Lamine Yamal says France should be the team feeling the pressure ahead of Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final after insisting Spain have nothing to fear from Didier Deschamps’ side.
Spain booked their place in the last four thanks to Mikel Merino’s late winner against Belgium, while France overcame Morocco to continue their bid for a third consecutive World Cup final appearance.
The two European heavyweights will meet in Arlington next week.
Spain have enjoyed recent success against France, knocking them out of Euro 2024 and the Nations League in 2025, and Yamal believes that history should give his side confidence.
“If France should fear anyone, it’s us,” the Barcelona winger said after Spain’s victory over Belgium.
“We have knocked them out before. We have beat them two times.
“Honestly, I think we’re the two best teams at the World Cup, so we’ll see what happens, but we do not have any fear.”
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De la Fuente confident Spain can deliver
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente echoed Yamal’s confidence but acknowledged the size of the challenge awaiting his team in Texas.
France are seeking a third successive World Cup final after winning the competition in 2018 and finishing runners-up to Argentina four years later.
“The expectations are very, very high for the next game,” De la Fuente said.
“We’re concentrated on this next game and very well aware of the potential of our opponent at the next game.
“But also we are very clear that we are able to beat France.
“We have the quality and it’s a semi-final again. We’ve had a semi-final against them. We were successful.
“The game will be very demanding. It’ll be energetic. We’ll need to have the best version of ourselves.”
Spain still searching for top gear
Despite reaching the semi-finals, Spain have yet to fully convince during the tournament.
After opening with a goalless draw against Cape Verde, they secured victories over Saudi Arabia and Uruguay to top their group before seeing off Austria in the Round of 32.
Their quarter-final route proved more dramatic, with Merino scoring late winners against both Portugal and Belgium to keep Spain’s hopes alive.
Yamal believes opponents’ defensive tactics have prevented Spain from showing their best football.
“It may seem as if we’re not playing great, but every team we play sits back against us,” he said.
“No one has gone toe-to-toe with us, but in the end we got the win again today. That is the most important thing.
“We are really happy to be in the semi-final. We’ve been here for a long time now and we want to stay until the final.”
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