France vs. Spain head-to-head history
Historically, this has been one of Europe's most balanced international rivalries.
Overall record (all official competitions and friendlies)
Result Record
Total matches 38
🇪🇸 Spain wins 18
🇫🇷 France wins 13
Draws 7
Most recent meetings
Date Competition Result
Jun. 5, 2025 UEFA Nations League SF Spain 5–4 France
Jul. 9, 2024 UEFA Euro SF Spain 2–1 France
Oct. 10, 2021 UEFA Nations League Final France 2–1 Spain
Mar. 28, 2017 Friendly Spain 2–0 France
Sep. 4, 2014 Friendly France 1–0 Spain
FIFA World Cup history
The teams have met only once previously in the FIFA World Cup:
2006 Round of 16
🇫🇷 France 3–1 Spain
Goals: Ribéry, Vieira, Zidane
France went on to reach the final before losing to Italy on penalties.
Recent trend
Although France has the better World Cup pedigree, Spain has had the upper hand recently:
Spain has won 4 of the last 5 meetings.
France's only victory in that span came in the 2021 UEFA Nations League Final.
Notable facts
France are two-time World Cup champions (1998, 2018).
Spain won the World Cup in 2010.
This 2026 semifinal is only the second-ever World Cup meeting between the two nations.
For betting purposes, the history suggests two competing trends:
Recent head-to-head form favors Spain.
World Cup knockout experience and pedigree slightly favor France.
Those opposing trends are one reason bookmakers have priced this semifinal as a very tight matchup.