France vs Spain player ratings: La Roja shut down Mbappe, Dembele, Olise in World Cup semifinal

Spain have conceded just one goal in seven games at the 2026 World Cup, and it was that same defense that carried them to a 2-0 victory over France in the semifinals on Tuesday. FRANCE 0-2 SPAIN — Recap, highlights Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and Rayan Cherki were all rendered as close to useless as players of their immense quality can be. Lamine Yamal helped to set up one of Spain's goals, but it was the colossal defensive performance that will go down in World Cup history as one of the best ever. France player ratings vs Spain Mike Maignan : 5.5 - Perhaps he should have made the save to prevent goal no. 2 and keep France in with a shout late, but hardly the main man at fault. Jules Kounde : 6 - Relatively unscathed, mostly because he went relatively unchallenged compared to Spain's constant threats on the other side of the field. Dayot Upamecano : 6 - A few dangerous long balls were his biggest contribution under the difficult circumstances of the day. William Saliba : 6 - Those difficult circumstances: Saliba came off injured after just 30 minutes . Lucas Digne : 5.5 - Gave away the opening penalty and never fully recovered after that. Aurelien Tchouameni : 6.5 - Completed 54 (of 61) passes, but only three into the final third and just one into the box. Spain's midfield and backline flooded France's passing lanes to perfection. Adrien Rabiot : 7 - A defensive workhorse in front of the backline, but that's certainly not how Didier Deschamps drew it up. Michael Olise : 6 - Had just one touch inside the penalty area in 72 minutes of action and hardly got close to it the rest of the time. Most of his touches came near the halfway line, desperately searching for the ball rather than it finding him. Ousmane Dembele : 6 - Hardly the only one about whom this can be said, but last year's Ballon d'Or winner was virtually anonymous all game long (stats below). Bradley Barcola : 5 - Again, he's not the only one, but France's left side provided next to nothing in attack. Completely and utterly dominated on that half of the field. Kylian Mbappe : 5.5 - Didn't attempt his first shot of the game until the 67th minute (blocked immediately off his foot). 1-fot-6 on attempted dribbles — no, he's not the first superstar to get lost on Rodri Island, but certainly the most notable to do so in a World Cup semifinal. Spain player ratings vs France Unai Simon : 7 - Only had to make one save (all after the 80th minute, with two deep into stoppage time), but kept plenty busy in other ways. A mad man sprinting off his line at times, but managed to get the job done each and every time in the end. Pedro Porro : 8.5 - Looks like a brand new man after playing a month away from the dark, dreary clouds hanging over Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Welp, sorry, almost time to head back now, Pedro. Pau Cubarsi : 7.5 - Has there ever been a teenage defender with more top-level, big-game experience than Cubarsi? Between Barcelona and Spain, it's all he knows. And he wasn't even on the EURO-winning team two years ago. Aymeric Laporte : 7 - Cubarsi does (more of) the front-foot defending, and Laporte handles (most of) the passing and sweeping up behind. Marc Cucurella : 7.5 - Thou shalt not proceed down the right wing, Ousmane Dembele. And he didn't. Dembele didn't attempt a single dribble in the game and his only two shots came in the 96th and 97th minutes. Rodri : 8 - Where have we seen this before? The Ballon d'Or winner of two years ago completely shut down any and all traffic through midfield and made every part of life easier for his teammates. Fabian Ruiz : 8 - Same goes for Ruiz, who matched Rodri tackle-for-tackle (4 each) and gobbled up 50-50 balls all over the middle third. Dani Olmo : 7 - A couple of chances created, but his main job was tracking back to make up the numbers advantage in midfield when France had the ball. Lots of hard work that doesn't show up on any stat sheets. Lamine Yamal : 7 - Aside from winning the penalty (and his goal that was disallowed), pretty quiet from the birthday boy who turned 19 yesterday. Saving his signature moment for the final, no doubt. Alex Baena : 6.5 - Like Olmo, Baena did yeoman's work out of possession, especially after Spain took an early lead. Mikel Oyarzabal : 7 - His only touch in the penalty area was the penalty kick he took (and scored) in the 22nd minute. In fact, Oyarzabal had just two touches in the entire final third.