Spain advanced to the semifinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday, but its latest victory joined a list of unimpressive performances that it’s had during this tournament.
“I don’t know if it’s a great team,” Alexi Lalas said on Friday’s “State of the Union.” “The rhythm and the beauty, for lack of a better word, that we’ve associated with them has not yet really found its way in this tournament.
Spain narrowly beat Belgium 2-1 in their quarterfinals matchup on Friday, with goals from Fabián Ruiz and Mikel Merino, the latter of whom scored the 88th-minute match-winner. In the background of it all was Lamine Yamal, who went a fourth-straight match without recording a goal contribution.
“Lamine Yamal, once again, was stymied,” Lalas said. “That’s a credit to Belgium, but he’s yet to have a breakout type of game.”
Luis de la Fuente has continued to count on Yamal due to the 18-tear-old’s unquestionable talent, but Yamal’s teammates have put pressure on him with their performances off of the bench.
“He plays on a team with plenty of talent, including the ability to make changes that come on and obviously affected the game here,” Lalas said.
But Spain’s problems on offense go far beyond Yamal.
The goal Spain gave up on Friday was the first it conceded all tournament, but Yamal and the Spanish attack have largely underwhelmed. Spain has scored 11 goals in six matches, but has scored two or fewer goals in four of its matches.
Yamal has been front-and-center of those scoring struggles. He’s only scored once in this tournament and has yet to record an assist, logging an xG (expected goals) of 1.54 and xA (expected assists) of 1.01. And even though Yamal won Man of the Match on Friday, he struggled to get quality touches in the box. Just two of his six shots were on target, too.
Lalas didn’t go as far as to say that Yamal should be benched against France. However, he implied that Spain got lucky with its win on Friday, considering that Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois departed the game in the 71st minute due to injury.
“It’s not just taking off a goalkeeper; it’s taking off one of the great goalkeepers in the world,” Lalas said. “And, as the soccer Gods would have it, it ultimately leads to the goal that Spain wins the game on. Spain goes on. What more can you say about this game?”
Spain vs Belgium Extended Highlights 🌎🏆 2026 FIFA World Cup™
As Lalas alluded to, Spain scored the game-winning goal in the 88th minute when Mikel Merino buried a rebound opportunity after Belgium goalkeeper Senne Lemmens failed to corral a save.
Still, Spain is in the semifinals for the first time since it won the World Cup in 2010. It’s also going up against a France squad that it has fared well against in recent years, winning its last two matches against France. One of those matches was the semifinals at UEFA Euro 2024, and Yamal has won all five knockout stage matches against Kylian Mbappé in his career (including club).
But as Yamal and Spain might feel confident ahead of Tuesday’s semifinal, France has arguably looked like the best team of the tournament. Les Bleus have won their first six matches, outscoring their opponents by 14 goals so far.
That’s why Lalas believes Spain is an underdog to France in the semifinal.
“Based on this tournament’s performance, I wouldn’t put it at 50/50, but I wouldn’t put it out of the realm of possibility that Spain wins,” Lalas said. “You can even hear them in the way they were talking after the game about what is to come. They certainly don’t fear France, nor should they. They’ve matched up well against them.
“But this particular version of Spain, in this particular moment, if you compare and contrast with what France is, I think the logical conclusion is that the favorite is France. So, I don’t think it’s a 50/50 proposition.”
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