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The Soccer Gods owe us an apology. France vs. Spain, the two teams with the best odds of winning the tournament — the reigning World Cup finalists against the reigning European champions — is happening Tuesday in Dallas, and it’s a semifinal. This is the game the whole world has been waiting to see, arriving one round too soon. Let’s be honest about recent form: France has the upper hand, and it isn’t as close as we thought it was two months ago. Didier Deschamps’ side has been an impenetrable machine. Five multi-goal wins in six matches, a third consecutive semifinal (only Germany and Brazil have ever done that), and a 2-0 dismantling of Morocco in Boston that never once felt in doubt. Kylian Mbappé missed a penalty in that game, his first failed spot kick for France since Euro 2020, shrugged, scored anyway, then assisted Ousmane Dembélé six minutes later. That’s the tournament he’s having. When the mistakes turn into brilliance, the rest of the field is playing for second. And what about the history aspect? Mbappé sits on 20 career World Cup goals, one behind Lionel Messi’s all-time record of 21 — a record Messi has been extending in real time. Mbappé has scored in every knockout game France has played. His 12 career knockout-stage goals are already a record on their own. He could equal or pass the greatest scoring mark in World Cup history on Tuesday, against Spain, with a final on the line. It’s a scriptwriter’s dream. Spain, meanwhile, did not have a cakewalk against Belgium. Luis de la Fuente’s team dominated the ball in Los Angeles — 68% possession, more than two expected goals to Belgium’s 0.38 — and still needed an 88th-minute gift to survive. Charles De Ketelaere’s header just before halftime was the first goal Spain had conceded all summer, snapping a record 650-minute World Cup scoreless streak. Then Thibaut Courtois limped off in tears, backup Senne Lammens spilled a routine save, and Mikel Merino, the match-winner against Portugal, did it again and buried the rebound. La Roja are in their first semifinal since 2010, riding a 36-game unbeaten run that sits one short of Italy’s all-time record of 37. Impressive numbers, eh? But Fabián Ruiz’s opener aside, this was a team struggling to turn possession into goals or excitement. Which brings us to Lamine Yamal The 18-year-old tore his hamstring scoring a penalty against Celta Vigo in April, missed the rest of Barcelona’s title run, and arrived at this World Cup racing against the calendar. He’s played six matches, the most ever by a player 18 or under at a World Cup, and he’s had his moments, testing Courtois and Lammens repeatedly on Friday. But the full Euro 2024 version, the kid who bent entire defenses sideways? We’ve seen flashes, that’s about it. Whether that’s rust, the hamstring, or the natural caution of a teenager managing his own body, Spain needs him at 100% on Tuesday. The evidence says he isn’t there. That’s the tension in this game. Spain will have the ball (they always have the ball) and France will wait, coiled, with Mbappé and Dembélé ready to turn one loose touch into a sprint at goal. Michael Olise, quietly the tournament’s best creator with five assists, will find them. Ask Morocco how that ends. Spain’s control is real, but control without conversion against this France team is just a longer way to lose. One more thing, because the Soccer Gods clearly have a sense of the occasion: Tuesday is July 14. France will play for a place in the World Cup final on Bastille Day. Storm the castle or defend it. Either way, don’t blink.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Spain advanced to the semifinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday, but its latest victory joined a list of unimpressive performances that it’s had during this tournament. “I don’t know if it’s a great team,” Alexi Lalas said on Friday’s “State of the Union.” “The rhythm and the beauty, for lack of a better word, that we’ve associated with them has not yet really found its way in this tournament. Spain narrowly beat Belgium 2-1 in their quarterfinals matchup on Friday, with goals from Fabián Ruiz and Mikel Merino, the latter of whom scored the 88th-minute match-winner. In the background of it all was Lamine Yamal, who went a fourth-straight match without recording a goal contribution. “Lamine Yamal, once again, was stymied,” Lalas said. “That’s a credit to Belgium, but he’s yet to have a breakout type of game.” Luis de la Fuente has continued to count on Yamal due to the 18-tear-old’s unquestionable talent, but Yamal’s teammates have put pressure on him with their performances off of the bench. “He plays on a team with plenty of talent, including the ability to make changes that come on and obviously affected the game here,” Lalas said. But Spain’s problems on offense go far beyond Yamal. The goal Spain gave up on Friday was the first it conceded all tournament, but Yamal and the Spanish attack have largely underwhelmed. Spain has scored 11 goals in six matches, but has scored two or fewer goals in four of its matches. Yamal has been front-and-center of those scoring struggles. He’s only scored once in this tournament and has yet to record an assist, logging an xG (expected goals) of 1.54 and xA (expected assists) of 1.01. And even though Yamal won Man of the Match on Friday, he struggled to get quality touches in the box. Just two of his six shots were on target, too. Lalas didn’t go as far as to say that Yamal should be benched against France. However, he implied that Spain got lucky with its win on Friday, considering that Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois departed the game in the 71st minute due to injury. “It’s not just taking off a goalkeeper; it’s taking off one of the great goalkeepers in the world,” Lalas said. “And, as the soccer Gods would have it, it ultimately leads to the goal that Spain wins the game on. Spain goes on. What more can you say about this game?” As Lalas alluded