Spanish teenager Lamine Yamal was quick to look to the future after leading La Roja into the finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, sending a message of confidence to his rivals with a social media post: “nuevayol vamos por ti” – translated as “New York, we are coming.“Minutes after Spain defeated France 2-0 in the semifinal at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Yamal shared photos of the epic victory on Instagram, making sure that reaching the final was just part of the job. Spain will now travel to the New York-New Jersey Stadium for Sunday’s showdown, where they will face defending champions Argentina or England, who will meet in the second semifinal in Atlanta.
Yamal gives a very large part
The 19-year-old played a key role in Spain’s return to the World Cup finals for the first time since winning in 2010 in South Africa.Yamal was one of two youngsters, along with Pau Cubarsi, to start for Spain against France – marking the first time in World Cup history that a team featured two young starters in a semifinal.The Barcelona striker made a breakthrough in the 22nd minute when he cleverly beat Lucas Digne before being brought down in the penalty area. Mikel Oyarzabal stepped up and calmly converted the spot kick to give Spain the lead. France struggled to disrupt Spain’s dominance as Luis de la Fuente’s side dominated and controlled the tempo. After the break, Spain extended their lead as Pedro Porro combined with Dani Olmo before finding the bottom corner and finishing.Yamal thought he would add a third soon after, but his effort was not confirmed by the follow-up. France advanced Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni, but Spain’s defense held firm to secure their sixth clean sheet in seven games.
The Spanish festivities begin, but the focus is on the finale
The win sparked massive celebrations inside Spain’s changing room, with the national team’s official account sharing a video of the players dancing, singing and celebrating their return to football’s biggest stage.“The shouting ended, the dancing happened, the celebrations happened… Come to the locker room of the Spanish National Team and release the forbidden!” the team posted on social media.After the celebrations, Spain’s semi-final game showed their evolution into a complete side. After relying heavily on attack in the early part of the tournament, La Roja combined a defensive approach with clinical finishing to defeat one of the strongest teams in the competition.Oyarzabal continued his impressive form, scoring his 18th goal in his last 20 games for Spain and becoming the sixth player to reach 30 international goals.For Spain, the final represents an opportunity to add a second World Cup crown in their history. Their last appearance in the final ended in glory in 2010, when Andres Iniesta defeated the Netherlands.Now, after Yamal has already sent his message to New York, Spain is one victory away from another memorable title.
