The first half was something of a non-event, with both teams cancelling each other out.
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France rarely threatened, with Spain looking the more likely to make the breakthrough.
Ferran Torres was lively down the right flank and Rodrigo was at his combative best with Serio Busquets in midfield.
Aymeric Laporte - alongside former City team-mate Eric Garcia - was rarely troubled by the sizeable threat of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Karim Benzema for the first hour or so, with the world champions rarely clicking into gear.
Torres, who scored twice in the victory over Italy in midweek, was very much utilised as a winger by Luis Enrique in this game.
Torres has been the subject of much debate this season as to whether his best position is as a striker or a winger.
Pep Guardiola has compared the City No,.21’s movement to Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy in recent weeks, but he was rarely given the opportunity to threaten from central areas on this occasion.
And when La Roja finally broke through after 65 minutes, it looked like Spain were on the way to victory at the San Siro.
Sergio Busquets clipped a ball into the path of Mikel Oyarzabal who hit a low drive into the bottom right corner to make it 1-0.
Within a minute, Benzema had made it 1-1 with a delightful curling shot into the top right corner of the net.
The leveller gave Les Bleus the impetus and after 80 minutes, Mbappe timed his run to perfection as he broke clear and slotted home with the goal standing after a VAR check.
Spain had 10 minutes to find a way back, and six minutes from time, Torres was replaced by Merino.
But France held firm to edge the game 2-1 and give Didier Deschamp’s side yet another title.
