The deeper battle behind France and Spain’s World Cup semi-final | OneFootball

It has been called the real World Cup final. Argentina are the reigning champions and ranked second in the world but France and Spain have been the two best teams in the tournament in North America. The winner of their semi-final in Dallas seems likely to start the New York final as favourites.

But France and Spain may be contesting a wider, greater battle. It may be an arbitrary starting point, especially for the latter, but 1998 marked a shift in football. Euro ’96 had been won by Germany; of course it had. Then the two European superpowers in international football were Italy and (West or reunified) Germany. Consider the evidence of three decades and the 15 major tournaments immediately following England’s 1966 World Cup win.

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Spain and France have usurped Germany and Italy as European football’s powerhouse nations (Getty)

Italy won Euro ’68. Over that 15-tournament run there were two trophies for Italy, five for Germany. Between them, they played in the finals of the European Championships in 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1992 and 1996, and the World Cup in 1970, 1974, 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994.

Since then, they have a World Cup apiece, while Italy claimed Euro 2020 and Germany were the more regular presence at the business end of tournaments; until the last decade, anyway. But a third successive World Cup without Italy and a third without Germany in the last 16 has highlighted a shift in the balance of power.

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Italy have faded as an international force (Getty)

Over 15 tournaments, either France or Spain will have been in the final of the World Cup in 1998, 2006, 2010, 2018, 2022 and 2026 and have been in the last game of the 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2024 European Championships.

There are differences in their respective records. For now, Spain, with four pieces of silverware, lead their neighbours in one respect; but France have been in four times as many World Cup finals and won two. Since defeat to France in Euro ’84, Spain have an immaculate record in finals.

Each can stop the other from getting there. France beat Spain in the knockout stages in 2000 and 2006. Spain responded in kind in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals and the 2024 semi-finals. They tend to be obstacles to each other’s ambition.

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Spain and France both produce heaps of talent (Getty)

As with many a contrast between neighbours, there are similarities and differences. For long, it felt as if Brazil produced more players than anywhere else. Now France and Spain tend to develop the most; of high class, anyway. Each has had golden generations in the last three decades; but even in the relatively fallow periods, there have been plenty of footballers of a relatively high standard.

France benefits from its Parisian hotbed of talent, surely the greatest concentration in the world. Spain has two, one based around Barcelona and the other in the Basque country. There was a sizeable Basque influence to the Euro 2024 win, whereas the 2008-2012 trilogy of two European Championships sandwiching a World Cup was built on Barcelona; increasingly, for the latter two tournaments.

The Basque connection is part of the element of cross-pollination. Didier Deschamps’ hometown of Bayonne is near the Spanish border. A French Basque, Aymeric Laporte, who he never capped, will instead line up for Spain in Texas.

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French-born defender Aymeric Laporte is a Spain stalwart (Getty)

When French football reached the heights at club level, it was courtesy of a Spaniard: Luis Enrique, manager of Paris Saint-Germain for their back-to-back Champions League wins. The only other team to retain the trophy in the past three decades is Real Madrid, with a hat-trick of victories under the Frenchman Zinedine Zidane.

Club football nevertheless offers one of the fundamental distinctions. When the French founded the European Cup, a Spanish club began by dominating it. Then, over 25 seasons from 2000 to 2024, Spain had 12 Champions League victories, all courtesy of Real or Barcelona, and France none.

Yet maybe, long before PSG joined the ranks of the super-wealthy, France benefited from the experiences their players gained abroad. Only nine of the 1998 squad plied their trade at home and only two of those started the final.

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French capital club PSG were led to European glory by a Spaniard in Luis Enrique (PA Wire)

By the time Spain joined the ranks of the international winners, in Euro 2008, it was with a goal from a Liverpool player, in Fernando Torres; two years later, an Arsenal player, Cesc Fabregas, assisted the winner in the World Cup final. The Real and Barca blocks were joined by a foreign contingent. Luis de la Fuente’s side have had a still greater Premier League influence, with but an added Basque group.

Now the respective captains can highlight opposing footballing philosophies: France with an electric forward, in Kylian Mbappe, Spain a passer of a midfielder, even if Rodri is rather bigger than the stereotypical kings of tiki-taka. Spain have evolved after going to an extreme in their preference for passers. When De la Fuente’s Spain won Euro 2024, it was by being less Spanish, by incorporating two fast wingers to add to their normal strength in midfield.

But Spain, more than France, have changed football: the permanent possession of Guardiola’s Barcelona and Vicente del Bosque’s national team made them revolutionaries. France did not redefine the game: they were just very good at it. The best French sides have tended to blend the artists with the athletes: they have had Zidane as well as Thierry Henry, Antoine Griezmann or Michael Olise as well as Mbappe.

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France blend artistry and athleticism (Getty)

Now it would seem that France have more match-winners. But Spain, with a trophy two years ago and a team who have only conceded once in this World Cup, could lay claim to the better collective. Picking between them is hard, though: for some, the best international team of modern times was Spain between 2008 and 2012, for others the France of 1998-2000. Now the contest is on to be the best now, and to be the strongest footballing nation over 30 years.