Porro France Miss World Cup Final for First Time in Eight Years

101/104ths of the World Cup

 

 

France were 1 match away from their 3rd straight World Cup Championship match. They entered their Semifinal with Spain on 16 goals scored, the most of any team in the World Cup. Spain sat just behind France in the goal tally with 15. The Spanish had a huge advantage in the defensive stat of goals allowed with just 1 in the whole tournament. France had given up just 2. Both teams had easier runs in the playoffs as all of their matches thus far ended after the 90 minutes of regulation. The battle to see who the best team was perhaps should have been held in the Championship match, but we were lucky enough to see it played here. Neither side could break their opposition until the 27th minute. Lucas Digne would take Lamine Yamal down in the penalty box to cede a penalty kick to Spain. Mikel Oyarzabal would shoot right beating Mike Maignan's dive. Spain would take the 1-0 lead into the half. In the second half both teams would resume trying to find a goal. France's efforts would all end in vain as Pedro Porro would put Spain up 2-0 in the 58th minute. From there, France pushed on as hard as they could. Much like Croatia in at the 2018 World Cup, France finally ran out of steam. The difference is that Croatia sputtered out in a single tournament. France have played more World Cup matches in the last 12 years than any other team. They won the 2018 World Cup, finished Runner-up in 2022, and were 1 match away from a 3rd consecutive Final. They will have a chance to redeem themselves in the 3rd Place Playoff on Saturday. Spain head to New Jersey where they will face the winner of England and Argentina for the World Cup on Sunday.

 

 

 

Two players correctly predicted that France and Spain would meet in Semifinal number 1. Both predicted that Spain would win. Only 1 of them would predict that Spain would score 2 goals. With 182 points, and a jump from 3rd place into a 2 way tie for first, give it up for Historicus!

 

A scoring update for the Semifinals. Each finalist correctly picked is worth 100 points. Each 3rd Place Playoff team is worth 50 points. A correct match-up in the Semifinals earns you 20 points, with another 10 if you predicted the correct winner. Historicus and Scriptor battle for first place in tomorrow's Semifinal, but neither are out of the woods, yet. 3rd place MalumSigma trails by just 81 points. He can easily make that difference up tomorrow with his pick for England and Argentina. There is also the wildcard of England. An English lifting of the World Cup Trophy could draw the other top 4 picks into the forefront to determine our 2026 World Cup Champions. Sleep well, my Crias. The action picks up tomorrow at 3:00pm from Atlanta, Georgia.