Mbappé vanished. The main suspect is Spain – Spain had France’s number once more. It’s calling the World Cup final now. Luis de la Fuente, the coach of Spain, had a straightforward message for his team.
La Roja was scheduled to play one of the world’s top teams in France. However, de la Fuente informed his team that Spain was the top team.That’s the secret. “We work as a team,” de la Fuente declared. “And when you’re facing a team like us, we’re unbeatable.”
It’s difficult to argue with him.
Spain has made France and Kylian Mbappé appear mortal for the past three summers, and no triumph is greater than this one. Spain will participate in the World Cup final for the first time since 2010, when La Roja won their lone trophy, following a commanding 2-0 victory over Les Bleus.
On Sunday at MetLife Stadium, Spain will play either Argentina or England in the World Cup final.
This is not a coincidence. France, who had been the tournament’s best team, is not having a rough day.
This is Spain mercilessly destroying France, obstructing the midfield to prevent Mbappé from moving freely, stifling any kind of attack, and identifying weaknesses in France’s defense and turning them into gaping gaps. This is Spain using the number of what is undoubtedly the world’s second-best squad to push them down the mountain whenever they approach the summit.They have amazing players, so we knew it would be the hardest game. However, I believe we have them as well,” Pau Cubarsi remarked.
Spain dominated the entire match.
France did not perform poorly. Les Bleus simply never felt at ease in Spain. Spain controlled the game’s tempo and flow, with the exception of a few occasional possessions, and France was helpless to stop it.
France didn’t get a chance on goal until the 81st minute. You correctly read that. Zero. Zip. None. A club that averaged nearly three goals per game going into the semifinals was unable to even attempt a shot. Mbappé may as well have been wearing a straightjacket as he leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals.They sealed off every opening. Additionally, we’ve made a few technical errors,” remarked Didier Deschamps, the coach of France. “When the technical quality is subpar, it is hard to cause issues. particularly in contrast to earlier games.”
Spain, on the other hand, took advantage of opportunities.
When Lamine Yamal attempted to clear out a goal in the 20th, Lucas Digne was irresponsible and caught him hard in the leg. That is the closest thing to a textbook punishment.
After making the right assumption, Mike Maignan dove to his left. However, he was a little too late, and Mikel Oyarzabal’s kick flew barely past his outstretched fingertips to give Spain a 1-0 lead. Pedro Porro doubled the lead in the 58th, but that would have been sufficient.Deschamps stated, “I don’t want to take away or discard anything we’ve done so far. “We should have been more dangerous on the pitch and made the game more difficult for the Spain team.”
Or perhaps Spain is just superior.
A squad that advanced to the semifinals of this event, participated in the final four years later, and won the World Cup in 2018 is difficult to defeat. A player as amazing as Mbappé, who can (usually) create goals out of thin air, is difficult to condemn. For a period of such quality and to have a player like Mbappé, most nations would sell their souls.
However, it’s also difficult to overlook the fact that Yamal and Spain were starting to climb at the same time as France’s trajectory stagnated.
France has performed well in the competition.
Maybe we should have anticipated this. Spain eliminated France in the semifinals of both the Nations League last summer and the European championship in 2024. There wasn’t much competition in either game.
Yes, last summer’s 5-4 score gave the impression that it was competitive. However, as Yamal reminded everyone a few hours prior to this semifinal, Spain was crushing France 5-1 through 75 minutes.There’s no retaliation. The day before the game, Deschamps remarked, “The past is in the past.” “I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s game, even though they did win two games.”
Indeed, this was the moment to alter the narrative against Spain if France was ever going to do it. Spain had a difficult first game, drawing with Cape Verde. To defeat annoying Beligum in the quarterfinal, a late goal was required.
This tournament, however, had not put France to the test. Before Oyarzabal converted his penalty, they had gone 358 minutes without conceding a goal since the group-stage final.
However, France is judged against Spain. And once more, Les Bleus failed to live up to expectations in Spain.
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