mikel oyarzabal

ARLINGTON, Texas — In a World Cup boasting a galaxy of stars, a lunch-bucket team of blue-collar everymen may wind up outshining them all.

Spain punched its ticket to the final Tuesday by smothering France 2-0 at AT&T Stadium, running its unbeaten streak to 37 games while eliminating a team that had run roughshod through the tournament.

And it wasn’t even close. France came into the game with 16 goals, second only to Argentina in the tournament, then failed to put a shot on goal in the first 81 minutes

It had Kylian Mbappé, who is tied with Lionel Messi for the scoring lead this summer and was the Golden Boot winner four years ago in Qatar. He was all but invisible until, frustrated, he felled Spanish keeper Unai Simón with a cheap shot in the final minutes, drawing a well-deserved yellow card.

France couldn’t even score into an open net, with Desire Doue lining a low shot right at a rapidly retreating Simón, who had come well off his line and left the goal unattended. For Simón, Tuesday’s clean sheet was his sixth in seven games in this tournament.

Spain will meet the winner of Wednesday’s second semifinal between England and reigning champion Argentina on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.\

France’s Kylian Mbappé reacts after losing to Spain during a World Cup semifinal in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday.

(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

“Whoever comes, comes,” teenage center back Pau Cubarsí said in Spanish. “I don’t think I want any of them. Let it be God’s will. We’re going to New York and then we’ll figure out who needs to come.”

Winning with defense may not be attractive, but it’s certainly been effective. And for Spain, the approach certainly fits with its team-first mentality.

“There was some talk that our defense and goalkeeping weren’t up to par. But I think we’ve silenced a lot of critics,” Cubarsí said. “We’ve only conceded one goal and we’re in the final.

“This is a team effort, both those who play and those on the bench.”

Added right back Pedro Porro: “We’re just continuing to work with humility. We’ve been doing things right and building on our strengths. We’ve also been correcting the things we haven’t done well. We’re just taking it step by step.”

It wasn’t so much that France played poorly, although they did. It was that Spain forced them to play that way.

France had never trailed in the tournament, but it fell behind in this one on Mikel Oyarzabal’s successful penalty shot in the 22nd minute. Lucas Digne was called for the foul when he chested down an errant pass from Spain’s Marc Cucurella on the edge of the 18-yard box, then reached out his left boot to control it, only to catch the leg of Spain’s Lamine Yamal who was charging in from the blind side.

Salvadoran referee Iván Barton immediately pointed to the spot and Oyarzabal stepped up and obliged, beating French keeper Mike Maignan into the side netting at the right post for his fifth goal of the tournament. The score was the first Maignan had allowed in the knockout rounds, snapping a 360-minute scoreless streak and it would be all Spain would need to get to the final for the first time since 2010, when it won its only World Cup.

Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon makes a save in front of France’s Theo Hernandez during a World Cup semifinal in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday.

(Jessica Tobias / Associated Press)

Maignan didn’t do any better on the second shot he faced, this one coming 13 minutes into the second half when Porro came in alone on the keeper, then used his right foot to flick the ball by the goalkeeper to double Spain’s lead.

“My son couldn’t come today because he’s feeling a little under the weather with a fever,” said Porro, who dedicated his goal to the boy. “It was a mix of emotions because he couldn’t be here, and then his dad scored a goal.

“I wanted to look out at the stands and the only people there were my partner, my father-in-law and my physical therapist.”

For Porro, the goal was a measure of redemption as well. There were doubters when coach Luis de la Fuente named him to the World Cup team and those critics grew louder when De la Fuente made him a starter.

But those critics fell notably silent Tuesday.

“I don’t have to prove anything to anyone,” Porro said. “Obviously, I never imagined — not even in my wildest dreams — that I’d be playing in this World Cup the way I am.

Spain’s Pedro Porro celebrates after beating France during a World Cup semifinal Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.

(Florencia Tan Jun / Getty Images)

“But it’s also thanks to my teammates, and thanks to the coach for the confidence he’s shown in me from the very beginning.”

Spain hasn’t lost a game in the knockout phase of a World Cup since 2006 — when it fell to France — playing to draws in the round of 16 in the last two tournaments before being eliminated both times on penalties. They didn’t let it come down to that this time.

“We’re in a final. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Cubarsí, 19. “Maybe I’m still too young for everything I’m going through right now. But soccer is something to be enjoyed. Opportunities will come your way if you’re willing to make sacrifices and all that.”

For French coach Didier Deschamps, meanwhile, the loss marked his penultimate game with a team he’s taken to two World Cup finals in 15 years as coach. He had earlier announced he would be stepping aside after the tournament. Instead of capping raucous Bastille Day celebrations in France with a trip to the World Cup final, Deshamps and his squad will travel to Miami to play in the third-place game.

Some players knelt at the final whistle, head down, staring at the turf.

“There’s obviously a lot of disappointment,” Deschamps said. “The players are devastated because we had high hopes. Even so, we have to be realistic and acknowledge that today we were a step behind technically against a team that played very well.

“It’s our fault, first and foremost.”

Well, not really. The credit should go to Spain.

Spain achieved its primary goal at SoFi Stadium on Thursday, defeating Austria 3-0 and advancing to the World Cup round of 16 in front of a pro-Spain announced crowd of 70,492.

