The FIFA World Cup semifinals get underway on Tuesday as two European heavyweights collide for a place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final. France and Spain have both produced outstanding campaigns to reach the last four and we look at the match from a betting angle.
France vs Spain
France opened their World Cup campaign with an impressive 3-1 victory over Senegal before following that up with a comfortable 3-0 win against Iraq. Their final group fixture saw them produce another dominant display, defeating Norway 4-1 to finish top of their group with a perfect nine points while scoring 10 goals and conceding just 2.
Their Round of 32 clash against Sweden reflected another controlled performance. France dictated possession from the opening whistle and comfortably secured a 3-0 victory to book their place in the Round of 16.
France were then made to work much harder against Paraguay in the Round of 16. Despite controlling large portions of the contest, Paraguay defended resolutely throughout. The breakthrough eventually arrived during the second half as France edged out a hard fought 1-0 victory to progress to the quarterfinals.
Their quarterfinal encounter against Morocco resulted in another dominant display. After a tightly contested first half finished goalless, Kylian Mbappe finally broke the deadlock on the hour mark before Ousmane Dembele added a second just six minutes later to seal a comfortable 2-0 victory and send France into yet another World Cup semifinal.
Spain began the tournament with a frustrating 0-0 draw against Cape Verde before responding well with a dominant 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia. They then completed the group stage with a composed 1-0 victory over Uruguay to finish top of their group unbeaten with seven points without a single shot breaching their keeper’s guard.
Their Round of 32 meeting with Austria saw Spain produce one of their most complete performances of the tournament. They controlled proceedings throughout and claimed a convincing 3-0 victory to comfortably advance into the last 16.
Spain then renewed their fierce rivalry with Portugal in the Round of 16. In a tense and evenly balanced contest, both sides created chances throughout before Spain found the decisive breakthrough to claim a narrow 1-0 victory in injury time and continue their World Cup journey.
Their quarterfinal against Belgium ended up being their toughest test yet. Fabian Ruiz handed Spain the lead midway through the opening half before Charles De Ketelaere equalised for Belgium shortly before the interval. With extra time looming, Mikel Merino produced the decisive moment in the 88th minute as Spain claimed a dramatic 2-1 victory to book their place in the semifinals.
Head-to-Head
Spain have held the upper hand in recent meetings between the two nations, winning four of the previous six encounters compared to France’s two victories. Their most recent meeting came in the 2025 UEFA Nations League where Spain edged an unforgettable contest 5-4, while they also claimed a 2-1 victory in the UEFA Euro 2024 semifinal.
Terms and conditions
- The promotion runs from 1 June to 19 July 2026.
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Betting – Click here to bet
France 2.40
Draw 3.25
Spain 3.25
Verdict
Both sides arrive in excellent form and have looked among the strongest teams at the tournament. France possess exceptional attacking quality and have scored freely throughout the competition while remaining defensively solid, conceding just two goals in six matches. Spain have arguably been even more difficult to break down, conceding only two goals themselves while consistently finding decisive moments in tight knockout fixtures. With both nations boasting world class talent across the pitch, this promises to be a competitive semifinal that could ultimately be decided by a single moment of brilliance and may well go past the 90 minute point.
Some bets I am considering here:
- The draw at 3.25
- Under 2.5 goals at 1.87
- Correct Score 0-0 at 12.00
BET: The draw at 3.25
Note: All prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.
