{"id":550065,"date":"2026-07-15T00:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T00:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/550065\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T00:25:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T00:25:16","slug":"roy-keane-bit-at-neville-over-criticism-of-france-star-after-spain-shocker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/550065\/","title":{"rendered":"Roy Keane Bit At Neville Over Criticism Of France Star After Spain Shocker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spain have booked their place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> final, earning a fully deserved 2-0 victory over France in their semi-final clash in Dallas this evening.<\/p>\n

Luis de la Fuente’s men were the better team in the opening half, offering very little encouragement to France’s stellar attackers. They would then take the lead from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute, with Mikel Oyarzabal converting from the spot after Lamine Yamal was taken down in the box by Lucas Digne<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That trend continued in the second half, with the Spanish looking the more likely side to score.<\/p>\n

They would double their lead on the hour mark, the Pedro Porro finishing off a fine team goal with the aid of some questionable defending from the French.<\/p>\n

Spain double their lead; a quick one-two between Poro and Olmo puts the right back in on goal and he makes no mistake<\/p>\n

Watch all 104\u00a0games from\u00a0the Fifa World Cup on RT\u00c9 pic.twitter.com\/VJBxAOyRNX<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 RT\u00c9 Sport (@RTEsport) July 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

France never seemed likely getting back into the game after that point, although Kylian Mbappe did inject a bit more purpose into their play.<\/p>\n

\n Recommended\n <\/p>\n

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In the end, it was a rather comfortable 2-0 victory for the Euro 2024 champions.<\/p>\n

Roy Keane defends France star after Spain shocker<\/p>\n

This was a brilliant performance from Spain, who completely nullified that star-studded France attack. They also had quite a bit of attacking threat of their own.<\/p>\n

As for France, they were well short of their usual standards in this game. Lucas Digne had a particularly poor game, giving away the penalty and then playing a major role in conceding the second of the game.<\/p>\n

Gary Neville was highly critical of the Aston Villa man on ITV at full-time, leading to a rather surprising defence of the player from Roy Keane.<\/p>\n

Neville: You do have to look at why [Deschamps] didn’t take [Digne] off earlier. He was really struggling at halftime and was hanging on for dear life…<\/p>\n

He’s frightened of Lamine Yamal getting the ball to his feet so he goes out, but he’s got to get back in and he doesn’t, he stays where he is.<\/p>\n

Keane: You see players make mistakes. It’s clearly a mistake, his confidence was gone and he didn’t know whether to stick or twist against really good wide players.<\/p>\n

But your mate should be there to cover for you. It happens all the time, players do get caught out of position. No one is helping each other.<\/p>\n

They didn’t play as a team. The whole point of being a football team is your mates cover you when you’re having a bad time. You’re never going to come into a game of football where everybody plays well.<\/p>\n

Obviously the attacking players from France will get criticised today. The French defence and midfield were all over the place, they weren’t doing the basics right.<\/p>\n

Whatever about the attacking players not turning up, the team behind them didn’t exactly give them a foundation to go on and win the game.<\/p>\n

A night to forget for France.<\/p>\n

Are Spain World Cup favourites final after France win?<\/p>\n

Spain will now face either England or Argentina in the final, a game they will enter as favourites on the back of their display in this game.<\/p>\n

It will be difficult to bet against them winning a second World Cup on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n