In what was billed as a blockbuster between arguably the two best teams in the world, Spain defeated France 2-0 in a surprisingly convincing fashion. Spain took advantage of French mistakes, used slick passing to maintain possession, and pressed relentlessly to down the French at Atlanta Stadium. Spain was in control from the opening whistle and scored first through a penalty that was converted by Mikel Oyarzabal in the 22nd minute. Then in the second half, right back Pedro Porro found an opening to move into the box and beat Mike Maignan. The results for Spain under head coach Luis de la Fuente are phenomenal. The team has not lost a game in its two major tournaments. At Euro 2024, Spain won all seven of its game en route to the title. At this World Cup, Spain has won six games and drew once (take a bow Cape Verde). Spain now enters Sundays final as the favorite. 1. Spains System Is On Full Display From the opening whistle, it was clear that France was in for a far different test than anything else it has faced at this World Cup. Spain is always an excellent possession-based team that can make its opponents chase the game for long stretches due to its passing. France knew what it was going to face. Spain defeated France each of the three times the teams played this current decade. First was a 2-1 win in the Nations League final in 2021. Then it was a 2-1 win in the semifinals of Euro 2024. Then last year in the Nations League semifinal, Spain won a wild 5-4 decision. Entering this game, France had a lot of momentum with both Kylian Mbapp and Ousmane Dembl scoring and assisting in droves. On top of that, Michael Olise was the tournaments most impactful midfielder. But the story of this game is how France was so overwhelmed when it could not maintain possession or handle the press. France was clearly frustrated chasing the game as much as it did. It could not focus and play to its strengths and get the ball to Mbapp or Dembl in dangerous areas. Spain played its system to perfection. On both sides of the ball, the entire team was perfectly in synch with each other. Offensively, Yamal was a nightmare for France even if he did not score. Both goals originated from his side of the field. He had a goal called back on a close offside, and he demanded a lot of respect. Defensively, Spain again showed why they so difficult to score. Spanish defenders were always shutting down passing lanes and forcing turnovers. It was a double-edged sword. Spain was brilliant but France also lacked the resolve to figure out solutions. Les Bleus became frustrated and let Spain do whatever they wanted. 2. Rodri Led An Immense Spanish Spine The biggest strengths for Spain was its spine, specifically its central defender pairing and central midfield pairing. In the midfield, Rodri and Fabian Ruiz were excellent at winning and maintaining possession. The chemistry they displayed on both sides of the ball was on another level. Rodi was the best player on the field in this game. He was everywhere on both sides of the ball. He won 7/11 of his ground duels. He won 4/4 of his aerials. He drew three fouls. In central defense, Pau Cubars and Aymeric Laporte continued to frustrate opponents. Cubars is just 19 years old and the season he has had with Barcelona and now leading Spain into the World Cup final with six clean sheets makes him one of the most promising and accomplished teenage players in the world. But with the midfield and defenders so well-connected, it puts less pressure on the attack. Spain does not need to score goals in droves. It can control games and be patient until the moment comes. 3. Frances Cheap Giveaways And Mistakes What was also apparent in this game is how France struggled to often make important passes. There were many times when midfielders could not get the ball into the attack and saw passes intercepted by Spanish defenders. Michael Olise was particularly guilty of this, and that was surprising given how well he had been playing entering into this game. But he was a big reason why Dembl and Mbapp saw such little of the ball. But Olise was far from the only culprit. Lucas Dignes foul on Lamine Yamal to concede a penalty was a mental error that cannot be made at such a level. Frances fullback and wingers were never able to get forward to get numbers into the attack. 4. Oyarzabal Scores Big Goals Mikel Oyarzabal is not Kylian Mbapp, Erling Haaland, or Harry Kane but he is perfect for this Spain team. Since 2025, he now has 17 goals in 19 games. In 2024, he scored the winner against England in the final of Euro 2024. In this game, he took the penalty in the 22nd minute and hit an unstoppable shot. Oyarzabal is interesting because he is the center forward for maybe the best national team in the world. He doesnt play for one of the best clubs in the world, such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City, or Paris St. Germain. He plays for Real Sociedad, where has spent his entire professional career. But Oyarzabal is a testament to this Spanish team that it is about the system and the players that fit that system. Its about the right players, not necessarily the best players. Oyarzabal is a perfect fit for this team, and he scores the big goals.

