Spain winger Lamine Yamal believes his team poses a significant threat to France's undefeated run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, expressing confidence that France should be more worried about their upcoming semifinal matchup than Spain.
France has reached the semifinal with a perfect record, winning all six of their matches and scoring a tournament-high 16 goals. Their next challenge is Spain in the semifinal at Dallas Stadium. However, Yamal is unfazed by France's dominance.
"They haven't beaten us since the Euros," Yamal said. "They can't be better than us."
Yamal dismissed the significance of France's group stage performance, drawing a parallel to Germany's early exit from the tournament. "That doesn’t matter, the group stage means nothing, look at Germany," he stated.
The Spain squad has been anticipating this particular fixture since the tournament's inception. "We’ve been eager for it to arrive," Yamal said. "For me, we’re the two best teams in the World Cup, but we’re not afraid at all. I think if there’s any team that can confidently go up against France, it’s us."
Regarding potential tactics, Yamal anticipates France will press his team but doubts their ability to sustain that intensity for the entire duration of the match. "I’m expecting a team that will come after us but not for the entire match," he commented. "I don’t think there’s any team that can play us one-on-one all over the pitch. But we all know that France has players of tremendous quality both up top and at the back, and they’re very physical."
Spain intends to stick to their own style of play. "We’ll play the way we know how, and we’ll try to keep possession of the ball."