The Spaniards extended their unbeaten match streak to 34 games and their win streak over European teams to 35 dating back to 2023. They have yet to concede a goal this tournament, tying the record for most consecutive men’s World Cup clean sheets with five.

By every metric, Spain controlled the match and won decisively in its best performance of the tournament.

But Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said his team still has room to improve and has yet to play its best soccer.

The team favored to win the World Cup before matches kicked off last month is still ramping up and working to championship standards.

While France’s fearsome foursome led by the electric Kylian Mbappé has bulldozed opponents, Norway’s Erling Haaland is scoring at a rapid pace and Lionel Messi is dancing his way to immortality, Spain superstar Lamine Yamal is still waiting to deliver a multi-goal dominant World Cup performance.

Yamal, an 18-year-old prodigy, showed flashes of his talent and set up his teammates well en route to winning man of the match honors that more than a few Spanish media members questioned. But his efficient teammates carried the scoring load Thursday, with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring two goals and Pedro Porro adding another for La Roja.

Spain has been managing Yamal’s minutes while he recovers from injury, but Thursday was supposed to be an opportunity to unleash his dominance.

“I think we need to keep improving our game, our intensity — everything — but obviously we know the quality we have, and we know we’re not afraid of any team,” Yamal said after the match. “We’re Spain, and we have to prove it on the field, but we believe in ourselves.”

Spain still advanced with ease and will face the winner of the Portugal-Croatia match to be played later Thursday. Their round of 16 match will be played Monday in Arlington, Texas. On July 10, the winner of that contest will face the winner of Monday’s U.S.-Belgium match at SoFi Stadium.

Austria coach Ralf Rangnick is convinced Spain, the European champions, easily could become World Cup champions.

“If you watched the game today, you would recognize it is really difficult to play against this opponent,” Rangnick said of Spain. “… I cannot remember any unforced error they made.”

Spain’s de la Fuente shook his head when he heard Rangnick’s praise, saying he was happy for his players and loves his team but saw many areas that could be improved.

“There’s much to do,” de la Fuente said, noting the competition will only grow tougher. “The defense can still be improved. There have been some situations when we lacked high pressure. … Prior to the first hydration break, the team was still trying to evolve.

”… You need to keep improving all the time.”

Spain forward Lamine Yamal falls after Austria midfielder Florian Grillitsch kicks the ball away from him during the second half Thursday.

(Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times)

During its round of 32 match on Thursday, Spain handled Austria’s high press and attacked spaces behind the defense.

The Spanish team capitalized on its opponent’s defensive misalignments, found depth down the wings and consistently exposed the Austrians’ defensive weaknesses.

Austria came out quickly looking to pull off an upset, but it ran into a Spain team that was well-organized defensively. The counterattack ended with Yamal firing a shot straight at Austria goalkeeper Alex Schlager one minute into the game.

The Austrians tried to get behind the Spanish defense, but their attacking creativity was limited and they never managed to turn their promising opportunities into goals. One of Austria’s clearest chances came on a play by Marcel Sabitzer, who sent a cross from the left flank to forward Michael Gregoritsch, who wasn’t fast enough to put a head or foot on the well-placed ball before it sailed out of bounds.

The pace of the game favored Spain, as Austria took risks on the attack and left spaces open.

In the 29th minute, Yamal’s corner kick pinballed in the penalty area before falling to Marc Cucurella, who appeared to score. The goal was erased, however, because Spain tackled Austria’s goalkeeper before Cucurella took his shot.

Yamal was dynamic early and a run into the box nearly resulted in another clear scoring opportunity. Schlager barely had time to react and prevented another Spanish celebration in the 32nd minute.

Four minutes later, Cucurella sent a pass to Oyarzabal, who was left unmarked because David Alaba had left a large gap between himself and the forward. Oyarzabal connected with the cross and easily scored to give Spain a 1-0 lead.

Spain had two great chances to extend its lead during first-half stoppage time. The first was a long-range shot by Álex Baena that hit the crossbar; on the rebound, Yamal fired the ball straight into the Austria goalkeeper’s body.

In the second half, Yamal continued to pressure the Spanish defenders and set up Oyarzabal for a shot caught by the Austrian goalkeeper.

Rodri’s dribbling opened more space for Spain, allowing him to create a shooting opportunity that grazed the post in the 54th minute.

Austria was looking to attack more and brought on Sasa Kalajdzic, who responded quickly with a header that sailed over the crossbar.

Spain responded by scoring a few minutes later.

In the 66th minute, Baena won the ball back on the left and sent in a cross for Porro, who headed in his team’s second goal. It was Porro’s first goal for Spain during international competition.

In his final play before being replaced in the 85th minute, Yamal received a pass inside the penalty area and although he struck the ball well to beat the Austrian goalkeeper, another Austrian defender managed to block his shot.

When it seemed both teams were content with the result, Cucurella once again linked up with Oyarzabal off a deep pass into the center of the penalty area. Oyarzabal got behind two defenders and scored, sealing Spain’s 3-0 win.

“The game kind of tells you what you need — whether the team needs more on offense or more on defense,” Porro said. “It’s about staying more focused on that, and surely when you’re more confident in what you have to do, you perform better.”