Mikel Oyarzabal’s clinical penalty and a dominant defensive display stifled Kylian Mbappé, propelling La Furia Roja past a struggling France to secure a deserved place in the final.
The two tournament favourites met in the semi-final, with only three goals conceded between them; it really felt as if France and Spain were ready to play out a classic.
The team news was quite surprising, in his final ever tournament for Les Blues, Didier Deschamps was not scared to make changes from their 2-0 quarter final win over Morocco. Bringing in Bradley Barcola and a previously injured Aurelien Tchouameni for Desire Doue and Manu Kone, who can both be frustrated on missing out after impressing in their games.
For Spain, Jose de la Fuente named an unchanged team from their unconvincing 2-1 win over Belgium, which may have surprised the Spanish fans, as it still sees Nico Williams, who has recovered from his injury, and Barcelona maestro Pedri miss out.
From kick-off, La Furia Roja kept the ball well, trying to pry open Les Blues defence, with France waiting and buying their time to try and catch Spain out on the counter, having to deal with the Spanish high backline.
In the early stages, it was clear that France were struggling, which led French captain Kylian Mbappe to drop deeper out of position, to try and collect the ball, allowing Spain to squeeze up and trap the French side in their own box.
When a dangerous Marc Cucurella cross flew through everyone waiting, and as Lucas Digne set himself to clear the ball, Lamine Yamal came flying across his blind side, stealing the ball from the Frenchman, and it gave Digne no other choice but to kick the young Spaniard, sending him tumbling down and giving El Salvadorian referee Iván Arcides Barton Cisneros no choice but to point to the spot.
Despite French protests, it was always going to be given as a penalty. Barton Cisneros had quite the job clearing French players from the box as Mikel Oyarzabal had the long, daunting wait to take the vital penalty.
Despite the delay, he didn't show any nerves in his effort however, running up to the ball and smashing it past Mike Maignan in the bottom right hand corner. Spain had the lead they knew was so vital.
Things didn't get any easier for the French after conceding, William Saliba, who has been battling a back injury throughout the entire tournament, but half an hour into this game it caught up to him, with not being able to continue and putting Les Blues into a very precarious spot, with Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix replacing him.
Not long before the end of the first half, Spain should have doubled their lead. Rodri picked up a poor pass out from the back from Maignan, and after some clever one-touch football, Dani Olmo flicked it in behind for Lamine Yamal, who, instead of shooting, tried to square it. Still, Dayot Upamecano just denied an Oyarzabal tap-in.
France really struggled to make anything happen, unable to get a shot on target in the first half, and Spain's high line was really starting to frustrate Mbappe, who was caught offside multiple times, killing any French attacks.
Things were the same as the second half begun, and just before the hour mark Spain's lead was deservedly doubled, yet again Les Blues midfield was bypassed with ease and it lead to Olmo just beating a dragged out Upamecano, who left an acre of space behind which allowed full-back Pedro Porro to burst into and he was able to just about force the ball past Maignan and Spain, who were quite the underdogs coming into this had an incredibly impressive two goal lead.
Things almost went from bad to worse for Les Blues when Yamal turned Digne, getting himself into the box, cutting in and firing home a Spanish third but the flag was up to France's relied but things were looking very dark for the tournament favourites.
There was a bit more liveliness to France's play when they found themselves two down, but nothing truly threatening the Spanish goal, with the best chance coming when a big mistake by keeper Unai Simón was not capitalised on by substitute Desire Doué, as Simón found himself a long way from his net.
France were left chasing, with players taking on selfish efforts to try and find a miracle way back into the game. Yet, Spain stuck to their plan, keeping their now 37-game-long undefeated record alive.
La Furia Roja now wait to find out who they will face in the World Cup Final, as England and Argentina go head-to-head tomorrow night.
For France, in their biggest game of this World Cup, it was the first match in which they looked like they really struggled.
Nobody looked like they were ready to try and change the game, and for Deschamps, his incredible twelve-year tenure is now all but over, ending on quite a whimper.
