​ARLINGTON, TX – It has been nearly two years since France was held scoreless in any international competition, dating back to a 0-0 draw in November 2024 versus Israel in the UEFA Nations League.Against Spain in the World Cup semifinals, though, just about everything went wrong for the championship favorites.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLes Bleus, led by a world-class attacking trio of Michael Olise, Kylian Mbappé – the Golden Boot leader – and Ousmane Dembélé, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, did more than just fail to score in their 2-0 loss, they struggled to create scoring chances, in general. France created zero big chances, only had three shots on goal and finished the match with 0.30 expected goals.REQUIRED READING: Mbappé went missing. Spain is the prime suspect | OpinionLooking to avenge its 2022 World Cup loss to Argentina, France brought its worst game at the worst time.“It’s an immense disappointment,” France midfielder Rayan Cherki said after the game. “Today we lost against ourselves. We didn’t lose against the referee, we didn’t lose against Spain, we lost against ourselves.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“You all know that everyone was scared of us. The only team who were capable of eliminating us was ourselves. Today is terrible.”Spain controlled the game from start to finish, taking an early 1-0 lead after a Mikel Oyarzabal penalty kick in the 22nd minute following a Lucas Digne kick to Spain wunderkind Lamine Yamal in the box. Before France could put its first shot on goal, Spain extended its lead to 2-0 with a 58th-minute strike from right back Pedro Porro.1 / 35Spain’s defender #12 Pedro Porro celebrates after his team won the semi-final match against France, securing a spot in the 2026 World Cup final.(MAURO PIMENTEL, AFP via Getty Images)Spain manager Luis de la Fuente started Paris Saint-Germain’s Fabián Ruiz over Pedri, who broke FC Barcelona’s record for youngest player in club history to make 150 appearances, and it worked to perfection. Ruiz led the match with 83 touches, and his height (6-foot-2) helped keep France’s attack in check at times.Mbappé said France aimed to control the tempo of the game, but that’s the exact opposite of what happened in front of an announced crowd of 70,176 at AT&T Stadium.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”We had a plan to go to them under pressure, to go one against one, to not let them lead the tempo of the game, to not let them play the way they want to play,” Mbappe told Fox’s Jenny Taft. “It’s a team who loves to have control of the game, control the ball and that’s what we let them do.“We let the midfield too much time to play and at the end of the day the authority to play. It’s difficult when you don’t change the plan of Spain.”Olise, who broke out as one of the best players in the world the last two years at Bayern Munich in Germany, has been among the most creative attackers at the World Cup, with five a