INGLEWOOD, Calif. — In the aftermath of a quarterfinal win that somehow felt at once decisive and uncertain, Spain’s players and coach left no doubt about their confidence or intention in four days’ time.
Awaiting in a World Cup semifinal is France, a team that has looked almost predestined to raise another World Cup trophy.
“If anyone should be afraid it should be them — we knocked them out of the Euros,” Lamine Yamal, the team’s talented young attacker, told reporters. “Obviously we are two great teams, among the best in the world. We’ll see what happens, but we have no fear.”
“Let me be clear, we’re not finished,” added coach Luis de la Fuente, via a translator. “We’re pleased to be here, but we want more.”
On Friday in a 2-1 win over Belgium, Spain once again looked like one of the tournament’s strongest sides. Perhaps no team has a more firm identity. La Roja never seemed to be out of control, dictating the tempo and continually probing Belgium’s back line and midfield as they sought goals. And yet, the win didn’t come easily.
Belgium’s midfield coped despite playing without both Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans, who was lost to injury in pregame warm-ups. When Spain took the lead in the 30th minute and seemed to be gaining confidence, Belgium found a goal through the class of Kevin De Bruyne, a cross from Timothy Castagne and the head of Charles De Ketelaere.
It was the first goal Spain had given up in 649 minutes, the longest such streak in World Cup history.
Spain hardly seemed rattled, though. And while Yamal was unable to find his breakthrough moment, it was the unheralded hero Mikel Merino who, for the third time, scored a decisive goal in a tournament knockout game for his country, following his 119th-minute goal against Germany in Euro 2024 and 92nd-minute finish against Portugal last Monday in the round of 16.
“I feel privileged to be living this,” Merino said after the game, unable to wipe the smile from his face.
The 88th-minute goal fit the identity of a team that has stood out during this World Cup, partly by not really standing out.
In a tournament that has been defined by the sport’s most recognizable faces — the Golden Boot race is between Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Ousmane Dembélé, for goodness sakes — a team that has one of the biggest stars in the sport has gone without a star-driven individual moment.
And yet here they are, still one of the best teams in the tournament. And Yamal, who has just one goal in this tournament, simply smiled when asked if that stat bothered him.
“Honestly, it doesn’t frustrate me,” Yamal said. “I won the European Championship scoring just one goal. If we win the World Cup, I don’t think anyone in this room is going to tell me, ‘You didn’t score.’ We’ve won, and that’s what matters. As long as we keep advancing, I’ll be very happy.”
Yamal acknowledged that the France semifinal is the game, “everyone has been waiting for.” Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said he believed “whoever wins that semifinal will be the world champion.”
“For me, these are the two best teams in the tournament,” Yamal said.
Mikel Merino stabs past Senne Lammens (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Spain, of course, has twice before beaten this France team. First, a 2-1 win in the Euro 2024 semifinal; then in a 5-4 thriller in the UEFA Nations League in June 2025. Yamal scored in both of those games. A reporter asked the winger, who turns 19 on Monday, if it is impossible not to be motivated to confront France for a third time, and to square off with Mbappe.
“Yes, I’m looking forward to it,” he answered, bluntly.
It will be, as De la Fuente said, a clash of styles. France has loads of attacking talent and flair. They run at teams with abandon. They can attack into open space in transition, or create in tight spaces around the box. Their talent is simply overwhelming.
Spain has been a team that prefers to keep the ball and almost wear teams down with their consistency and solidity. They averaged 69 percent possession in the group stage and essentially matched that against Belgium. They have been suffocating defensively.
“I expect a team that will come after us, but not press us one-on-one all over the field for the entire match,” Yamal said. “I don’t think any national team is going to play us man-to-man across the whole pitch. We all know France has tremendous quality, both in attack and defense. They’re a very physical team. But we’ll play our game. We’ll try to keep possession of the ball.”
Mikel Merino celebrates his winner (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Spain’s Nico Williams said they learned from previous matches that the game would be decided by “the tiny details.”
“We know how we play, and we know how they play,” Williams said. “I’ve really been looking forward to this match because it’s where we’ll truly see what we’re made of and how badly we want to lift this trophy.
De la Fuente said Friday he has “conviction,” in his team and their approach. Why wouldn’t he? The manager has lost just twice in his tenure as national team coach and now has a team that has gone unbeaten in 13 consecutive games at the World Cup and European Championship.
He has built the identity of the team around the concept of the strength of the group over any individual.
“I was reading a book from Marcus Aurelius: ‘Things that are bad for the hive are bad for the bee,’” he said in his pregame press conference on Thursday. “Every one of us has to think about the group and we do that well because we have excellent people.”
The belief in that identity has taken one of the strongest rosters in this tournament and convinced everyone to buy in. “The coach is the first one to remind us that we’re all important, from the first player to the last,” said Williams, who has come off the bench in this tournament.
As this team moves into the final stages of the World Cup, though, it is beginning to feel like a moment where it needs its star player to step up.
Yamal seems to sense the moment, too. And declare that he, like his team, will be ready for it.
“I arrive with a lot of confidence,” he said. “I know everything is going to go well. It’s going to be a very special day.”
