Fan wins $8m thanks to Spain’s win over France in World Cup semi-final

Spain just recorded perhaps the biggest shock in the 2026 World Cup to date by beating France in the semi-finals.

To say that the European champions weren’t given much of a chance heading into the game would clearly be unwise.

Still, prior to the events in Dallas on Wednesday, many had predicted that the free-scoring French would win the World Cup this summer.

They, however, lost 2-0 to Spain and rarely even threatened to make it a competitive game.

It seems incredible to say now but France were considered favourites before it kicked off. So much so, in fact, that one lucky observer just won an awful lot of money.

Fan wins huge bet on Spain to beat France

According to Polymarket Sports, one user put a huge $5m on France to lose the semi-final, which underlines just how confident most people were that they would progress.

Clearly, things did not go to plan for the French. The Spanish, and one particular confident bet-placer, will be delighted about that.

Indeed, that huge wager saw them win $8,138,426. A huge sum of money, particularly when considering Spain are quite literally European champions, so were hardly complete underdogs heading into the game.

Goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro saw Spain reach only the second World Cup final in their history.

For a country who have produced some of the best players and teams in the history of world football, they have generally underperformed on the biggest stage.

Their 2010 victory in South Africa is their only success thus far, although they have won the European Championships on four occasions -including in 2024.

Based on their thoroughly impressive victory over France, neither England nor Argentina in the other semi-final will no doubt be wary of playing against them.

It certainly seems fair to suggest that Spain won’t be written off quite as much as they were before they played France.

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