Spain held off a late comeback to defeat France 5–4 and secure their spot in the UEFA Nations League (UNL) final, as La Roja aims to become the first nation to defend the title.
There wasn’t an early goal at the MHPArena, but the anticipatory sounds of brilliance – aside from whistles aimed at Marc Cucurella – signaled just how entertaining this match would be.
The most prominent early figure was Théo Hernández, who shot over the bar, had an effort blocked, hit the crossbar, and deflected a Lamine Yamal shot wide – all within the first 12 minutes.
Nico Williams and Désiré Doué both got into the box before having their efforts saved, while Williams tried his luck from distance only to be denied by Mike Maignan.
Williams didn’t miss on his third attempt, as Mikel Oyarzabal held off Ibrahima Konaté and laid the ball off to the winger, who smashed it past Maignan to open the scoring in the 22nd minute.
Oyarzabal turned provider again just three minutes later, combining with Mikel Merino to set him free, and the midfielder calmly slotted home.
Unai Simón did well to stop efforts from Doué and Kylian Mbappé despite being unsighted on both occasions, and then denied a strike from Ousmane Dembélé.
La Roja thought they had scored a third following a clever free-kick routine, but Dean Huijsen’s goal was ruled out for offside.
Despite a promising start to the second half, Les Bleus found themselves in deeper trouble when Adrien Rabiot brought down Yamal in the box to concede a penalty, which the winger converted by sending Maignan the wrong way.
Moments later, Pedri passed to Williams, received the ball back, and coolly slotted past Maignan to extend La Roja’s lead to four goals.
As France faced embarrassment, Mbappé won a penalty after being fouled by Pedro Porro and converted it, sending Simón the wrong way to restore a sliver of hope for his team.
Doué came close to scoring a second for France, but Yamal deepened the damage even further by holding off Clément Lenglet and firing into the net for Spain’s fifth goal of the night.
There was a memorable moment for Rayan Cherki, who scored an unforgettable goal on his debut with an unstoppable strike.
Five minutes later, he assisted Malo Gusto, whose cross was deflected into the net by Dani Vivian for an own goal. Randal Kolo Muani then scored a header from another Cherki cross, igniting Spanish nerves, but La Roja held on to extend their unbeaten run to 19 matches in all competitions and 12 in the Nations League, booking their place in the final against Portugal.
Meanwhile, France will face Germany in the third-place playoff, having also been eliminated by Spain in the semifinals of last year’s European Championship.
