Key events<\/p>\n
55 min: Barcola finds himself in a bit of space down the left. He\u2019s got options in the middle, but decides to take on Porro instead. He knocks the ball past the defender, and rounds him on the outside, but he\u2019s taken a heavy touch and Simon sorts things out. It\u2019s just not clicking for France<\/a> today.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 53 min: Yamal spins the out-of-sorts Digne on the right and tears off. Barcola takes up the chase and eventually takes the ball off his man. \u201c\u00d2u est le Thuram de nos jours?\u201d wonders Niall Mullen.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 52 min: Oyarzabal spins into a little bit of space down the inside-left channel and, from the edge of the box, sends a rising drive over the bar. France<\/a> have not flown out of the blocks in this second half. They kind of needed to.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 51 min: Lacroix needlessly barges into the back of Oyarzabal, who takes the opportunity to stay down awhile. Spain<\/a> already working the clock when they can. From the resulting free kick, Yamal is pinged clear down the right by Porro, but he can\u2019t lob Maignan from a tight angle. Then the flag pops up for offside anyway.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 49 min: Spain<\/a> get the ball back and do it themselves. \u201cI\u2019m switching between TSN, FOX, and others,\u201d begins Brian Hayden. \u201cEvery commentator and former ref has (for the first time this tournament maybe) been unanimous that it was the clearest penalty you could want, and I agree. It doesn\u2019t matter if Yamal was trying to \u2018honestly\u2019 play the ball or if it was an accident \u2014 if you full-on kick someone high it\u2019s a foul all day every day. It\u2019s your responsibility to be aware of other players and not kick them four feet off the ground. It\u2019s basically the definition of reckless.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 47 min: France<\/a> start the half with a little Spanish-style patient possession. Meanwhile Simon McMahon is watching the game in Nice Old Town: \u201cThe locals were giving it laldy during the anthems, they\u2019re a bit quieter now. I have my Scotland shirt on of course, just to make them feel a bit better about themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n France get the second half started. They\u2019ve switched out Rabiot, who was on a yellow and not treading particularly carefully, for Kone. \u201cFrance were so disorganised and discombobulated after Saliba had to be substituted that I really thought Spain would score another,\u201d writes K\u00e1ri Tulinius. \u201cAs brilliant as France<\/a> are, I doubt anyone could come back from 2-0 against this defence. La Furia Roja didn\u2019t quite let themselves go wild when France were flailing around chaotically, and if Les Bleus come back, there will be regret that the Spanish didn\u2019t push their advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time postbag. \u201cInteresting penalty takes. I think Digne is guilty of both not controlling the ball very well and being unaware of his surroundings while he flings his leg out. Two things you really don\u2019t want to do when defending in your own box\u201d \u2013 Sean Orlowicz<\/p>\n \u201cThe refereeing in this tournament hasn\u2019t been amazing, but some of the VAR interventions (or non-interventions) have been utterly inexplicable. Can anyone state with clarity what the rules are any more? And if not, what does that mean for football as a sport at all?\u201d \u2013 Warren Lee<\/p>\n \u201cThis might be the most egregious display of refereeing in the entire tournament – which is a high bar indeed. We actually now seem to have VAR correcting terrible decisions that they are not entitled to rule on, but feel they have to as the on-field decision is so bad. Really beyond dreadful\u201d \u2013 Colin Livingstone<\/p>\n \u201cWorried for France<\/a> right now, at times it\u2019s like watching the Spanish 2010 vintage\u201d \u2013 Simon Lane<\/p>\n \u201cHungary 1954, Holland 1974, Brazil 1982 \u2026 France 2026?\u201d \u2013 Zafar Sobhan<\/p>\n \u201cMy inexpert assessment: immoveable object has clamped down on irresistible force\u201d \u2013 Dorkus McBride<\/p>\n Share<\/a>HALF TIME: France 0-1 Spain<\/p>\n The European champions are 45 minutes plus stoppages away from their second World Cup<\/a> final.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +5: Olise wins a throw down the right. Cucurella contests it: despite being on a booking, he can\u2019t help himself from telling it as he sees it. He stops just before the referee\u2019s breaking point.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +4: France<\/a> pass it around the middle of the park to little effect.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +2: Kunde whips a low, hard cross through the six-yard box from the right. Mbappe is this close to meeting the ball at the near post. No cigar.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +1: The first of six additional first-half minutes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min: Rabiot lunges in on Ruiz, and catches his foot. He\u2019s damned fortunate not to be shown a second yellow. A fair chance he\u2019ll not be coming out for the second half.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 44 min: From the restart, Dembele runs into Ruiz and is awarded a free kick for \u2026 what, exactly? But then VAR tells the referee to overturn the decision. All very strange. It\u2019s probably the correct ruling, but whether VAR was entitled to get involved is open to interpretation. Didier Deschamps is fuming.