Spain Vs France Semi-Finals Preview
The World Cup has finally reached its semi-final stage, with Spain facing France in a titan-vs-titan battle. Neither team has lost, nor have they seemed to be in trouble whatsoever in this tournament, yet both are completely different teams heading into this.
France has been nothing short of dominant throughout the tournament. Even in what many considered the group of death, France won all their games and did so in fantastic fashion. Their front three have been deadly, to say the least: Kylian Mbappé is lighting up the scoresheet with eight goals, while Michael Olise has five assists and is one shy of the all-time record for assists in a single World Cup tournament. The defending Ballon d’Or winner, Ousmane Dembélé, has shined as well with five goals and two assists. But there's more! That is the absurdity of this French team: Désiré Doué is coming off an incredible double for PSG and continues to perform, and their B team of forwards would start in any other nation with the likes of Bradley Barcola, Rayan Cherki, and Marcus Thuram.
Not just that, but defensively it has been nothing but excellence. William Saliba is proving why his transfer value is in the nine digits, being an absolute wall. However, someone who has been tremendously impressive is Dayot Upamecano. After an incredible season with Bayern, he has continued to impress, putting himself in the discussion as possibly the best defender in the tournament and in the world. In the tournament itself, he has 52 defensive contributions, 14 tackles, 12 interceptions, and 29 duels won. Even though Saliba’s transfer value is double Upamecano’s, both are performing like nine-digit players.
Spain, however, has been the other dominant team in this tournament, even if it has not been as flashy as their French counterpart. Flash aside, they conceded their first goal in their last match against Belgium; other than that blemish, it has been a fortress, as the old guard of Aymeric Laporte and former Ballon d’Or winner Rodri has mixed well with the new generation of La Masia products Pau Cubarsí and Pedri to maintain possession and facilitate any game scenario.
Their Golden Boy, Lamine Yamal, is not on the G/A list alongside the other stars in this tournament, but his talent needs to be showcased on a stage like this. Their top goalscorer, Mikel Oyarzabal, has done the job with four goals and one assist, silencing all the doubters about the lack of strikers in the Spain national team. Historically, Spain has gotten the better of France on three of the last four occasions. What the Spaniards do so well is slow the game down and control every inch of the game. Their composure in this tournament needs to continue if they want to head into the finals.
What-to-Watch
Other than the superstars, one of the biggest factors in this matchup is the midfield battle. Spain has been fantastic at shutting the game down and playing at their pace, but if they lose focus at any point in this battle with Adrien Rabiot and Kouadio Koné, France's counterattack can seal a win in the blink of an eye. Spain not only needs to depend on their midfield, but also serious questions must be raised about their starboy's ability to shine here; Spain cannot win without a fantastic performance from the eighteen-year-old.
This game will be held in the Dallas Stadium at 3 PM on July 14th; many had this as their possible final, yet this treat will be given to us in the semifinal on Tuesday!