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Spain dominated France in Dallas to win 2-0 and reach their first World Cup final since 2010, and will face either England or Argentina in New Jersey on Sunday.BBC Sport's Neil Johnston assesses how the players performed on Tuesday - and you can see how readers rated them at the bottom of the page too.France starting XIMike Maignan: Guessed the right way for Mikel Oyarzabal's penalty but beaten for pace and power. Also guilty of some poor distribution. 5Jules Kounde: Struggled at times with his passing. France have looked so solid at the back at this World Cup but they came undone in what some might say was their first serious test. 5Dayot Upamecano: Has been huge for France in the USA and made a significant block to deny Fabian Ruiz at 1-0. However, it was all to no avail. 5William Saliba: The Arsenal centre-half went off injured with no-one around him after Spain had scored. A desperately sad end to his World Cup as France failed to respond after falling behind for the first time at the tournament. 6Lucas Digne: Conceded the penalty from which Spain took the lead after kicking Lamine Yamal. 5Aurelien Tchouameni: Has played a key part in France's run to the semi-final but this was a game to forget as Les Bleus were bullied by Spain in midfield. 5Adrien Rabiot: Lucky to stay on the pitch after fouling Ruiz having already been booked for an early challenge on Dani Olmo. Replaced at the start of the second half. 4Ousmane Dembele: The Ballon d'Or winner was unable to impose himself as Spain bossed the game. 4Michael Olise: Has lit up this World Cup with his assists but chose the semi-final to have his poorest performance and was lucky not to get booked for a late first-half foul on Rodri. 5Bradley Barcola: One early run into the box which won a corner after he skipped past Pedro Porro. Not a lot else. 5Kylian Mbappe: Has set this World Cup alight with his finishing - but not this game. Had just two touches in Spain's penalty area in the first half and struggled to cause much of a threat. 5SubstitutesMaxence Lacroix (30 mins): Brought on after France lost Saliba to injury. 5Manu Kone (46 mins): Sent on to try to rescue France but unable to impose himself. 4Desire Doue (57 mins): Departs the World Cup with two goal involvements. Brought on to shake things up but could not inspire his team. 4Rayan Cherki (72 mins): Ends his World Cup campaign without making a start. 4Theo Hernandez (72 mins): Came on with Spain already well on top at 2-0 up. 4Spain starting XIUnai Simon: A sixth clean sheet in seven matches. Came rushing out of his box to make one vital clearance before Mbappe could pounce. 7Pedro Porro: Scored a wonderful goal to send his country to their first World Cup final since 2010. Now has three goal involvements at this tournament. 7Pau Cubarsi: A commanding presence at the heart of defence as Mbappe, Dembele, Olise and co failed to ignite. 7Aymeric Laporte: What a performance. Cool and composed on the few occasions he found himself under pressure and ended the match with a passing accuracy of more than 90%. 8Marc Cucurella: Booked for two fouls in quick succession on Olise. 6Rodri: Outstanding performance by the Spain captain as France were suffocated and La Roja's midfield dominated their opponents from start to finish. 9Fabian Ruiz: Should have made it 2-0 but was denied by a goal-saving block by Upamecano. 7Lamine Yamal: Has struggled to turn on the style at this World Cup but the 19-year-old came alive in the semi-final and won the penalty from which Spain scored. He then had a goal ruled out for offside. 8Dani Olmo: Showed some class touches and proved a real nuisance. 7Alex Baena: Wasted an early free-kick when he fired tamely into the French wall from 20 yards. 6Mikel Oyarzabal: Scored his fifth goal of what is turning out to be a memorable World Cup for him. A cool finish from the spot after a delay between the penalty being awarded and taken. 7SubstitutesFerran Torres (74 mins): Brought on to get Spain over the line - and into the World Cup final. 6Mikel Merino (78 mins): Worked hard and produced some good touches. 6Pedri (78 mins): Ensured France were limited to a handful of chances in the closing stages. 6Marcos Llorente (84 mins): Didn't have many touches. 5Nico Williams (84 mins): Did what was needed in the closing minutes. 5

