00:00Spain vs France, a semi-final that nobody really needed to sell.
00:04Because when the draw was made and people started talking about who could go deep in this World Cup,
00:09this was the fixture everyone circled as the potential final.
00:13Not the semi-final, the final.
00:15But football has its own timeline, and instead of meeting at the very last hurdle,
00:20these two sides are going to settle this one match early.
00:23One of them walks away with a final place, the other goes home.
00:27No consolation, no second chance.
00:30Just pure football pressure at its most brutal.
00:33Before we get into what Spain showed against Belgium,
00:36let us go back to the last time these two nations shared a pitch.
00:40Adrian Rabiot opened his mouth and essentially handed Lamine Yamal a challenge on a silver plate.
00:46He said the teenager needed to step up in the big moments.
00:49He said the kid had to score in matches that mattered.
00:52So what did Yamal do?
00:54He went and put the ball in the net, walked past Rabiot, and let the goal do the talking.
01:00There is history here.
01:01There is needle here.
01:02And when you have Kylian Mbappe on one side and Lamine Yamal on the other,
01:07you do not need any more reasons to be excited.
01:10But the extra context makes this thing electric.
01:13Now, about the Belgium game.
01:15Spain got through 2-1.
01:17They are in the last four.
01:18But if you are being honest with yourself, you would not call that performance convincing in the traditional sense.
01:25The goals came from moments rather than from sustained dominance.
01:28The first one arrived because Castiles spilled the ball and Fabian Ruiz was sharp enough to punish it.
01:34The second one, late in the game, came off a fumble from the Belgium backup keeper Sainz-Lemmes.
01:40And Mikel Merino did what Mikel Merino does.
01:44He was in the right place and he finished it.
01:46So two goals from two goalkeeping errors.
01:49Belgium were not ripped apart.
01:51Spain did not open them up with 15 passes and a killer through ball.
01:55It was scrappy.
01:56It was tight.
01:57And for long stretches, it was uncomfortable viewing.
02:00But here is where I think people are slightly missing the point when they say Spain looked unconvincing.
02:06Think about what Spain actually did in that match.
02:09They took a Belgium side that had been building some momentum that had overloaded down the right flank well to
02:15score their goal.
02:16And they completely shut that down for the rest of the game.
02:19Belgium kept trying to recreate those same overload scenarios on that right channel.
02:25Spain read it, covered it, and refused Kevin them a second look at goal.
02:29That is not an accident.
02:30That is a well-organized defensive unit doing its job to the letter.
02:35And this has been a pattern in this World Cup.
02:37Against Portugal, Spain were patient.
02:40They waited.
02:41They managed the game.
02:42They got their moment and added time.
02:45Against Belgium, same script, different chapter.
02:48The man at the heart of all of this is Rodri.
02:50If you looked at the touch map from this game, Rodri had the most touches on the pitch.
02:56He covered ground in all directions.
02:58Two ground duels won.
03:00Two recoveries.
03:01Two clearances.
03:02And that is before you even count the passing volume.
03:05This is the Rodri we saw at the Euros.
03:07This is the Rodri we saw when he was at his absolute peak with Manchester City.
03:12He has been quietly elite throughout this tournament.
03:15And the conversation around him does not feel proportional to what he is actually doing on the pitch every single
03:21week.
03:21The decision to leave Pedri out from the start raised eyebrows.
03:25But Fabian Ruiz justified that call immediately by scoring.
03:30The thing with Fabian versus Pedri is that they offer very different things.
03:34Pedri is your deep line playmaker.
03:37He operates in those second lines.
03:39He unlocks spaces.
03:40He connects the midfield to the attack with short, crisp combinations.
03:45Fabian is more box to box.
03:47He covers more ground physically.
03:48He arrives in dangerous areas.
03:51And today, that box arrival turned into a goal.
03:54Pedri came on in the second half and the tempo did shift towards Spain.
03:58They looked more in control.
04:00But there were a couple of sloppy moments from him that you just cannot afford against a France side that
04:06will press and press and press.
