Tennis legend Rafael Nadal has congratulated the Spanish football team for reaching the final of the FIFA World Cup. Spain defeated France 2–0 in the semi-finals and secured their place in the final. Now he will face Argentina or England.
madrid [स्पेन]July 15 (ANI): Tennis legend Rafael Nadal has congratulated the Spain national football team. ‘La Roja’ has made it to the final of the FIFA World Cup by defeating France 2-0. The victory takes Spain into its second FIFA World Cup final, where it will face defending champions Argentina or England at the New York New Jersey Stadium.
Following Spain’s semi-final win, Nadal celebrated the team’s achievement on X with a brief congratulatory message. “In the World Cup final! @FIFAWorldCup congratulations @SEFutbol!” Nadal wrote on Twitter.
¡The world final! @FIFAWorldCup 🇪🇸👍🏼 ¡ENHORABUENA @SEFutbol! https://t.co/0PHJB88nJV — Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) July 14, 2026
Great performance by Spain
Spain produced a brilliant performance, combining strong defense and excellent finishing, to defeat France at the Dallas Stadium and book their place in the final. Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring with a goal from the penalty spot, while Pedro Porro scored the second goal to seal Spain’s victory. Poro was named player of the match for his impressive performance.
The result puts Spain through to the World Cup final, where they will face either England or Argentina at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday. Spain had reached the World Cup final only once before, where Andres Iniesta made the team champion by scoring the winning goal against the Netherlands in 2010.
Oyarzabal has continued his excellent form, scoring 18 goals in his last 20 matches for Spain. His penalty also made him the sixth player to score 30 international goals for the national team. Before him, David Villa (59), Raul (44), Fernando Torres (38), Alvaro Morata (37) and David Silva (35) have achieved this feat.
France is out of the race for the final
France was considered a slight favorite in this match and Kylian Mbappe created some chances in the beginning, but Spain scored the first goal when Lamin Yamal got a penalty for a foul inside the area. Oyarzabal calmly converted the penalty and beat goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
Spain soon doubled their lead through Porro, who combined with Danny Olmo to produce a brilliant move and confidently fire the ball into the bottom corner. France tried to make a comeback by fielding Desire Douay and Ryan Cherky, but Spain maintained control. Goalkeeper Unai Simon made important saves, while defender Mark Cucurella made a vital tackle to stop Mbappé.
There was celebration among the Spanish players at the final whistle, while France will have to settle for a third-place playoff on Saturday (local time), where Mbappe will have another chance to increase his goal tally in the race for the Golden Boot. (ANI)
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