Ruiz mocks Olise in dressing room as Spain reach World Cup final with 2-0 win over France

Spain are through to the World Cup final after a commanding 2-0 defeat of France in their semi-final on Tuesday, with Fabian Ruiz’s dressing-room jibe at Michael Olise’s expense providing a sharp postscript to the victory.

Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring before Pedro Porro doubled the advantage after half-time, ending France’s hopes of reaching the showpiece event. Spain will face either England or Argentina in Sunday’s final in New York.

Following the final whistle, Spain’s official social media account released footage of the squad’s celebrations as they returned to the dressing room. In the video, Ruiz — speaking off camera — tells left-back Marc Cucurella: “You devoured him. Take him out of your pocket.” While Ruiz does not name his target directly, Cucurella was stationed against Olise throughout the match, leaving little doubt about who the comment was aimed at.

Cucurella himself added: “What a f** masterclass,” in reference to the team’s overall performance against a side widely considered among the tournament favourites.

Midfielder Dani Olmo offered a more reflective note, saying: “It was written in the stars already, we started in Atlanta, and we finish in New York — it’s close, it’s close.” The rest of the footage showed players eating pizza, dancing and taking selfies, with defender Aymeric Laporte seen giving a thumbs up before exhaling with visible relief.

The mockery of Olise stands in contrast to the form he had shown throughout the tournament. The Bayern Munich winger registered a brace of assists in three of his seven appearances at the World Cup and carried his club-season momentum into the competition — scoring 22 goals and contributing 31 assists across 52 appearances for Bayern last season.

Despite the defeat, France will not be heading home immediately. Les Bleus remain in North America to contest the third-place play-off on Saturday against the loser of the Argentina versus England semi-final.