Spain are into the final of the FIFA World Cup after a wonderful tactical performance put them past tournament favourites France 2-0 in Dallas last night. France never seemed to really get going in what was in essence, a one-sided match; Didier Deschamps’ team were timid in attack and open in defence, a situation that left Luis de la Fuente’s men salivating at the mouth, knowing that a place in the final was up for grabs. And they took that place, with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring a penalty after Lamine Yamal was clipped by Lucas Digne in the area. That goal was followed by Spurs full-back Pedro Porro slotting home with half an hour to go, capping off a tactical display of pure class, limiting the French to two shots on target all night, and rendering stars like Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele completely useless, and that was mainly down to how de la Fuente set up his midfield trio of Rodri, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo. Olmo played as a roaming 10, giving Spain the midfield dominance they so sorely needed; when he dropped deep, the midfield duel was a 3V2. France’s defence was passive and rather sluggish, with their mentality seeming to be orientated around zonal defending instead of targeting individuals, which was combatted by Spain using their full-backs more offensively, meaning France had to defend against a winger, and defender. Desire Doue wasn’t able to pick up the run of Pedro Porro which led to the second goal, showing that the astute nature of how de la Fuente sets up his teams was on full display.
So Spain are in the greatest game in football, which gets going in East Rutherford on Sunday at 8pm, and they’ll be joined by either England or Argentina, who do battle in Atlanta, at 8pm tonight. There’s no doubt that if England win tonight, it’s the second biggest win they’ve ever had, save for their 4-2 triumph in the final against West Germany in 1966. England have proved they can get to finals, what they now need to prove is that they can win them, but it is far easier said than done against an Argentina squad that may be less powerful than the group that won the tournament in 2022, but are still the defending champions. They cannot be underestimated. The battle lines have been drawn. It’s Pickford V Martinez, Bellingham V Messi and Tuchel V Scaloni. Tuchel has said that getting to this stage is “a momentous occasion.” It certainly is. This is the biggest game of his managerial career, and this is a man who’s coached teams like Chelsea to the Champions League.
The match has also interestingly been labelled as the highest-risk game of the World Cup by the FBI. But hopefully all the drama will come on the pitch, and not in the stands. By 11pm this evening, it’ll either be a rematch of the final at Euro 2024 between Spain and England, or the most impactful passing of the torch match ever, as Messi hands it to Yamal, if the Argentinians win in Atlanta this evening.