A spot in the World Cup final is on the line when Argentina and England meet on Wednesday at Atlanta Stadium. The mindset and the motivation between the two nations and their fans are different as Argentina desperately wants to defend its title while England is looking to join the worlds elite and win its first title since the 1966 World Cup. The winner of the second World Cup semifinal will face Spain, which beat France, 2-0, on Tuesday in the first semifinal match. Here is everything you need to know for Wednesday's World Cup semifinal. England vs. Argentina: How To Watch All eyes are on Lionel Messi in every game he plays. He has won a World Cup, Copa Amricas, Champions League titles and every domestic league in which he has participated. But there is one thing Messi has never done: played against the English national team. These teams have a storied rivalry at the World Cup. In the quarterfinal of the 1966 World Cup, England defeated Argentina 1-0 in a game that saw Argentinas captain, Antonio Rattn, have to be escorted off the field by police after a disputed red card. Coincidentally, Rattin died at 89 years old last week on the same day as Argentinas quarterfinal win over Switzerland. Then in 1986 in Mexico City, we saw Diego Maradonnas infamous "Hand of God" incident when he punched in a long ball past English goalkeeper Peter Shilton and the handball was missed by Tunisian referee Ali Ben Nasser. Argentina ended up winning, 2-1, and it is still widely one of the most talked about moments in World Cup history. Then in the round of 16 at the 1998 World Cup, England again disputed the officiating, as David Beckham was sent off and Alan Shearer had a goal disallowed. Argentina prevailed on penalties after a 2-2 draw. After having been eliminated by Argentina in two of the last three World Cups, England got revenge in a group stage matchup in 2002 with a 1-0 win. The goal was scored by Beckham via a penalty after Michael Owen was fouled by Mauricio Pochettino. That result led to Argentinas shocking failure to advance out of group play. Now on Tuesday, the teams will write another chapter in their intense World Cup rivalry, and both teams should feel confident about arriving at this stage. Lionel Messi is the 2026 World Cups leading goalscorer with eight goals. He now has 21 career World Cup goals, making him the tournament's top scorer. But in this tournament, he has assists in each of the last two games to also give him a record 10 career World Cup assists. What is perhaps the best news for Argentina is that Lionel Scalonis team has been developing a more balanced attack as the tournament has progressed. Messi scored the teams first five goals of this World Cup. Since then, he scored three of the teams next 12 goals. That balanced attack makes La Albiceleste far more difficult to stop. For England, the story is similar in that Harry Kane is not doing as much heavy lifting as he was at the beginning of the tournament. Since Englands lackluster 2-1 win over DR Congo in the round of 32 where Kane rescued England with two late goals, Jude Bellingham has sprung to life and been one of the tournaments best players in the round of 16 and the quarterfinals. Bellingham scored two goals in a 3-2 win over Mexico and then two goals again in a 2-1 win over Norway. In doing so, Bellingham became the first player to score two or more goals in consecutive World Cup knockout games since Maradona accomplished the feat in 1986, which coincidentally included the "Hand of God" against England. Against Argentina, England will need Bellingham to also get wingers Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka involved to isolate Argentina's fullbacks and create space. Meanwhile, Argentinas midfield trio of Enzo Fernndez, Alexis Mac Allister and Rodrigo De Paul will need to control the pace of the game and contain Bellingham. Central defenders Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martnez will also need to be on their game to stop Kane and the multitude of scoring options England has. England should be considered the favorite with more depth and players in their prime years. But even at age 39, Messi can win games by himself. Players To Watch The Real Madrid playmaker is in excellent form with two goals in each of his last two knockout games. He is finding space and is finishing with clinical precision. With Bellingham playing this well, England is far less reliant on Kane, and that helps the Three Lions immensely. At age 39, Messi continues to put up numbers that show why most people consider him to be the greatest player of all time. Against England, it will be another huge test and one of the big takeaways is how he will hold up after playing 330 minutes in his last three games.

SportsLine's Matt Severance reveals his best best bets for the Midsummer Classic 2026 on Tuesday in Philadelphia

20 April 2024, Baden-Wrttemberg, Heidenheim: Soccer: Bundesliga, 1. FC Heidenheim - RB Leipzig, Matchday 30, Voith-Arena. A cameraman at work. Photo: Harry Langer/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL German Football League and the DFB German Football Association, it is prohibited to utilize or have utilized photographs taken in the stadium and/or of the match in the form of sequential images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Harry Langer/picture alliance via Getty Images)Bayern Munich fans in the United States will need to update their watch plans and streaming services this upcoming season.As reported in The Athletic, the German Bundesliga has a new $100M deal for broadcasting rights in the United States. The five-year deal takes the Bundesliga away from ESPN and to a combination of USA Network and Fandango.Confused? Yeah, us too. Fandango is known for offering movie tickets and this marks its entry into the live sports scene. And while ESPN carried every single Bundesliga match on its streaming platform ESPN+, matches will now be split across the two platforms:All 300-plus Bundesliga games will air on either USA or Fandango. USA requires a subscription via cable or another provider, while Fandango does not and is ad-supported. If a game is on USA, it will not be on Fandango and vice versa.The exact number of matches between the two has not yet been figured out. USA is expected to have at least 30 games, starting with Kanes Bayern Munich facing Borussia Dortmund in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup on Aug. 22. During that weekend, USA will air Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.This sounds like the Premier League-ification of the U.S. experience of watching Bundesliga matches. That is, any given weekend, you will have to consult some charts to see if the match you want will be carried on a dedicated streaming service or if it will be available via a cable package only.In short, access to the Bundesliga looks like it will get more sparse and probably more expensive. The ESPN+ deal was a good one, including the 2. Bundesliga as well as LaLiga, and delivered every match along with replays in the German top flight for $120 a year (the price of the streaming service is going up to $130, despite the loss of the Bundesliga). Consumers without cable will need to consider shelling out, or missing out.But is the new deal better for the league and the teams? Also no it is significantly less money. The Athletic report notes that the previous deal with ESPN, dating to 2020, was for $30M per year. This one is for $20M. By contrast, The Premier League pulls in a reported $450M for its U.S. TV rights alone.Is it all bad? The Athletics reporting actually does not think so. The new deal is said to promise far greater visibility than ESPN did, precisely because it is not relegated to streaming. That is, if you already know what you are looking for, it may get harder to find. But if you just happen to have cable, the German top flight will now be on the menu of sports you can browse and happen upon. In the long term, perhaps that is more reach and furthermore, the Bundesligas competitive position may have only eroded in the six years since it struck the ESPN deal. There may not have been anything better, money-wise, on the table.As The Athletics Sebastian Stafford-Bloor explains:German football did not expect a windfall. Instead, it wanted eyes on its product and the opportunity to expand more organically. Across Versants network, it can reach more than 80 million American homes and become discoverable in a way it previously was not.The landscape is certainly changing for Bundesliga teams and dedicated fans alike. Join the conversation!Sign up for a user accountand get:New, improved notifications system!Fewer adsCreatecommunity postsComment on articles, community postsRec comments, community posts

