7M - France Must Look Beyond Yamal in World Cup Semifinal

Ahead of their highly anticipated World Cup semifinal showdown at Dallas Stadium this Tuesday, French defender Ibrahima Konate emphasized that Les Bleus cannot afford to fixate solely on neutralizing Lamine Yamal. Although the Barcelona star remains a prominent threat, Konate warned that the entire Spanish squad possesses exceptional collective attacking talent and highly effective counter-pressing abilities. Yamal is still regaining full fitness after an injury cut his club season short, but he previously delivered a stunning goal against France during the Euro 2024 semifinals.

According to Opta's supercomputer projections, France represents the top tournament favorite with a 34 percent chance to hoist the trophy, followed by Spain at 23.4 percent. La Roja enter the match in historic form. Excluding penalty shootouts, Spain has suffered just a single defeat in their last 27 major tournament fixtures since the 2018 World Cup. Since their 2 to 1 loss against Japan in 2022, they have gone undefeated in 14 matches, recording nine clean sheets and conceding a mere five goals. A victory on Tuesday would establish Spain as the first European nation ever to win eight consecutive knockout matches at major tournaments.