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10 hours ago
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When the World Cup came to North America, with its final held in the planet’s biggest media market, the tournament was bound to fixate on stars.
Fox’s coverage certainly enables that bias. Every game is billed like a boxing bout between two über-talented footballers rather than 22 players figuring things out across 90 minutes. One semi-final has been distilled down to MESSI v KANE (or MESSI v BELLINGHAM, depending on the broadcaster). The other leaned heavily on hope that Lamine Yamal’s hamstring would finally be at 100% after his April injury. MBAPPÉ v 600 PASSES PER GAME isn’t so snappy.
Spain, despite entering as Europe’s reigning champions, have not garnered the same adoration in their run to a second World Cup final as their fellow semi-finalists. Many wondered how they could possibly contend with France. Online skeptics dished out a greater dishonor, accusing Luis de la Fuente’s side of being boring.
There was no hero’s shot of Spain’s coach bellowing to the 70,176 fans in Dallas, asking whether they were not entertained. That isn’t the prize he and his charges are after. Any viewer is allowed to think Spain are dull compared with more breakneck alternatives at this World Cup, but as France learned on Tuesday, their approach is lethal when executed as planned.
At Euro 2024, De la Fuente’s side operated in a similar style en route to their fourth continental title. They were a team determined to finish their opponents by making them suffer without the ball. Rodri cemented his Ballon d’Or case by anchoring the midfield and affording his teammates greater attacking involvement with expert shielding. Álvaro Morata made his critics eat crow by finishing the chances provided to him, finally the line-leader to actualize Spain’s potential. On either flank was one of the world’s trickiest young wingers: Nico Williams to his left, Lamine Yamal to his right.
Most of those pieces returned for this World Cup. From the back, Unai Simón has left his box with some regularity as the team station themselves further upfield. Rodri has been in rare form this summer, a refreshing sight after his injury-riddled 2025-26 that followed the previous year’s anterior cruciate ligament tear. Fabián Ruiz has stepped up as a capable double-pivot partner, spraying balls up the flank if the lanes to Dani Olmo aren’t glowing.
And yet, most of the focus has been on Spain’s relative inability to turn top-notch team play into goals. Lamine Yamal and Williams arrived fresh off of spring injuries; Williams has earned 98 minutes through seven matches and Lamine Yamal is not quite at his unplayable best. Morata missed out on this World Cup squad owing to poor form with Como. In sum, Spain’s brilliant buildup has too often withered upon entering the final third.
System play like Spain’s looks far less glamorous without a commanding frontman. Like Queen without Freddie Mercury or U2 without Bono, even the best basslines and beats become background noise without someone commanding attention. A healthier Lamine Yamal might have been that kind of player, but in reality this has been a World Cup dominated by strikers and goalkeepers, not the inverted wingers who have come to dominate the Champions League and Premier League in recent years.
Then again, Lamine Yamal did make a crucial impact on the game against France. Attackers know to look for overcommitted and unaware defenders making off-ground clearances, as Mathys Tel found in May. As Lucas Digne readied to side-volley a clearance, he created a window for Lamine Yamal to exploit without the ball. There’s no assist on Lamine Yamal’s ledger for drawing a penalty, but his was an act which created a 0.78-xG chance in a game of fine margins.
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From there, Spain’s control and flawless execution overcame France’s more variable chaos. Aside from against Paraguay, a team playing with less talent on paper, France played over and through lesser-organized opposition. Their ruthlessness against those opponents branded them as tournament favorites despite a fairly plush path to the quarter-final. Morocco were supposed to give the test they needed but showed up in Foxborough looking dazed and out of ideas before the opening whistle.
Spain were hardly so timid, having beaten France at the same stage of Euro 2024 and the 2025 Uefa Nations League. Few national teams have the synergy of Spain, with so many of their players having come up in the post-Guardiola era. This is the football they aspired to play. These are the games they dreamed of winning. And, thanks to incredible commitment to their defensive responsibilities, they did so while cutting off a previously goal-drunken France.
Granted, the argument for De la Fuente’s pragmatism grows weaker if Spain don’t capitalize on the luck they created. If Lamine Yamal doesn’t draw that penalty, France wouldn’t be on their backfoot before half-time. If Olmo can’t thread that perfect ball into Pedro Porro’s stride while taking contact, there’s no two-goal cushion. The worst-case scenario played out in their draw against Cape Verde, yet De la Fuente stuck by his principles. After all, a team as good as Spain can break through more often than not if everybody is on the same page.
Spain are designed to make opponents suffer if they aren’t at their best. It’s a model that can work against any team in international football. Even – and, given three semi-finals’ worth of evidence, especially – mighty France.
