Semi-Final | Dallas Stadium | 15 July 2026 | 12:30 AM IST
France — Team News
The biggest selection question around France heading into the semi-final is centred on Aurélien Tchouaméni, and Didier Deschamps has answered it clearly: the midfielder has shaken off a groin concern and is expected to reclaim his starting position in the engine room. His return means Manu Koné — who covered admirably in the quarter-final against Morocco — drops back to the bench. It is a difficult call on a player, but Tchouaméni’s experience and reading of the game against Spain’s midfield is considered essential.
Kylian Mbappé is fully fit. The France captain was subbed off in the 77th minute against Morocco, but Deschamps confirmed he is fine. There had also been brief concern over the fitness of Dayot Upamecano and William Saliba after the pair missed a weekend training session, but both have been cleared to play. France’s preferred centre-back partnership remains intact.
The expected France XI: Maignan; Koundé, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne; Tchouaméni, Rabiot; Dembélé, Olise, Doué; Mbappé.
Spain — Team News
Luis de la Fuente’s squad has no injury concerns, no suspension headaches, no fitness questions to manage. Spain arrive in Dallas completely fit. Rodri and Pedri will continue their midfield partnership, a combination that has controlled possession in every match of this tournament. The back four, the wide players, the front line — all unchanged and available. Spain prepare with the luxury of a full deck.
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Deschamps: Playing the Long Game
Didier Deschamps walked into his press conference and picked up a question that has followed France for two years — are they favourites? He deflected it, calmly and deliberately, pushing the label towards Spain.
“With the quality of the two teams offensively, we could think it is going to be a spectacular game,” Deschamps said. An open, attacking match suits a narrative where both sides are expected to contribute.
Deschamps was also asked about Spain’s two recent victories over France: the Euro 2024 semi-final and the 2025 Nations League final. He dismissed both.
“There are no particular lessons,” Deschamps said. “There was one truth in those matches, with the players who were present on both sides at that time. The players are different now, and they are not necessarily at the same level of form. Spain won those two matches, so congratulations to them, but what interests me is tomorrow’s game.”
Technically accurate. Diplomatically elegant. And designed to tell his own players not to carry the memory of those results onto the pitch on Wednesday.
De la Fuente: A Different France
Spain’s manager took the opposite approach. Where Deschamps waved the history away, Luis de la Fuente walked straight towards it — not to celebrate it, but to warn his squad against assuming it means anything.
“This is not the France we beat before,” de la Fuente said. He had clearly done his homework. He praised the evolution of France’s attacking players directly: “Individually, they have grown. Mbappé is better, Dembélé is better… as a team, they are better.” His message to his squad was unambiguous: do not carry the confidence of Euro 2024 into a match against a France side that has spent the last twelve months becoming harder to beat.
De la Fuente also outlined the tactical priority. Spain will actively seek possession. That is not unusual for a side that has built its entire identity around the ball — but against France, the reasoning is specific. Mbappé, Dembélé, and Michael Olise are most dangerous in transition, in the spaces behind a midfield that has just committed forward. The answer, de la Fuente is saying, is not to give them those spaces at all. Keep the ball, compress the pitch, and make France’s counter-attacking unit irrelevant.
Straightforward in principle. Extremely difficult to execute.
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