Spain was underestimated compared to France before the semi-final took place. The opponent is the team with the most fearsome attack in the tournament, while many positions of La Roja have not yet achieved the expected form. But when the match ended, everyone understood even more the meaning of the two words "collective" in football.
When the final whistle sounded, Kylian Mbappe - the number 1 star of the tournament frowned and bowed his head in disappointment. The main striker of France showed so much helplessness that he rushed at goalkeeper Unai Simon with a bitter attitude. He had a few shots in the match but all were unsuccessful, completely different from his performance in the previous 6 matches.
Not only Mbappe, all the bright stars of Les Bleus were powerless against Spain's too tight defense and ball control system. Goalkeeper Simon also did not have any spectacular saves. All as proof of a perfect match for La Roja. But looking back at the past 3 years, this is just a common standard for the reigning European champions.
In the past 3 years, Spain has won the 2023 Nations League, reached the 2025 final, interspersed with the EURO 2024 championship. In that streak of form, La Roja has defeated Italy 2 times; with England, Germany, Norway, Portugal, Belgium and France all 3 times. If counting in 120 minutes of matches in official tournaments, Spain is unbeaten 37 matches, the longest number for a national team in history!
Many people seem surprised when Spain beat France so easily, but if you look at the strength of this team under Luis de la Fuente, this is not surprising. If there is any comment after the match, Didier Deschamps should blame himself for misjudging the opponent's strength. Spain does not need to be better than themselves in previous times when defeating France, just keeping everything the same is more than enough.
Spain does not need a new tactical system that is too sophisticated, just doing every detail on the field is enough to defeat the opponent. They cut off the connection of the French midfielder duo, stopped the explosion of Michael Olise, prevented any sudden situations of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele. On the two wing corridors, the Marc Cucurella and Pedro Porro duo just need to play like any other match is more than enough for those facing directly to not be able to get the ball up.
Except for Lamine Yamal who is too outstanding, almost all other Spanish players are not magnets attracting media like the factors on the French side. They do not need to be a collection of the brightest stars in the world, but when combined, they are the strongest team on the planet at this time. France could not have a single shot on target in 82 minutes, which is proof of the helplessness from the top stars against a perfect team.
Watching Spain play against France shows that any team must be built from the midfield foundation. They are the ones who stabilize the playing style, create connections between the lines and control the game. Fortunately for La Roja in recent years, they have never lacked good midfielders, even there are people of the highest level like Rodri, the owner of the 2024 Golden Ball.
We are showing perfection through each match. Spain always plays like a cohesive team, that is the key to the team still being undefeated at this time" - Luis de la Fuente shared.
In 2010 when winning the World Cup for the first time and also the only time to date, Spain only conceded 2 goals in the entire campaign. Two years later when winning EURO 2012, they also only had 1 goal scored by the opponent. Up to this point at the 2026 World Cup, only Belgium in the quarter-finals successfully broke the net of Spain once. The rest are all helpless, including the most strong team like France.
When the clocks on the electronic board began to score the last minutes of injury time, the television camera moved to the stands, where the 2010 World Cup champions of Spain such as Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos and Xavi were closely following their juniors. Everyone understood that their legacy of playing style and strength was still intact after 16 years.
