Spain vs. Belgium: Does La Roja superstar Lamine Yamal need to improve his form at 2026 World Cup?

Ahead of Spain's 2026 World Cup quarter-final against Belgium, Sports Mole's Site Coordinator Ben Knapton discusses Lamine Yamal's form this summer.

Ben Knapton, Side Coordinator: "Football is a team sport"

It's a fair argument (Yamal will need to improve his performance level if Spain are to win the 2026 World Cup). There's just one goal, no assists.

He doesn't stack up to the superstars that are scoring freely, but he doesn't need the goal. He doesn't always need goals and assists to impact games. 

Against Austria he didn't get one and was still named Player of the Match. He won 10 ground duels against Portugal. 

I think De la Fuente suggested afterwards that Mendes' injury was because of Yamal just really pushing him to his physical limit. 

And when Nelson Semedo came on, Yamal thought, "I've got you, no disrespect, but you're no Nuno Mendes." 

He did get away from him quite quickly afterwards and set up a chance for Baena, which Diogo Costa saved well. He's got the most successful dribbles at the World Cup so far with 17, one ahead of Vinicius Jr. 

Also second behind Pedri for possession won in the final third per 90 minutes, and that was a real hallmark of his display against Portugal. 

De la Fuente held it up as one of the most important matches in terms of Yamal's development, in terms of how he was learning to suffer for the team and his defensive work rate. 

He said it was a very important day for Yamal's development. While Spain are winning and keeping clean sheets, it's hard to say definitively that yes, they do need more from him, because they're winning. 

Football is a team sport at the end of the day and while we love to see these individual superstars shine, it's great for the neutrals, it's great for FIFA, and it's great for a player's individual status. 

But three of Messi, Mbappe, Haaland, Kane are not going to be lifting the World Cup. 

If Spain go on and win the World Cup, the images of Yamal lifting the trophy will be so much more iconic than any goals or assists charts that come out from this tournament. 

He came into it with an injury, his last Barcelona game was April the 22nd, so you have to caveat it. Teams are always going to double up on him just because they know what he can do when he cuts inside. 

But sometimes as a player you just need to be doing enough because the team around you is so good. The defence behind him is so good. 

We saw with Argentina against Egypt, where Messi had to at least partially save Argentina because their defence was suspect for that entire game. 

But Yamal hasn't really needed to do that for Spain because as a team, as a unit, they've just been so strong. He might need to now that they are playing some really high quality opposition. 

But as long as Spain continue to win and play as a unit, Yamal just needs to do enough.