After a 2-1 victory over Belgium in the quarterfinals, Spain will face France in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup on July 15. This is considered a balanced match between the two leading candidates for the championship.
Speaking after the victory over Belgium, Yamal said that Spain has enough confidence as they have continuously defeated France in recent encounters.
If France has to be afraid of any team, it is us. We have eliminated them before and have beaten them twice. I think these are the two strongest teams in this World Cup, but Spain is not afraid at all," the Barcelona player shared.
In the past three years, Spain has overcome France twice, including a victory in the EURO 2024 semi-finals and a victory in the UEFA Nations League 2025. That achievement adds confidence to coach Luis de la Fuente's team before the rematch.
Coach De la Fuente also assessed France as Spain's biggest challenge since the beginning of the tournament, but believes his players are capable enough to win.
We understand France's strength very well but also know that we can beat them. This will be a match that requires high intensity and Spain must show the best version," the 64-year-old strategist said.
In the quarter-final match against Belgium, Yamal made his 6th appearance at the 2026 World Cup, thereby becoming the player under 19 years old with the most appearances in the history of the tournament. Before that, he also went down in history when he became the second youngest player to score a goal at a World Cup, only after legend Pele.
Although he has only scored 1 goal after 6 matches at the 2026 World Cup, Yamal is still an important factor in coach De la Fuente's system thanks to his ability to create breakthroughs on the right wing.
Assessing Spain's journey, Yamal said that the team has not created many victories with a large gap because opponents all choose a tight defensive style of play.
Maybe many people think we haven't played at our best, but in fact the opponents all retreated when facing Spain. The important thing is that we still won and were in the semi-finals," the 18-year-old striker said.
While France aims to participate in the World Cup final for the third consecutive time, Spain aims to play in the final match of the tournament for the second time in history after winning the championship in 2010.
