French star Kylian Mbappé loses Golden touch in World Cup loss to Spain

Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Jul 14, 2026

Published in Soccer

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Kylian Mbappé came into France’s FIFA World Cup semifinal against Spain firing on all cylinders, but he and his team fizzled out in a 2-0 defeat Tuesday at AT&T Stadium.

The French striker is tied with Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot (the most goals scored in the tournament) and was a favorite to win the award and the tournament with his teammates.

After falling behind early after a Mikel Oyarzabal penalty kick, Mbappé and France could not respond against a strong Spanish side.

Mbappé has scored or assisted in every game heading into Tuesday, but he faced perhaps his toughest test of the tournament against Spain, which had only conceded a single goal in the World Cup.

His best chance in the first half came on a breakaway attempt in the 16th minute with only Pedro Porro between him and the goalkeeper, but he couldn’t get a shot off before other Spanish defenders recovered to stymie him. Mbappé didn’t take a shot in the first half.

In the 41st minute Mbappé was trying to play a ball with no one but Unai Simón in his way, but the Spanish goalkeeper made a great play on the ball to deny the striker a shot at an equalizing goal.

In the first half, Spain did a great job of making sure there were multiple bodies near Mbappé anytime he got a touch.

Mbappé had a chance for a critical goal in the 67th minute but his shot careened wide, and France remained scoreless as Les Bleus desperately searched for a scoring chance.

Mbappé was trying to do anything to help France find the back of the net, including picking up a yellow card while trying to catch the goalie off-guard with a challenge. The French superstar winced after a free kick sailed over the goalpost in the 88th minute.

France came into the game as the world’s No. 1 team, but Mbappé and France have struggled against Spain, falling to The Red One in their last two matchups, the first a 2024 Euro semifinal and the second a UEFA Nations League semifinal.

Mbappé took his last shot in the game’s waning moments, to raucous cheers from the mostly Spanish crowd as the ball sailed over the goalpost.

France’s World Cup isn’t over as it will play in the third-place game, against the loser of Wednesday’s semifinal between England and Argentina, at 4 p.m. Saturday in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Spain will play the Argentina-England winner in the final at 2 p.m. Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.