04:08Against France, Pedri has to be absolutely at his sharpest.
04:12Not average Pedri.
04:13Best Pedri.
04:14Now Dani Omo.
04:15I want to spend a moment here because his performance was one of the best individual displays I have seen
04:21from him.
04:21One wrong pass in the entire game.
04:24Just one.
04:25He completed three of three dribbles in tight situations.
04:28He won four of five duels.
04:30And perhaps most underrated was his defensive contribution in the opening 45 minutes where he dropped into a deeper role
04:38to help Rodri and Ruiz build out of Belgium's high press.
04:41He read the pressing triggers.
04:43He found angles.
04:44He kept Spain ticking in moments when Belgium were trying to force errors.
04:48And that defensive tackle he made on a Belgium counterattack, stretching his leg out at full extension to nick the
04:55ball back.
04:55That was a midfield masterclass.
04:57Pedro Porro had 101 touches as a right back.
05:01101.
05:02That number tells you everything about how central he is to the way Luis de la Fuente wants Spain to
05:08play.
05:09He supports Lamine Yamal constantly.
05:11He provides the overlapping run.
05:13And he gives Spain an extra option down that right flank that opponents really struggle to account for.
05:19Speaking of Yamal, he is 18 years old.
05:2218.
05:22And he is already the most threatening player in that Spain squad.
05:27Every time he gets the ball in wide positions, the entire defensive shape of the opposition shifts.
05:33He delivered crosses.
05:34He drove into the box.
05:35He cut inside.
05:36The only thing missing was a goal or an assist.
05:39But the influence was there.
05:41The danger was there.
05:42He needs to turn that influence into output against France because France are not a team that you can afford
05:48to be wasteful against.
05:50Ferran Torres came on at around the 55-minute mark and looked genuinely sharp.
05:55His link-up play, his hold-up work, his awareness when releasing the ball quickly, it was all there.
06:01He was tidy and direct and exactly what Spain needed off the bench to push Belgium back.
06:06And then there is Mikel Marino, a guy that many people questioned when the squad was named.
06:11He missed virtually the entire season at Arsenal through injury.
06:15People asked why he was even there.
06:17But two knockout games in, Portugal, Belgium, two goals, both decisive.
06:23He is the definition of a big game player, and you cannot coach that mentality.
06:28It lives in certain players, and it absolutely lives in Mikel Marino.
06:32There is one question hanging over Spain heading into the France game, and it is about the goalkeeper situation.
06:39Unai Simon conceded one goal today, and there were moments where he looked uncertain.
06:44He is not a bad goalkeeper, but David Raya is arguably the best goalkeeper in the world right now,
06:50and Joan Garcia has also looked excellent when given the opportunity.
06:55Against France, you are going to face Mbappe running at you with pace,
06:59Dembele cutting inside, Barcola stretching the line,
07:03Olisse spinning in one-versus-one situations.
07:06Those players will test whoever is in goal.
07:09That position deserves the very best option available.
07:12The concern for Spain against France is recovery pace.
07:15Their back line is technically excellent, but France's front line is built on raw speed.
07:21Mbappe goes in behind, Barcola goes in behind,
07:24and Spain's center backs, while disciplined and brave,
07:27are not the quickest when they have to turn and chase.
07:30The midfield will also face physicality from Chouameni and Camavinga
07:35that is very different from what they face today.
07:37So the tactical challenge for De La Fuente is enormous.
07:40But here's what I keep coming back to.
07:43This Spain team finds a way.
07:45They have not blown anyone away with 20 shots and 5 goals.
07:49But they have not lost either.
07:51They manage games, they absorb pressure.
07:54And then, in a moment of quality,
07:56or in a moment of the opposition making an error,
07:59they take their chance and they do not waste it.
08:02That is not lucky football.
08:04That is mature football.
08:05Belgium go home with their golden generation finally reaching its curtain call.
08:11De Bruyne, Lukaku, Courtois, probably all done at this level internationally.
08:16It is bittersweet, but the time has come.
08:19Spain move forward.
08:20France await.
08:21And honestly, I cannot wait.
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