Spain Faces France with Spot in Euro 2024 Final on the Line

Spain and France meet in the semifinals of the European Championship on Tuesday. The match pits one of the highest-scoring teams at the tournament against one of the lowest as France’s star forward Kylian Mbappé has struggled to get to grips with his mask. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. local time in Munich. According to The Associated Press, here’s what to know about the match:
Match facts — The winner will play England or the Netherlands in the final on Sunday in Berlin. Their semifinal is on Wednesday.
— Spain and France's quarterfinals both went to extra time. Substitute Mikel Merino’s game-winning goal in the last minute of extra time handed Spain a 2-1 victory over host nation Germany, while France needed penalties to see off Portugal after the match ended goalless.
— No France player has scored from open play at Euro 2024. The French have only scored through two own goals and a penalty from Mbappé. Spain has netted 11 times.
— Mbappé, who will be facing several of his new Real Madrid teammates, will again be wearing a protective mask after sustaining a broken nose in France’s group opener against Austria.
— Spain, which is chasing a record fourth European Championship title, has been perfect in Germany. It was the only team to win all its group stage matches, while France could only muster draws against Poland and the Netherlands after a narrow win over Austria.
Team news — Spain paid the price for its dramatic win over Germany and a number of players will miss the semifinal — and in some cases the final should La Roja get there — because of suspension or injury.
— Midfielder Pedri had to come off in the eighth minute against Germany with a knee injury following a hefty challenge from Toni Kroos and has been ruled out of the rest of Euro 2024. He will again be replaced by Dani Olmo — who came on for the 21-year-old and went on to score the opener as well as set up Merino’s winner.
— Dani Carvajal was sent off late in extra time for a second yellow card and will be suspended against France, as will fellow defender Robin le Normand after picking up another booking. Veteran Jesús Navas is likely to be tasked with marking Mbappé.
— France coach Didier Deschamps has no injury problems as Marcus Thuram returned to training on Sunday, alleviating concerns he could miss the semifinal after taking a blow to his thigh at the end of the match against Portugal.
By the numbers — Spain and France have only conceded three goals between them. The only time France goalkeeper Mike Maignan had to pick the ball out of his net was Poland's retaken penalty in the group stage, while Spain conceded against Georgia and Germany.
— The teams have met 36 times, with Spain winning 16 to France’s 13 — including five of the past eight.
— This is Spain’s sixth European Championship semifinal. It has only once failed to advance to the trophy match, losing on penalties to eventual champion Italy at Euro 2020.
— France has reached the semifinals on five previous occasions, winning three.
— France has reached the final in three of last four major tournaments, losing 1-0 after extra time to Portugal at Euro 2016 and to Argentina on penalties in the 2022 World Cup, but beating Croatia to claim its second world title in 2018.
What they’re saying “We’re in the semifinals and it’s something we shouldn’t take for granted, even if we may be used to it recently. Now we go to win it.” — France coach Didier Deschamps.
“Very few people gave us a chance and staying under the radar helped us start the tournament with confidence. Spain is a team to respect. I knew we had a great team and that’s how it turned out.” — Spain defender Marc Cucurella.
“It’s natural for him. He has this gift of carrying the team, the group. He gives ideas, advice to the players. He was born for that. He was born to pull the group up.” — France striker Randal Kolo Muani on Mbappé’s captaincy.
“My players are insatiable. There’s always room for improvement, of course, but we can’t question their pride, quality and commitment.” — Spain coach Luis de la Fuente.

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia won MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix sprint on Saturday after leader Pedro Acosta crashed out with four laps to go, reducing his gap with championship leader Jorge Martin, who finished fourth, to 15 points.

Rookie Acosta, who took pole earlier in the day, had overtaken Bagnaia on the third lap to take the lead, but lost control near turn seven, losing the opportunity to win his first MotoGP sprint.

Ducati's Bagnaia, who moved to 357 points ahead of Sunday's race, fought off second-placed Enea Bastianini by 0.181 seconds amid occasional rains in Motegi to win his 16th sprint of the season.

"We had to sacrifice a bit of performance during the race to understand the conditions better... I'm very happy because with this condition it's not very easy to win," Bagnaia said in his post-sprint interview.

Pramac Racing's Martin, who started from the 11th position on the grid after crashing during the qualifying session, started well to take the fifth position in the first lap, facing pressure from Marc Marquez, who eventually overtook him.

Marquez momentarily took second place from Bastianini but the Ducati rider recovered to leave him third.

LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami crashed out of his home grand prix sprint after a collision with teammate Johann Zarco, while Red Bull KTM's Brad Binder, sixth in the championship, quit due to an issue with his bike.

"We´re investigating what happened to cause Brad Binder's sprint to come to a premature end," the team wrote on X. "For now, all we can do is apologize to Brad."

Spain Faces France with Spot in Euro 2024 Final on the Line