​France vs. Spain tactical preview: How World Cup match will play out with unstoppable force vs. immovable object originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.Two of the top three teams in the world will meet on Tuesday to determine the first finalist of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as France (ranked No. 1) meet Spain (ranked No. 3) clash in Arlington, TX.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLes Bleus are hoping to become the third team in World Cup history to make three consecutive finals, West Germany from 1982-1986 and Brazil from 1994-2002. Their superstar forward Kyilan Mbappe, on an individual level, is aiming to become the first player ever to win multiple World Cup Golden Boot awards, having claimed the top scorer trophy four years ago in Qatar.They meet Spain who upended France at this stage of the European Championships two years ago en route to the title. Led by teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, Spain have had France’s number in recent years, also beating them in the semifinals of the UEFA Nations League last year.The Sporting News takes a look at how this game could play out, and why both teams will have to make adjustments if they are to emerge victorious.2026 WORLD CUP HQ:Latest World Cup news | Full World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup ticketsAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhen breaking down how these two teams match up, it’s important to consider a variety of factors, including what each team does best, how they like to play, and previous meetings between the two.While this game has been built up to be a matchup of France’s attack vs. Spain defense, that is far from how this game is going to play out. There won’t be much of France banging its head against a bunkered opponent, trying to find a way through. That’s just not how either of these teams play.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe first consideration is that Spain love to play with a majority of possession against any opponent. Not only do Spain like to poke and prod until they can pass their way through the opposition, but they also enjoy resting in possession.We can see this reflected in a number of different analytics. First off, no team at the World Cup has enjoyed more time in possession of the ball than Spain, who have held 66% possession at the tournament so far, and they also have the highest pass success rate of any team with a 90.9% completion rate. Rodri, Pau Cubarsi, and Aymeric Laporte have the three highest numbers of completed passes of any player at the World Cup. And yet, they have the fourth-lowest forward pass rate, with just 26.5% of their passes going forward, only ahead of Argentina, Morocco, and Brazil.Spain have both the third-most crosses attempted of any team at the World Cup, and the third-most through balls attempted, meaning they love to pummel a bunkered opponent in the hopes that something will come off. Pedri and Rodri are one-two at the tournament in passes in the final thir