France vs. Spain: La Roja "will need to be a lot better" to stand chance of beating 'favourites' in 2026 World Cup semi-final

Ahead of Spain's 2026 World Cup semi-final against France, Sports Mole's Football Editor Matt Law discusses La Roja's chances of success.

Matt Law, Football Editor: "These are proper football matches"

I was devastated when Senne Lammens made that mistake. What a player he was for Man United last season. You had to feel for him. 

I'm sure a lot of rival fans wouldn't have felt for a Manchester United player, but that's how it works. I think it was an awkward game for Spain, probably more awkward than a lot of people expected. 

I think Belgium have been better than a lot of people thought they would be. I don't think how difficult they made it was particularly surprising, but it was awkward for Spain and it wasn't that pretty. 

The statistics suggest Spain deserved to win and I definitely feel that way. You can generally tell when you watch a football match who's the better side and who deserves to win, and I haven't seen a strong argument that Belgium deserved to come out on top. 

Spain will need to be better. They will need to be a lot better than they were against Belgium if they are to have a chance of overcoming France. 

Interestingly, a lot of the players involved in that Euros semi-final between these teams will be involved in this game as well. 

Talking about players that might start: Simon in goal, Laporte in the middle of the defence. Will it be the same midfield? Ruiz got the nod in that game. 

It would be a big call to leave Pedri out of this team. You fancy Pedri will come back into the side, but Fabian Ruiz was one of Spain's better players last time out against Belgium, so that's a big call. 

Yamal and Morata led the line on that Euros occasion. Now it'll be Oyarzabal. Nico Williams came off the bench against Belgium, which was good to see given his fitness problems last season, so it would be a big surprise to see him start. 

From France's point of view, Tchouameni looks like he's going to be okay, which is a big boost for them. I think France win this game. 

I'm not sure what being the best team even means anymore. I see a lot of people saying Spain are the best team, but France have got the best player, and I think it's even in terms of quality. Mbappe has been better than Yamal at this World Cup. That's just the way it is. 

He's contributed more. Yamal has been a bit iffy, with his fitness problems before the tournament. But he remains an elite talent that could have a huge say on this game. 

I just think France are going to be too strong. Spain will have lots of the ball. 

But think about the players in the final third for France, and Spain's defending. They conceded that long-awaited goal last time out. 

Belgium were good in that game. They caused problems in the wide areas and made it difficult for Spain. 

If you really put the pressure on these centre backs, Cubarsi has had a wonderful tournament for Spain, but you can get at this defence if you have the players to do it. 

And which is probably the only team in this World Cup that have the tools all over their attack to upset Spain? It's probably France, if we're being completely honest. 

These are proper football matches, the ones you want to see. That's no disrespect to the other nations who have done really well at the tournament, but you want to see these heavyweight clashes. 

That's why I wanted to see England and Argentina as well, rather than England and Switzerland. 

No disrespect to Switzerland, but at the semi-finals of a World Cup you want to see the big teams, the big players, the big personalities come up against each other. 

Yamal versus Mbappe, all these side stories. It's going to be a wonderful occasion. But Spain will need to be a lot better than they were in the last round.