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.56 EDT<\/p>\n 43 min: Simon tries to claim the corner, and accidentally nudges his own man Oyarzabal. Meanwhile Laporte goes over clutching his head. France<\/a> will be awarded a drop ball out on the left.<\/p>\n Where was the call? Photograph: Agust\u00edn Marcarian\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.17 EDT<\/p>\n 42 min: Barcola rolls a defence-splitter down the inside-left channel to release Mbappe. But Simon has read the danger, and races from his box to block-tackle Mbappe and clear. That had to be timed perfectly. France<\/a> have to make do with a corner.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 41 min: Upamecano launches long down the right, and looks to have released Mbappe, who has options in the middle. But then the flag goes up for offside. He looked on. Spain<\/a> get away with one there.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 39 min: Nothing comes of the corner. Spain are giving France<\/a> a little bit of a chasing right now.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 38 min: Maignan\u2019s poor pass out is intercepted by Baena. Spain<\/a> then work the ball across the face of the box, left to right. Olmo backflicks down the channel to release Yamal, who could shoot but squares for Ruiz instead. Ruiz tries to flip the ball into the bottom right, but it\u2019s deflected wide. What a walk-in goal that would have been!<\/p>\n Fabian Ruiz toe-pokes the ball wide. Photograph: Jessica Tobias\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.17 EDT<\/p>\n 37 min: Now Porro has a whack from distance. It\u2019s wild.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 36 min: Barcola drops a shoulder to cut in from the left, then aims for the top right. High and wide. He should have played a reverse pass to Digne, in acres of space on the overlap. France<\/a> are not thinking clearly.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 35 min: France<\/a> are nearly undone by a simple long punt down the middle. Simon launches, Baena gets in ahead of Upamecano and nearly rounds Maignon. Baena dinks harmlessly wide left, and then the flag goes up correctly for offside. But France are looking ragged, and need to get their act together quickly. Another Spanish goal and they\u2019ll be in a world of pain.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 34 min: Olmo skies a shot from the best part of 30 yards. Camera cables watch out! \u201cI love Lamine Yamal, but I hate those cheap penalties,\u201d begins Desi Duncker. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t making a good faith effort to play the ball at all. He just saw that Digne was about to kick the ball and he launched himself into the path of his kick to draw the penalty. When Erik Lamela played for Tottenham, he got a few of those fouls. I thought it was cheap then and I think it\u2019s cheap now. Although it complies with the letter of the law, I wish the officials had more discretion to overrule it, given Lamine Yamal\u2019s clear intent.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 33 min: France<\/a> look a little shaken at having gone behind. Olmo and Cucurella exchange passes down the left and nearly open them up. Upamecano does just about enough to bundle the ball clear.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 31 min: \u2026 but the next card is earned by Cucurella, who crudely clatters into Olise twice in as many seconds. Dembele sends the resulting free kick into the hands of Simon.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 30 min: Saliba, sadness etched across his face, trudges off. Lacroix comes on in his place. \u201cFrance already have a booking, got away with another that could have been red, and have kicked Yamal inside the penalty box,\u201d tick-tick-ticks Justin Kavanagh. \u201cThe tuxedos are off. Now can the Spanish matadors break out their muletas (red capes) and goad them into further transgressions to end this as a contest.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 29 min: It doesn\u2019t look as though Saliba is able to continue.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 28 min: More bad news for France<\/a> as Saliba sits down, shaking his head and pointing to his back.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 27 min: The game restarts.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 26 min: \u201cThat was identical to the penalty Kane conceded against Mexico,\u201d notes Phil Moseley. \u201cBoth Kane and Digne made the cardinal sin of not having eyes on the back of their heads.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 24 min: \u2026 and that\u2019s drinks. Digne could probably do with a pint of that pastis liqueur right now.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 23 min: France are now behind for the first time at this World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>GOAL! France 0-1 Spain (Oyarzabal 22 pen)<\/p>\n Oyarzabal lashes the spot kick towards the right-hand side of the net, halfway up, and though Maignan guesses correctly, the keeper has no chance! What a penalty under pressure!<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s Mikel Oyarzabal scores their first goal from the penalty spot. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach\/ReutersOyarzabal celebrates scoring their first goal. Photograph: Jessica Tobias\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.40 EDT<\/p>\n 21 min: Digne isn\u2019t arguing, but Mbappe is. He claims the ball skimmed Yamal\u2019s arm. But it\u2019s on the sleeve. This won\u2019t be overturned.<\/p>\n