A first-half penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal and a 58th-minute Pedro Porro goal sealed an utterly clinical victory for the European champions at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Spain, World Cup winners in 2010, will now face either Argentina or England in Sunday's final in New Jersey.

"Today we faced one of the best national teams in the world, but in front of them they had the best team in the world," delighted Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said afterwards. "That is different."

France had entered the showdown as the overwhelming favourites for the tournament after a dazzling run to the semi-finals that had seen them pile up 16 goals in six matches.

But France's vaunted front four of captain Kylian Mbappe, Ballon D'Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Michael Olise were snuffed out by a combination of Spanish poise and power.

France coach Didier Deschamps admitted his team had been outplayed.

"The players are devastated because we had a lot of ambition, even though we also have to be realistic and acknowledge that today we were a notch below on the technical level against a team that controlled the game well," said Deschamps, who is stepping down after the tournament.

Spain, who had beaten France in their previous two competitive meetings, had vowed to go on the front foot in the pre-match build-up and they proved as good as their word.

A commanding performance by Spain's midfield led by Manchester City star Rodri and assisted by Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo never allowed the French to gain a foothold in the contest.

Spain's midfield quickly overran the outnumbered French duo of Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni, passing around their opponents with ease to control the early exchanges.

The first signs of French frustration came after just nine minutes when midfielder Rabiot was booked for treading on Olmo's foot on the edge of the area.

Yet despite the early dominance it was France who looked the more threatening when venturing into the final third, and it needed a desperate late block by Pau Cubarsi to thwart Mbappe in the 16th minute as the French captain looked to break clear.