to, Spain scored the game-winning goal in the 88th minute when Mikel Merino buried a rebound opportunity after Belgium goalkeeper Senne Lemmens failed to corral a save. Still, Spain is in the semifinals for the first time since it won the World Cup in 2010. It’s also going up against a France squad that it has fared well against in recent years, winning its last two matches against France. One of those matches was the semifinals at UEFA Euro 2024, and Yamal has won all five knockout stage matches against Kylian Mbappé in his career (including club). But as Yamal and Spain might feel confident ahead of Tuesday’s semifinal, France has arguably looked like the best team of the tournament. Les Bleus have won their first six matches, outscoring their opponents by 14 goals so far. That’s why Lalas believes Spain is an underdog to France in the semifinal. “Based on this tournament’s performance, I wouldn’t put it at 50/50, but I wouldn’t put it out of the realm of possibility that Spain wins,” Lalas said. “You can even hear them in the way they were talking after the game about what is to come. They certainly don’t fear France, nor should they. They’ve matched up well against them. “But this particular version of Spain, in this particular moment, if you compare and contrast with what France is, I think the logical conclusion is that the favorite is France. So, I don’t think it’s a 50/50 proposition.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Murat Yakin was prepared for the first question. “How can you stop [Lionel] Messi?” a reporter asked Switzerland’s manager one day before his side takes on defending champion Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals. “This is a very surprising question,” Yakin said, laughing. “First of all, there are many solutions, and we’ll try to find the best solution,” Yakin continued via an interpreter on Friday morning from Kansas City. “Tomorrow on the pitch, we will perform as a unit. We will try to make good passes and press high. We can talk a lot, but in the end, [we have to perform] on the pitch.” The 39-year-old Messi has scored eight goals in five matches at this World Cup, defying age while producing one of the most extraordinary tournaments of his career — and one of the greatest individual performances ever. The Argentine captain hasn’t hidden his emotions along the way. In the round of 16 against Egypt, he missed a first-half penalty before redeeming himself with an assist on Cristian Romero’s 79th-minute goal. Four minutes later, Messi found the equalizer himself, setting the stage for Enzo Fernández’s stoppage-time header that completed Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 comeback. He was in tears after the match. “I don’t know if we can stop him over 90 minutes,” Swiss captain Granit Xhaka said of Messi on Friday, via interpretation. “It’s going to be very difficult. We have to be smart. We’ll have to be compact, close the gaps and not give him too many spaces. We will try, obviously, to play in possession when we have the ball, and he won’t be able to act as much. We’ll just try to play our game and not allow him to play the ball.” Switzerland has not reached a World Cup quarterfinal in 72 years. The last time was in 1954, when it hosted the tournament and lost 7-5 to Austria in what is still the highest-scoring match in World Cup history. Four players combined for all 12 goals, with two recording hat tricks and two others scoring braces. Saturday marks the first World Cup meeting between Switzerland and Argentina since 2014, when the nations met in the round of 16 in Brazil. Argentina won, 1-0, in extra time thanks to Ángel Di María’s 118th-minute winner, assisted by Messi. That was Xhaka’s first World Cup. “It was not the most pleasant moment,” Xhaka, 33, said. “I think we performed very well. We could have scored — we should have scored. Now, 12 years later, we are back and this time, we will try to win against Argentina. “We have a new team, a new mentality and a new generation of players. Football in Switzerland has improved a lot, and tomorrow we will try to really bother Argentina. We have become stronger — not only in this tournament, but in the last couple of years.” Switzerland enters this showdown unbeaten, winning four of its five matches at this World Cup and drawing the opener against Qatar. The squad is fresh off a tense round of 16 battle, defeating Colombia in a penalty shootout. Argentina, meanwhile, has been challenged in its last two knockout matches. The defending champions were pushed to the brink of a penalty shootout against debutant Cape Verde in the round of 32 before rallying from behind to defeat Egypt. Both games were considered among the best — and most thrilling — of the tournament so far. The Swiss are keenly aware of how La Albiceleste have been able to find a way in the final moments. Xhaka’s message to his squad is that they need to “bring our A game.” “We’ve tried to bring this mentality to Switzerland that it’s not over until the referee’s [final] whistle,” said Xhaka, who plays for Premier League club Sunderland and is familiar with many of the players on Argentina’s roster. “Just go all in, try to come back, try to bring the hunger to win the games, and I think Argentina can be a big example of what we can do as well in our future, and maybe tomorrow as well.” Beating Argentina would be a monumental achievement for Switzerland, which has never been to a World Cup semifinal. “I am not here to talk,” Xhaka said. “I want to take the next steps, and we’re very close to the end. I’m yearning for it, I am hungry, and now we just need to show how much we really want it on the pitch. “I am a person who always dreams and dreams can come true,” the captain added. “You need to work, you need to sweat, you need to give it 100 percent. And sometimes, you need to do something new. You really need to push your limits if you want to beat Argentina, and I’m convinced my team is ready.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports