact his coach reiterated on July 13.
“Kylian feels good,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “He is at 100%, we cannot go above.”
The semifinal match between France and Spain will be broadcast on Fox.
Streaming available on Fubo or the Fox One App. Spanish language broadcasts are available on Telemundo and Peacock.
Mbappé is tied with Argentina star Lionel Messi for the most goals in the tournament at eight. Both men have a chance to add to their legacies in the semifinal round.
A few inches in Qatar separate Mbappé and France from back-to-back championships and a very different narrative around the Real Madrid star’s heroic performance in the final. Les Bleus are among the favorites in the 2026 World Cup, and Mbappe will be the key to their hopes in North America as he’s set to pass 100 international appearances.
Mbappé has been in the middle of a firestorm in recent days following racist remarks by Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla.
Read about the fallout from Amarilla’s comments right here.
Entering the 2026 World Cup, the 27-year-old has scored 56 goals in 96 international matches.
Real Madrid.
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USA TODAY’s Jordan Mendoza contributed to this reporting
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