The 2026 World Cup semifinals get underway on Tuesday, July 14 with Kylian Mbappe and France taking on Lamine Yamal and Spain in Arlington, Texas. The two teams were pre-tournament favorites and now collide in the semis. France are seeking their third consecutive trip to the final, while Spain look to return for the first time since they won the Cup in 2010. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
France are -152 favorites to qualify for the final in the latest France vs. Spain odds from FanDuel, while Spain are priced at +130. The Over/Under for total goals scored in regulation time is 2.5. There are plenty of other soccer betting options at FanDuel, where you can use the latest FanDuel promo code to get $1,000 in bet reset tokens.
You can get even more France vs. Spain picks and more World Cup bets from SportsLine's experts like Brad Thomas, Jon Eimer, Martin Green, Matt Severance and Brandt Sutton. Anyone following their World Cup betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.
France vs. Spain odds
| France vs. Spain 90-minute money line: | France +140, Tie +210, Spain +210 |
| France vs. Spain 90-minute over/under: | 2.5 (Over -114, Under -106) |
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France vs. Spain betting preview
This matchup has felt inevitable. France and Spain were put on a collision course by the structure of the World Cup's draw and will now meet for what could be a showdown for the ages. The stars -- Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal -- have spent the last few seasons going toe to toe in La Liga for Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively, and will now do so again for their nations.
While both sides are strong across the board, France have been all about attacking at this World Cup while defense has been Spain's backbone. Will great offense beat great defense?
It's hard to argue otherwise. Mbappe is an all-time talent and has the support of the excellent Ousmane Dembele as a second shooter and Michael Olise as an elite distributor. Only Paraguay was able to truly stymie Les Bleus, and they did so by playing an extremely rough and cynical game. That just doesn't feel like something Spain has up their bag.
Indeed, the Spaniards are simply too talented to rely on fouling and kicking France in the shins for 90 minutes. For all the talk of Spain's formidable defense, this is still a side that has Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal and Dani Olmo. Spain's attack should be better than this. The stagnation has come from Yamal taking a while to get going after dealing with a pre-tournament injury, Nico Williams being largely sidelined with his own malady and Ferran Torres being stuck in neutral. Mikel Merino has come on and scored late winners in the last two matches, which has coincided with Oyarzabal dropping a couple of performances to forget. We probably haven't seen Spain perform at the level they're capable of yet, and a date with France doesn't exactly feel like the best opportunity for that to finally happen.
Spain has been able to get by with those late Merino goals thanks to outstanding midfield play from the likes of Pedri and Rodri and defenders like Pau Cubarsi and Pedro Porro having some of their best performances ever. But nothing can really prepare a team for France.
This could be a low-scoring game with teams essentially playing chess and trading barbs before someone finally blinks. That could cause a late flurry of action that brings this one down to the wire. On paper, it should be France heading to the final when the dust settles.
France vs. Spain picks, prediction
France money line (+140)
It's a testament to how tight a matchup this is that France is plus money to win in regulation. But there's too much attractive value here to turn this down. Les Bleus simply have too much attacking talent to not back them to win in 90 minutes. If this is a tight 1-1 game that goes to extra time, then so be it. But we're backing Mbappe and Dembele to find a winner before time runs out.
Ousmane Dembele to score or assist (+140)
Dembele would be the best player on almost any other team in this tournament. For France, he's Mbappe's sidekick. It's a role that the Ballon d'Or winner seems happy to fulfill and it's hard to argue with the results (seven goal contributions in six matches). Taking Dembele as an anytime goalscorer (+250) is risky when this has all the marks of a low-scoring game, so we'll take a lower price and add in the opportunity to cash on an assist.
