Spain will meet Portugal in the UEFA Nations League final after defeating France 5-4 in the semi-finals on Thursday night.
UEFA Nations League
Result: Spain 5-4 France
Date: 05 June 2025
Venue: MHP Arena
Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue were both included in the French line-up just days after their UEFA Champions League final win against Inter Milan, while Mikel Oyarzabal joined Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams in the Spain attack.
Didier Deschamps' men nearly got the opening goal after 11 minutes when a well-worked move end with Theo Hernandez picking the ball up on the edge of the box and unleashing a powerful strike that was kept out by the crossbar.
However, Spain broke the deadlock ten minutes later when Oyarzabal did well to hold the ball up before teeing up Williams, who sent a powerful strike into the roof of the net.
The lead was doubled on 25 minutes as Mikel Merino bagged his second goal of the tournament with a composed finish in the box after combining with Oyarzabal outside of the area.
While the French struggled to carve out chances, Spain thought they had a third goal just before the halftime break but Dean Huijsen's impressive first-time volley was ruled out for an offside in the build-up.
It went from bad to worse for France six minutes into the second half when Spain were awarded a penalty for Adrien Rabiot's foul on Yamal, who stepped up and calmly slotted home the spot-kick to extend the lead to 3-0.
The European champions added a fourth goal in the 54th minute as Williams turned provider to play in Pedri, who brought the ball into his stride before calmly firing into the far corner.
France were given a lifeline six minutes later after being awarded a penalty of their own after Pedro Perro was deemed to have fouled Kylian Mbappe in the box. The French captain stepped and made no mistake from 12 yards out.
Spain did not give their opponents any time to celebrate after bagging a fifth goal after 67 minutes though Yamal, who latched onto a through-ball by Porro before poking the ball beyond the on-rushing Mike Maignan.
However, France got themselves back in the contest as substitute Rayan Cherki scored a sublime goal on debut from distance in the 79th minute before an own goal from Dani Vivian made it a two-goal deficit.
Randal Kolo Muani pulled another goal back in the third minute of time added on with a towering header, but it was too late as Spain were able to see out the remaining minutes to book their spot in Sunday's final.
