By Yusuf Bangura
Spain gave France an awesome football lesson in how to keep and pass the ball in their semi-final match last night at the Dallas Stadium in Texas. The match ended 2-0, with a goal in each half of the 90 minutes.
It was a supremely confident and masterly performance by the European champions. They really made France look like a very average team who couldn’t cope with the sleek and intricate passes, pinpoint counter-pressing, and skillful ball possession.
No pundit gave Spain a chance to beat France. One former French World Cup winner, Frank Leboeuf, on ESPN football even described the French team as France’s best ever. Some YouTube fans went further, proclaiming that they were not only unbeatable, they were the new Brazil incarnate.
The bookies had rated France the best team before the tournament started, followed closely by Spain. France maintained this top position going into the semi-final clash, while Spain were pegged a step down—below England.
Before the tournament, I rejected the general consensus among pundits and bookies and selected Spain as champions on the FIFA prediction platform. However, I wasn’t impressed by their 0-0 draw with Cabo Verde in their opening group stage match. I felt they might falter in the quarters or semis when they faced superior teams with attacking players who knew how to put the ball in the net.
But then, I wasn’t impressed by France either in their opening match against Senegal. Senegal outplayed them in the first half and should have buried the match with multiple goals before half-time. France’s subsequent displays—in which they truly showed attacking flair, defensive steel, and aggressive counter-pressing—made me change my mind. I still didn’t like their style of play as they seemed to depend a lot on moments and individual brilliance to score goals. However, I felt they were the most balanced and effective team in the tournament.
France Were Outclassed and Dominated in the Midfield
Looking back, France did have a relatively easy route to the semi-final. They struggled against Senegal in the first half of the group stage before winning 3-1 in the second half; they then demolished a weak Iraq team 3-0, and cruised past a Norway team that rested nine of their players 4-1 in the final group stage match after Norway had already qualified. They soundly beat a lacklustre Sweden 3-0 in the Round of 32, and narrowly knocked out Paraguay 1-0 in the Round of 16.
However, their comprehensive defeat of Morocco—who had looked impressive and previously knocked the Netherlands out in the Round of 16—changed the narrative. Morocco looked timid and out of sorts, and most pundits became convinced that France would be unbeatable. After that match, football punditry and fan-talk were, indeed, all about the invincibility of France and their assured march to Sunday’s title. Did this create complacency and hubris within the team?
Listening to the early coronation, I thought aloud that I had seen this movie many times before—for instance, when pundits crowned the Dutch world champions in the 1974 World Cup because of their talisman, Johan Cruyff, and dazzling Total Football, only for them to lose 2-1 to West Germany despite scoring first. The Netherlands were clearly the better side, but many believed they lost because of overconfidence.
A similar situation happened in 2006. Brazil had a galaxy of stars—such as Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Kaka, and Juninho—whom their rivals could not match. On paper, they were clearly head and shoulders above every other team. Everyone believed no team would lay a glove on them.
The team got carried away by the hype and organised a series of exhibition matches in Europe a few weeks before the tournament instead of training rigorously. My son and I attended one of those matches in Geneva. With Zinedine Zidane’s artistry and command of the midfield, France humbled Brazil 1-0 in the quarter-finals. It was a great shock.
France’s defeat last night was total in all departments of the game. I couldn’t believe it was the same swashbuckling team that was scoring goals for fun in previous rounds. Spain’s midfielders—Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, and Dani Olmo—completely controlled the midfield and bossed the game.
The way they passed the ball around, forced their opponents to commit errors, counter-pressed, recovered the ball, and tore open France’s defence was absolutely incredible. France’s magical front four—or ‘Fantastic Four’—of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, and Bradley Barcola (or Désiré Doué) were completely neutralised. They barely threatened the Spanish keeper, Unai Simón. Instead, Mbappé resorted to misfiring long-range shots.
The first goal—a penalty—was engineered by the prodigy Lamine Yamal, who celebrated his 19th birthday the day before. Following a deep, looping cross into the French penalty box from Marc Cucurella, French defender Lucas Digne misjudged the flight of the ball and headed it straight up in the air. As Digne tried to kick it away, Yamal got to the ball first, causing Digne’s clumsy clearance to land squarely on Yamal’s thigh. The referee didn’t hesitate to point to the penalty spot, and Mikel Oyarzabal confidently converted.
The second goal, in the 58th minute, was a pure work of art. Spain were in cruise control, passing the ball effortlessly from one end of the pitch to the other. They then put together three extraordinary sequences in quick succession, involving multiple passes on each play and constantly threatening to score. The third sequence completely destroyed the French defence; Dani Olmo flicked the ball between two French defenders while falling to the ground after a tackle, splitting open a path for Pedro Porro to charge into the empty space and score.
End of an Era?
This must be the end of Didier Deschamps’s reign as the French coach. Appearing in two World Cup finals, winning one, and getting to the semi-finals of another is an outstanding record. Deschamps also won the UEFA Nations League, and reached both the final and a semi-final of the UEFA European Championship.
However, while he has been highly successful in creating a winning culture in the French team, I’ve never been a fan of his tactics, which are too pragmatic and functional. His teams rely on moments of magic and counterattacks too often—they don’t instinctively play beautiful football. Indeed, most often they don’t even dominate opposing teams.
Even when France beat Croatia in the 2018 tournament, Croatia were more ambitious and creative. The only French team that has entertained me is the class of 2000—after they had won the World Cup in 1998. They were clearly the best team in terms of results and style of play during that period. I didn’t enjoy the football played by the 1998 team.
I’m not loyal to clubs or nations in football—I watch the game to be entertained. So, I was very happy last night to see a brand of football that I admire—keep-the-ball, pass-the-ball, counter-pressing, and sustained attacks—emerge as the clear winner.
