Spain defeated Belgium 2-1 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals, advancing to the semi-finals where they will face France. This will be the first time since 1986 that France will face a team that has previously won the FIFA World Cup in a World Cup semi-final.
Looking back at France's previous FIFA World Cup semi-final experiences, they have reached this stage 7 times, facing Brazil in 1958, West Germany in 1982 and 1986, Croatia in 1998, Portugal in 2006, Belgium in 2018, and Morocco in 2022. Among these, only West Germany in 1982 and 1986 had won the FIFA World Cup before playing against France.
In the 1986 FIFA World Cup semi-finals, France lost 0-2 to West Germany, failing to reach the final. Since then, in the 1998, 2006, 2018, and 2022 semi-finals, France successively defeated Croatia, Portugal, Belgium, and Morocco, none of which had won the FIFA World Cup at that time.
Spain won their first FIFA World Cup title by defeating the Netherlands 1-0 in the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup final. Therefore, facing Spain in this FIFA World Cup semi-final will be the first time in 40 years that France has faced a team that has previously won the FIFA World Cup at this stage.
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