France boss Didier Deschamps tried a surprise training routine to keep his opponents guessing about his starting XI ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final with Spain on Tuesday (July 14) at Dallas Stadium, Arlington.

Les Bleus are coming off a 2-0 quarter-final win over African champions Morocco in the last-eight, with captain Kylian Mbappe and his former PSG teammate Ousmane Dembele scoring in the second half. Meanwhile, La Roja booked their place in a first FIFA World Cup semi-final in 16 years with a 2-1 victory over Belgium.

Deschamps kept Spain guessing about his probable starting XI, as both Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue played each half on the left flank, just like Aurelien Tchouameni and Manu Kone in the centre of the park.

Against the Atlas Lions, Deschamps had started with Doue on the left side of attack and Kone in midfield, with Tchoameni an unused substitute, while Barcola came on for the final quarter.

France captain Kylian Mbappe is in the midst of a superb 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign in North America. With his strike against Morocco in the quarters, the Real Madrid man matched his tally of eight goals at Qatar 2022.

Mbappe heads the Golden Boot race with eight goals and three assists, ahead of Argentina's Lionel Messi (eight goals and two assists) as he looks to become the first player to win two FIFA World Cup Golden Boot awards.

The Frenchman has been on a roll in the knockouts, striking twice in a 3-0 Round of 32 victory over Sweden before netting the winner from the spot in a hard-fought 1-0 win over Paraguay in the next round.

Mbappe missed a first-half penalty against Morocco but redeemed himself with a superby taken second-half strike to return to the Golden Boot summit.

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