(foto: Getty Images)
Spain has reached the World Cup semi-finals without fully convincing. Against France, possession alone will not be enough to book a place in the final.
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Comment: Alongside France, and perhaps Argentina, Spain has looked like one of the strongest contenders to win the 2026 World Cup. Yet after six matches, there is still one uncomfortable question surrounding Luis de la Fuente's side.
How good is this Spain team, really?
The results have been excellent. The performances have been efficient. But unlike the vibrant side that conquered Europe at Euro 2024, this version of Spain has rarely looked irresistible.
There is a perfectly logical explanation.
De la Fuente arrived at the tournament without two of the players who gave that European Championship-winning team its explosive identity. Injuries robbed Spain of much of the width and verticality that made it so dangerous, forcing the coach to adapt.
The result is a team that often resembles Spain's 2010 World Cup champions more than the exciting side of two years ago. Possession remains the foundation, although not to the same obsessive extent. Patience has replaced acceleration.
Against Belgium, there were encouraging signs.
Lamine Yamal finally looked physically closer to his best, bringing greater unpredictability to Spain's attack. Even so, something still felt incomplete.
Belgium did an excellent job of limiting Spain's attacking rhythm, and before Thibaut Courtois was forced off through injury, the match remained finely balanced. Spain deserved to win, but it never truly overwhelmed its opponent.
A similar pattern emerged in the previous round against Portugal.
Nuno Mendes spent much of the match neutralising Yamal before leaving injured in the second half. That substitution significantly changed the dynamics of the contest, just as Courtois' departure did against Belgium.
There is another reason for caution.
Spain has not yet faced an opponent willing and able to challenge it for control of possession. Every team has defended deep, accepted long periods without the ball and attempted to frustrate De la Fuente's side with compact defensive blocks.
As a result, Spain has spent much of the tournament operating comfortably within its preferred rhythm. Even goalkeeper Unai Simón conceded his first goal of the World Cup only in the quarter-finals.
France will change everything.
This will not be another opponent content to sit back and wait. Didier Deschamps has assembled a team capable of matching Spain technically while carrying perhaps the most devastating attacking unit left in the tournament.
On paper, Spain may still enjoy a slight advantage in midfield. But once possession changes hands, France becomes a completely different challenge.
Lose the ball against Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise or Désiré Doué, and the punishment can arrive within seconds. Mbappé needs almost no space to decide a match. Olise creates opportunities where none appear to exist. France's transitions are among the fastest in international football.
That is why simply dominating possession will not be enough.
If Spain falls back into the slow, methodical football that has characterised much of this tournament, it risks walking directly into France's greatest strength. The European champions must rediscover the verticality, movement and aggression that defined their Euro 2024 triumph.
The semi-final promises to become a fascinating tactical battle, with both teams determined to control the midfield. The difference is that France possesses perhaps the world's most lethal attack when space opens up.
Spain has reached the last four by controlling matches on its own terms. Against France, those terms no longer exist. For the first time at this World Cup, De la Fuente's team will have to prove it can win without the comfort of playing on autopilot.