Lamine Yamal Confident Ahead of Spain's Semifinal Showdown with France

Ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinal against France, Spain's Lamine Yamal has conveyed a fearless attitude, recalling past victories and expressing confidence in his team's abilities. Following a successful quarter-final against Belgium, Yamal's remarks highlight Spain's determination to reach the final. With an impressive unbeaten streak, Spain aims to continue their pursuit of another World Cup title. Discover more about Yamal's insights and Spain's journey in this thrilling tournament.

By Narendra Chaudhary Jul 11, 2026, 04:19 IST

Yamal's Fearless Attitude Before Semifinal

California, July 11: Lamine Yamal, the forward for Spain, has expressed unwavering confidence as La Roja prepares to face France in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinals. He emphasized that his team is undaunted by the challenge posed by one of the tournament's top contenders.

In an interview with TV Espana, Yamal reflected on Spain's past triumphs against France, asserting that his squad is ready to take on the European powerhouse. "If anyone should be afraid, it should be them — we eliminated them from the Euros. Both teams are exceptional, among the best globally. We’ll see how it unfolds, but we are fearless," he stated.

Yamal also shared his thoughts on Spain's quarter-final win over Belgium, expressing joy at reaching another semifinal and a strong desire to advance to the final. "We’re thrilled to be in the semifinals again (after the Euros). Our goal is to push through to the final," he remarked.

He praised Spain's overall performance, claiming they were the superior team, even though Belgium managed to score during Spain's dominant phase. "We were clearly the better side, but Belgium found the net when we were at our peak," he noted.

Discussing the challenges of facing teams that adopt a defensive strategy against Spain's attacking play, Yamal commented, "No team really comes out to challenge us; they all prefer to defend. It makes things tougher, but ultimately, we secured the win."

In the match, Fabian Ruiz was surprisingly chosen to start over Pedri, and substitute Mikel Merino scored for Spain, while Belgium's Charles De Ketelaere netted a goal. The match also saw goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois exit due to injury.

Ruiz opened the scoring after Courtois deflected Dani Olmo's shot into his path. Spain continued to apply pressure, with Yamal's energetic performance earning him the Player of the Match title.

Belgium equalized just before halftime when Kevin De Bruyne set up Timothy Castagne, whose accurate cross was headed in by De Ketelaere, who timed his run perfectly.

This goal ended Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon's impressive streak of 560 consecutive World Cup minutes without conceding, surpassing the previous record of 517 minutes held by Italy's Walter Zenga from 1990.

Belgium faced a significant blow in the 71st minute when Courtois had to leave the field due to injury, replaced by Senne Lammens. The substitute keeper was soon beaten when he failed to secure Pau Cubarsi's long-range shot, allowing Merino to score the decisive goal.

This victory marked Spain's 36th consecutive match without a loss since their defeat to Colombia, matching Argentina's unbeaten streak from 2019 to 2022 and leaving them just one match shy of Italy's world-record 37-match unbeaten run.

Spain is now set to clash with France in a highly anticipated semifinal as they pursue another FIFA World Cup title.