Spain vs. France: Oyarzabal Ruins France's Bastille Day

ARLINGTON — "This is the highest-quality football match this World Cup can offer," says Mickaël, a France supporter. "Every single position in both squads has world-class players."

Indeed, the semi-final between France and Spain in Arlington, Dallas, was a special, high-quality, and thoroughly enjoyable occasion. But it is the French — who arrived full of optimism — who will want to forget it as quickly as possible.

For the first time ever, the French national team played a match on July 14th — Bastille Day, the French national holiday. That is no small thing. "It is very special to play such a big match on the day of our Revolution, and it only adds to the national celebration," Jérôme, one of the few hundred French supporters who made the trip to Texas to back the side in their third consecutive World Cup semi-final, told BabaGol. "But it won't be worth anything if we don't do the job. Tomorrow, the celebrations will pause for the match. Beating Spain is all that matters."

While the French national holiday dominated the headlines, Spain also had a national moment of their own — albeit a smaller one, and the day before the match. The birthday of the player who, in the summer of 2024 during the Euros, became the new face of Spain through football: Lamine Yamal.

Yamal, who celebrated his 17th birthday on the eve of that Euro final, and marked his 18th with an extravagant party that drew widespread criticism, kept things low-key this time around and focused on preparing for the big game. "None of you expect me to be good tomorrow," he said at the press conference, "but maybe that's exactly why I'll surprise you."

"Lamine is celebrating his birthday and I hope his teammates give him the gift of a place in the final — and then a World Cup win," Juan from Seville, who had followed Spain from the knockout stages onwards, told BabaGol. Yamal's tournament had been solid rather than spectacular by his own extraordinary standards. "He's still so young, and so gifted — he has so much more to give Spain."

At the pre-match press conferences, both Spain manager Luis de la Fuente and Didier Deschamps — who dreamed of becoming the first man to win the World Cup as both player and manager twice over — reached for the language of war. On matchday itself, it was France who appeared to carry the greater confidence.

They had the larger support outside the stadium in Dallas, and it was also announced that before kick-off there would be a minute's silence to mark the tenth anniversary of the victims of the Nice terrorist attack in 2016, when a Tunisian-born truck driver living in France killed 86 people. That tribute seemed only to add to the heavy national weight already pressing down on the French players on July 14th — because when the match began, they simply did not show up.

More than seventy thousand spectators in a somewhat subdued atmosphere watched Lamine Yamal ghost in behind Luca Digne and win a penalty in what had actually been a decent opening spell for France.

The penalty was coolly converted by Mikel Oyarzabal — the quiet sensation of Spain's tournament — giving Spain an early lead that effectively set the tone for an easy afternoon. Oyarzabal has scored five goals at this World Cup. He scored six more in qualifying, and three in the pre-tournament friendlies. That is 14 goals in his last 14 appearances for the national team, and 30 in total for Spain. The Real Sociedad forward has established himself at this tournament as a genuine monster — a quiet one, but a monster nonetheless, and one who takes penalties with exceptional composure.

From that point on, it was Spain's game entirely. The second goal arrived in the second half, after a sublime one-two between Pedro Porro and Dani Olmo, finished by the defender himself, who produced a heavenly performance and was named man of the match.

In the 86th minute, French supporters unfurled a large Tricolore in memory of the 86 victims of the Nice attack. A decade has passed since that sorrowful Bastille Day, and though Kylian Mbappé and his teammates desperately wanted to bring joy to the nation of liberty, fraternity, and equality on its national day, it simply did not happen. France looked lost against Rodri, Lamine, and company, and the Spanish olé chants had already started in the stands by the 70th minute. In truth, it would not be an exaggeration to write that Spain knocked France out rather than merely beating them 2-0 — because this was a sporting knockout that the scoreline barely captured.

"In a World Cup semi-final you need to be at your peak, and we simply weren't there today," summarised outgoing France manager Deschamps. A new era is about to begin in France, with Zinedine Zidane — who has an agreement in place to take over and is only awaiting formal confirmation — set to lead the side. For years, France benefited from the stability Deschamps brought, much of it rooted in the character he had shown as captain during his playing days. Now, Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, and their teammates can look forward to receiving a little of the star quality and daring that Zidane instils. Perhaps enough to celebrate a 14th of July with a European Championship in two years' time — and to go again for the World Cup in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco in 2030.

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