The 2026 World Cup semi-final remains a painful memory for all supporters of the French national team. Beaten 2-0 by Spain – the eventual world champions – Les Bleus never really looked capable of making an impact against the perfectly well-oiled Iberian machine. Lamine Yamal (19), who played a key role in La Roja 's success – notably by winning a penalty – reflected on the match in an interview with L'Équipe .
"It was a special match, with a lot of intensity," recalls the 19-year-old, who could soon be lifting the Ballon d'Or. "We're two great teams, but it went our way. We played an incredible match, we played the way we wanted to, we dominated and we managed to impose our style of play."
For the young FC Barcelona forward, "in matches against France, there are two options: either it's an open game, with counter-attacks, and in that case, France are bound to finish you off because they have top-class players up front; or you keep possession and dominate." In the end, Spain "started to get the ball and, with so many top-class players, that eventually created a huge gap."
Whilst their dominance of the ball isn't necessarily reflected in the possession figures (51 per cent in Spain's favour) – as the two teams didn't operate in the same areas of the pitch – the quality of Luis de la Fuente's side was far more evident, recording a higher total of Expected Goals (1.63 versus 0.31) and creating a significant number of clear-cut chances (3 to 0).
