Hello and welcome to Offside’s preview of the first semi-final: France vs Spain. ‘Dictator’ Mbappé vs ‘Baby Yoda’ Yamal. And to make matters even more wondrous, it is the day France shaped the rest of the world: Bastille Day. France’s National Day is celebrated on July 14 and commemorates a bunch of Parisians who became so angry about having to follow a bread-free diet that they stormed a prison called the Bastille, which was holding only seven prisoners but somehow became the anchor moment of Western civilisation. And then the French celebrated the only way the French can: with wine, fireworks and running nude through the streets. It is a practice that continues to this day, and it is only fitting that France face Spain on their national day, given that the dynasty that once ruled them, the Bourbons, survived across the Pyrenees. France will therefore spend Bastille Day facing the country where the family it overthrew still sits on the throne. And now they face the country that still retains that monarchy, though beating the Spanish might prove a tad more difficult than overthrowing the Bourbons. Match TimingsWednesday, July 15, 12.30am ISTHow they got here France have reached Dallas with the swagger of Napoleon cutting through Europe and look nothing like the team that stumbled through Euro 2024 like a drunk man near the Seine. They won all three group games and dismantled each knockout opponent with disdain. Sweden (3-0), Paraguay (1-0) and Morocco (2-0) all fell to a rampant French side that have scored 16 goals and conceded just two, neither of them in the knockout rounds. They have had 47 shots on target, and the only complaint a coach could have is that they are creating too many chances: akin to saying Superman has a flying problem. The latest Offside guide to the semi-finalists explains just how terrifying this French side have become. Spain’s progress has been quieter. They began with a goalless draw against Cabo Verde, beat Saudi Arabia 4-0 and Uruguay 1-0, then defeated Austria 3-0, Portugal 1-0 and Belgium 2-1. They have scored 11, conceded once and allowed only seven shots on target across six matches. In their last two victories, they have been dependent on Mikel Merino coming off the bench to score late winners against Portugal and Belgium. France look like an unstoppable juggernaut. Spain look like an immovable object. Something’s gotta give tonight. Warrior Watch
The Dictator vs Baby Yoda. Mbappé has treated each World Cup opponent the same way authoritarian regimes treat dissidents: with extreme disdain. He has scored eight goals and supplied three assists at this World Cup, taking his career total to 20 World Cup goals. He is chasing Messi’s all-time record and has already scored more World Cup knockout goals than anyone else. He suffered a minor ankle problem, but France expect him to start. Yamal, on the other hand, may have only one goal and no assists, but that is why football is never only a stats game. Based on numbers alone, no one would have known what a special player Paul Scholes was. The same applies to Yamal, who influences matches in less obvious ways by drawing midfield cover and creating room for his team-mates. And he is only 19, having celebrated his birthday on July 13. He insists he feels no pressure, which is precisely the sort of thing a teenager with no sense of mortality would say. Likely starting XIs
France: Maignan; Koundé, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne; Tchouaméni, Rabiot; Dembélé, Olise, Doué; Mbappé. Spain: Simón; Porro, Cubarsí, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabián, Olmo; Yamal, Oyarzabal, Baena. The latest team news and predicted France and Spain line-ups suggest France will retain their 4-2-3-1, while Spain will line up in a 4-3-3. Battleplan No one in world football keeps the ball like Spain, though their passing can become Quixotic at times. Rodri is back to his pre-injury best and will look to shepherd the midfield and ensure that France cannot cut through Spain the way they have cut through opponents throughout the tournament. Spain will want Mbappé and Dembélé facing their own goal rather than Spain’s. France have to avoid a repeat of the flat four-man press that Spain played through in the 2025 Nations League semi-final, which left Rabiot and his midfield partner defending against the full Spanish Armada. Deschamps will not care if Spain have the ball in the middle of the park, but let Rodri receive it without pressure and France’s defence will be tested more than it has been during the entire tournament. France will look to break quickly because, if Rodri and the defence are given time to reset, they will find a way to block the runners. In fact, more than in any other game, the benches might decide this match. Spain can call upon Merino, Pedri and Nico Williams. France can unleash Rayan Cherki, Barcola and Koné. Another fact that has often been overlooked is that while the French attack has received the plaudits, the defence has become meaner as the tournament has progressed. They conceded twice in the group stage but have not allowed a single knockout opponent to score, with Saliba and Upamecano shutting down everything in front of Maignan while Koundé and Digne have chosen their moments to venture forward. Tchouaméni’s return should give them another layer of protection against Spain’s midfield carousel. Deschamps has built his career on making France difficult to kill, and this version has added enough firepower to destroy opponents at the other end. Spain may monopolise the ball, but they will still have to find a way through a defence that has spent the knockout rounds behaving like Shylock. Down Memory Lane Spain might brag about a head-to-head record in which they have 18 wins to France’s 13, with seven draws, but France can say they won many of the occasions that mattered most. France beat Spain in the Euro 1984 final, eliminated them at Euro 2000 and won their only World Cup meeting 3-1 in 2006, when reports of Zidane’s decline were greatly exaggerated. Spain got the better of France at Euro 2012 before Mbappé handed France victory in the 2021 Nations League final.
The rivalry has since swung decisively towards Spain following the arrival of Messi’s baptised child, Yamal, whose wonder goal knocked France out of Euro 2024 before he helped Spain beat them 5-4 in last year’s Nations League semi-final. This is the third summer in a row that the two teams have met, and while France have the stronger team and superior World Cup pedigree, Spain possess the smugness that comes from having beaten them recently. They also have a wunderkind who does not know the meaning of fear. Stat Attack Non-footballing trivia Bastille Day marked the symbolic beginning of the revolution against Louis XVI’s Bourbon monarchy. Spain’s Bourbon dynasty began with Philip V, the grandson of Louis XIV, and Felipe VI is its current head. The two countries therefore represent very different conclusions to the same royal story: France turned the fall of Bourbon power into its national celebration, while Spain restored the dynasty and retained it within a constitutional monarchy. Dinner Table Conversation France celebrate July 14 by remembering the fall of the Bastille and the defeat of Bourbon power. Yet Bourbon Spain have eliminated them from two successive semi-finals. Can the French Republic finally complete another revolution, or will Yamal and Spain stop Mbappé at the gates of the World Cup final?
