​Marc Cucurella’s late intervention against Kylian Mbappé was celebrated as wildly as the two goals by his Spain team-mates as La Roja reached the World Cup final in by now trademark fashion on Tuesday.The old saying that the attack wins games but the defence trophies could once again prove correct when Spain take on defending champions Argentina or England for the trophy.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA 22nd-minute penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro in the 58th minute made the difference as Spain kept a sixth clean sheet from their seven World Cup matches and enter Sunday’s final with just one goal conceded, in the quarter-final win against Belgium.Twice champions France had scored 16 goals and aimed to reach the final for a third time in a row but neither eight-time scorer Mbappé not his team-mates managed a breakthrough.The best chance came in the 67th but Cucurella managed to deflect Mbappé’s effort just wide of the left post.”We knew it would be difficult but we controlled the match. We knew we would have control and we managed to stop their transition game,” Porro said.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”It is a victory of the team, this is not about me,” he added.France coach Didier Deschamps admitted that Spain “defended extremely well and we never got into the game. We couldn’t play as we usually do.”We had big ambitions but have to admit that Spain were better, they did a really good job. We tried everything but Spain showed that they are at a different level. We tried, we failed, it just wasn’t enough.”Spain won their first world title in 2010 in-between Euro titles in 2008 and 2012, and history could repeat itself now after they won Euro 2024 – after a semi-final success over France.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLa Roja did not get beyond the last 16 at the last three World Cups but coach Luis de la Fuente now has a winning team again ranging from Cucurella at the back and midfield boss Rodri to teenage sensation Lamine Yamal who had a goal nullified for offside the day after his 19th birthday.And Yamal also worked in defence, not shy of some rustic tackles when France tried to fight back.”We started almost four years ago with an idea and we’ve been faithful to that idea and it’s brought us here,” de la Fuente said.”Today we faced one of the best national teams in the world, but in front of them they had the best team in the world. That is different. These players deserve everything – day after day they’ve showed their commitment, their solidarity, their generosity, their talent.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSpain are back to becoming a superpower again like they were in the days of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.The women are the reigning world champions and just a few days ago the men’s and women’s teams won under-19 European titles.The biggest trophy of them all could follow on Sunday, either in a rematch of the Euro 2024 final if it is against England, or by denying Lionel Mess