De la Fuente: Spain is the "best team in the world"
Arlington, Texas (AFP) – Spanish national team coach Luis de la Fuente praised his players, describing them as “the best team in the world” after a striking 2-0 victory over France in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinals held in North America.
Mikel Oyarzabal (22nd minute, penalty) and Pedro Porro (58th minute) scored Spain’s goals, eliminating Les Bleus in three consecutive major tournaments, following their 2-1 win at Euro 2024 and their 5-4 victory in the 2025 UEFA Nations League final.
Spain will face the winner of the match between defending champions Argentina and England in the final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey/New York.
This marks the second time Spain has reached the World Cup final, the first being in 2010 when they won the title in South Africa by defeating the Netherlands 1-0 after extra time.
De la Fuente had repeatedly stated that Spain was the best team in the tournament, and he appeared extremely proud after their superiority over France.
The victory represented another tactical masterpiece for the Spanish coach, who led La Roja to the Euro 2024 title and now secured his third consecutive official win against France.
De la Fuente said: “We started about four years ago with an idea, and we have remained faithful to it. It has brought us to where we are today.”
De la Fuente will make his first appearance in a World Cup final for Spain since 2010.
Regarding his players, he said: “These players deserve everything. Day by day, they have shown their commitment, solidarity, generosity, and talent. They make the difficult look easy.”
Deschamps told M6 channel: “There is a lot of disappointment. The players are devastated because our ambitions were great, although we must also be realistic and admit that we were technically inferior to a team that controlled the game better, and even more so. However, the responsibility lies with us first, and I do not want to blame anyone.”
Deschamps also questioned the performance of the match referee, Salvadoran Ivan Barton, saying: “Does the referee have the required level to manage a World Cup semifinal? I will not answer that. It is not because we lost that I say this. There were many incidents, and many went against us as well, but the main reason is that we were less dangerous offensively than we could have been, with some technical errors and passes that could have created situations and opportunities.”
He added: “We must accept this; this is the highest level of football, even if it is painful. I do not want to deny everything that has been achieved, but in this specific match, Spain showed something extra.”
Spain denied their neighbor a third consecutive final appearance in their quest for a third title, following their 1998 victory over Brazil on home soil and their 2018 win against Croatia in Russia. Notably, France lost the previous edition’s final to Argentina.
France, who reached the semifinal for the third consecutive time and the eighth time in their history (only Germany has reached more semifinals, with 12), failed to match Brazil and Germany, who both reached three consecutive finals.
De la Fuente outdid Deschamps, who managed the team in the previous semifinal, as Spain was the better side for most of the match and successfully executed his plan to neutralize France’s attacking quartet, led by captain and top scorer Kylian Mbappé, and particularly by Bayern Munich’s German playmaker Michael Olise, who appeared lost in midfield.
Spain, who reached the semi-finals for the second time in their history after 2010, secured their 19th victory in 39 encounters against France, with seven draws and 13 defeats, including eight wins in their last 11 matches (one draw and two losses).
