France came from behind to overcome Spain 2-1 in the 2021 Nations League final on Sunday, thanks to Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe. The defending world champions went behind to Mikel Oyarzabal's second-half strike moments after Theo Hernandez had struck the crossbar in the semi-final against Belgium on Thursday.
Luis Enrique's team, who had halted Italy's 37-game undefeated run in the semi-final on Wednesday, were pegged back two minutes later when Benzema curled in a superb goal.
Following their success at the 2018 World Cup and disappointment at Euro 2020, Mbappe exacerbated the damage by scoring after 80 minutes for France to win their second trophy in three attempts.
The lone major first-half chance came from Marcos Alonso's errant speculative long-range free-kick, as Spain struggled to capitalize on their initial 66.7 percent possession. Raphael Varane was then taken out before the break with what appeared to be a minor injury, and things only got worse for Didier Deschamps' team after the break.
Mbappe's clever offload came close to setting up an early goal, but Hernandez hit the crossbar before Oyarzabal, who had been released by Sergio Busquets, hammered into the bottom-right corner after 64 minutes.
Benzema and Mbappe, on the other hand, teamed to draw France level, with the former moving inwards to bend a right-footed effort into the top-right corner before the latter put France ahead. PSG forward Kylian Mbappe appeared to be offside as he rounded Unai Simon after Hernandez's throughball, but a VAR check upheld the judgment, and Mbappe scored his fourth goal of the Finals, more than any other player.