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Spain secured its spot in the FIFA World Cup final with a convincing 2-0 victory over France in Dallas, and FOX Sports analyst Landon Donovan came away highly impressed with the performance of Lamine Yamal. Speaking after the match, the former United States men's national team star observed the defensive fears Yamal caused for the French side whenever he was on the ball, pointing out his decision-making in possession. "Every time he gets the ball, there's this real fear in the French team, and his decision-making as to when to just pass quickly and then everybody relaxes, or he starts to go at you, and he mixed it up perfectly all night," Donovan said. The LA Galaxy legend highlighted Yamal's growth over the course of the tournament, noting how the young player's physical recovery from a pre-tournament hamstring injury has matched his rising form. "He was fantastic," Donovan said. "He drew the penalty. He hasn't been the goalscorer we've expected this tournament, but as he's gotten healthier throughout the tournament, he's gotten better and better." Donovan also pointed out the winger's involvement in Spain's offense against France, noting that Spain's attacking threat consistently focused on his wing. "Both goals came down that side," Donovan said. "Plus the goal he scored that was a little bit offside. He was great. He was fantastic." With the victory, Spain moves on to the final, where they will face the winner of the semifinal matchup between Argentina and England.

As the NCAA's new age-based eligibility rule comes under legal attacks, some agents see a pathway from the NBA back to college

OWINGS MILLS, MARYLAND - JUNE 09: Vega Ioane #71 of the Baltimore Ravens looks on during Baltimore Ravens Mandatory Minicamp at Under Armour Performance Center on June 09, 2026 in Owings Mills, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty ImagesWelcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ravens fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.The Ravens embraced change this offseason. Since January, Baltimore has a new head coach, new play-callers on both sides of the ball, an entirely rebuilt interior offensive line, and a significantly improved defensive line. And in this weeks Ravens Reacts survey, we want to know which change will make the biggest impact this year! Heres an argument for each option in the survey:Jesse Minter: This one is pretty simple. The Chargers fielded a top-10 defense in both of Minters years as DC, and putting a top-10 defense opposite a Lamar Jackson-led offense will only lead to success. At a higher level, Minter is preaching accountability and standards as he installs a new culture in Baltimore that will hopefully reverse a trend of blown leads and disappointing playoff losses. This change at the top affects every single part of the team, and it will take a strong effort from Minter to bring the Ravens back to Super Bowl contention right away.Declan Doyle: On the other side of the ball, the Ravens new 29-year-old offensive coordinator will be looking to bring Jackson and Baltimores offense to new heights. The two-time MVP is working with a young, innovative offensive mind for the first time in his career, and the results could be explosive. If Doyle can quickly conjure the same success as his mentors Sean Payton and Ben Johnson, the Ravens offense should be among the best in the league and Jackson could take home his third MVP.Trey Hendrickson: The Ravens made an uncharacteristically aggressive pursuit of elite edge rushing talent this offseason. They nearly sent two first-round picks to the Raiders for Maxx Crosby before pivoting to a four-year, $112 million deal for Hendrickson. The former Bengal is coming off a down year due to injury, but he put up 17.5 sacks in both 2023 and 2024, more than any Raven has logged in a single season. Post-injury and crossing into his 30s, he may not return to those heights, but he could still be the teams most effective pass rusher in at least a decade. Vega Ioane: Poor guard play was largely the downfall of the Ravens offense in the last two years, and the team went right after that weakness this offseason. A reunion with veteran John Simpson will stabilize the left side, while Ioane, a first-round pick out of Penn State, is expected to turn right guard into a strength. The No. 14 selection looked the part at spring practices, and strong showings from he and Simpson will be crucial in mitigating a questionable center situation between them.Now, its your turn! Take the survey below and share your additional thoughts in the comments!<a href="https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/406MCY/">Please take our survey</a>