The Numbers That Highlight France's Helplessness

France set an unwanted attacking record in their World Cup semi-final clash, where they fell 2-0 to Spain.

According to the statistical portal "Opta," the Expected Goals (xG) metric for "Les Bleus" in the match was a mere 0.3. This marks their lowest xG value in a World Cup fixture since such statistics began being recorded.

Following the defeat, France will now compete in the third-place playoff, while Spain has advanced to the final. The opponents for both teams will be determined by the other semi-final pairing between England and Argentina.

The xG metric is a statistical tool in football that quantifies the quality of goal-scoring opportunities created, estimating the probability of a shot on target resulting in a goal.