5 Things we learned from Spain’s stunning win over France in the semi-final
Who saw that one coming? Whilst I thought Spain were being disrespected in the build-up to this game I still didn’t think that they would be this comfortable against the favourites for the whole tournament, right from the off Spain looked the far better side dictating the game through Fabian Ruiz and Rodri in midfield along with the backline which started really strong in the opening minutes of the game. Then in the 20th minute Lamine Yamal blindsided Lucas Digne in the box with the Frenchman swinging his leg into the Spaniard giving the referee an easy decision to make and awarded a penalty to Spain, Mikel Oyarzabal stepped up and hit a superb penalty that gave Mike Maignan no chance even though he went the right way. Things got worse for France a few minutes later as William Saliba was forced off with a back injury which has been a reoccurring issue for the Arsenal centre-back over the last few months, he was replaced by Maxence Lacroix. As the half went on Spain were getting better and better as France had no real reply or plan on how to hurt this Spanish side which at times was toying with the French team, Lamine Yamal was killing Lucas Digne on the right-hand-side as France looked happy enough to go into half-time only 1-0 down, Deschamps made a change at half-time bringing Manu Kone on for Adrien Rabiot but it made little impact as Spain continued to look the far better side at the start of the second half. They then doubled their lead in the 57th minute after Porro played a 1-2 with Olmo giving the Spurs full-back the freedom of the box to finish coolly past Maignan to all but kill the game early into the second half, France had a few half-chances for the likes of Doue and Dembele but nothing to worry Unai Simon as Spain saw out a sensational win to take them to the World Cup final.
I was in complete awe of that Spanish performance. I don’t think people quite realise just how special that Spain performance was tonight, to keep out one of the greatest international attacks we’ve ever seen whilst also scoring two goals of your own is so impressive and they were well worthy of making their first World Cup final since 2010. There was magnificent performances all over the pitch but I have to focus on the midfield and defence that continues to keep out some of the best attackers in the world, first of all Rodri at the heart of midfield was the best player on the pitch for me and toyed with those French midfielders who didn’t lay a glove on him for 90 minutes. A true Ballon d’Or level performance from him today, alongside him was Fabian Ruiz who looked like the Euro 2024 version today who was player of the tournament for me in that Euros and he covered every blade of grass out there dominating this all-star French team. Then you have the defence which yet again keeps another clean sheet which I don’t think anyone saw coming, that centre-back partnership of Cubarsi and Laporte where spectacular giving Mbappe nothing to look at all game whilst Porro and Cucurella locked the French wingers up for 90 minutes with Porro securing the game in the second half with a brilliant finish. I also have to give a mention to Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo who where also so impressive and I don’t think Lucas Digne will sleep that well tonight after getting run ragged for most of the game, overall a performance that will be talked about for some time from Spain today and one which will probably make them favourites against whoever they play on Sunday. Not that that matters.
So, someone could actually beat this French team. The question everyone’s been asking this World Cup was whether or not anyone could actually beat this France team? Whilst we got our answer I’m still so disappointed with the way they played today, first of all I was surprised with the team Deschamp’s picked dropping Doue and Kone for Barcola and Tchouameni which didn’t work and was part of the reason why France could barely touch the ball in the first half. Everyone will point their fingers at the attackers and rightly so but the game was lost in midfield for France today, Tchouameni clearly wasn’t fit and Rabiot was awful so Fabian Ruiz and Rodri had the freedom of the park to just knock the ball about as fast or as slow as they liked. Michael Olise’s performances have definitely fallen off a cliff since the group stages and that was no different today as he looked really lackadaisical out there alongside Ousmane Dembele who isn’t the first winger to get locked up by Cucurella in a major tournament, we were waiting for a big moment from Kylian Mbappe but it never came as Spain’s line was perfect for the entire game catching Mbappe offside a number of times which made him think twice about running in behind. Even defensively they were poor for both the Spanish goals with the first one coming from a lack of awareness from Lucas Digne about where Lamine Yamal is and the second coming from Lacroix switching off letting Porro run in behind him for a pretty soft goal from France’s perspective, overall it’s a huge disappointment for France to go out with a bit of a whimper but they were just simply outclassed today by the European champions.
The Ballon d’Or has been blown wide open. I think the general consensus was that if France win the World Cup then the Ballon d’Or would probably go to Mbappe but Olise and Dembele would have been in with a shout, now that they’re out I think it probably comes down to 2 players. Harry Kane and Lionel Messi, for me Harry Kane remains the favourite for the award and if England where to win the tournament then he would undoubtedly have to win the award in my opinion. If Argentina where to win the World Cup I don’t see a world where Messi doesn’t win his 9th Ballon d’Or despite playing in the MLS because the journalists that vote for the award base it almost entirely on the World Cup so I’m sure he’ll win it if his country wins the tournament. The question then is who is favourite for the award if Spain win the World Cup? I think the only way Lamine Yamal enters this conversation is if he has an Mbappe-type performance in the final which whilst he’s certainly capable I can’t see happening, so that would still leave Harry Kane as favourite if Spain where to win the tournament for me anyway. Who’s your current favourite for the Ballon d’Or?
Who will Spain be playing in the final? It will be either Argentina or England in the final against Spain who play each other tomorrow for a place in the World Cup final, to be honest I don’t really want to see Spain vs England again as we saw that two years ago in the Euro 2024 final whereas Spain vs Argentina is a lot more appealing from a neutral perspective anyway. Messi vs Yamal in a World Cup final is a tantalising proposition and one which we were robbed off when the Finalissima was cancelled last year, you’d fancy Spain against both in the final but in a one-off game anything can happen like we’ve seen in the past. That game tomorrow has all the makings of a World Cup classic so lets hope it lives up to expectations, can’t believe the World Cup’s nearly over.