Spain held off a late fightback from France to win 5-4 and book their spot in the UEFA Nations League final. They now have the chance to become the first team to win the trophy twice in a row.
There were no early goals at the MHPArena, but the game was full of excitement. Despite some boos aimed at Marc Cucurella, fans were clearly enjoying the action. Théo Hernández had several early chances, shooting over, having a shot blocked, hitting the bar, and deflecting a Lamine Yamal effort wide, all in the first 12 minutes. Nico Williams and Désiré Doué also tested the keepers with curling shots, and Williams forced a tricky save from Mike Maignan with a powerful strike.
Williams didn’t miss on his third chance. In the 22nd minute, Mikel Oyarzabal held off Ibrahima Konaté and passed to Williams, who blasted the ball past Maignan to make it 1-0. Just three minutes later, Oyarzabal set up another goal; he played a one-two with Mikel Merino, who finished calmly for Spain’s second.
France tried to hit back, but Spain’s goalkeeper Unai Simón denied Doué, Kylian Mbappé, and then stopped a strong shot from Ousmane Dembélé. Spain thought they had scored a third just before half-time, but Dean Huijsen’s volley from a clever free-kick routine was ruled offside.
France started the second half brightly but things got worse when Adrien Rabiot fouled Yamal in the box. Yamal took the penalty himself and sent Maignan the wrong way to make it 3-0. Moments later, Pedri passed to Williams and received the ball back before calmly slotting it past Maignan for Spain’s fourth.
France looked beaten, but Mbappé won a penalty after being brought down by Pedro Porro and scored to make it 4-1. Doué nearly added another, but Spain struck again, Yamal fought off Clément Lenglet and slid the ball past Maignan for their fifth.
France didn’t give up. Rayan Cherki scored a brilliant goal on his debut to make it 5-2. Just five minutes later, he set up Malo Gusto, whose cross was accidentally turned into the net by Spanish defender Dani Vivian. Then, Randal Kolo Muani headed in a cross from Cherki to make it 5-4 and set up a tense finish.
Despite the pressure, Spain held on and stretched their unbeaten run to 19 games in all competitions, and 12 in the Nations League. They will face Portugal in the final. France, meanwhile, will play Germany in the third-place match, just as they did after losing to Spain in the Euros semi-final last year.
