A month ago, when the World Cup started, Spain were among the favourites, although no one was talking about them. Much of the pre-tournament talk centered on France’s front line, Argentina’s title defense, and whether this could be the last World Cup for Lionel Messi Or Cristiano Ronaldo.Spain just got on with it. A goalless draw against Cape Verde in the first half did not change the story. Since then, it has been one of the tournament’s most successful campaigns: top of Group H, one goal conceded in the knockout stages, and a 2-0 demolition of France in the semi-final that leaves them one win away from a second World Cup title.
Above the tiki-taka
For twenty years, Spain has meant one thing: tiki-taka. Endless wealth, little intersecting triangles, patience bordering on fainting. This was the sign of the greatest generation this world has ever produced.This side plays differently. Luis de la Fuente has not abandoned the old principles of managing through football, but he has removed the predictability that came with it. There is more verticality now, more aggressiveness, more urgency in passing.It’s not a new development like a comeback, and the numbers track well. At the 2018 World Cup, when Spain went out on penalties in the last 16, their progress ratio was 0.82 at halftime. In 2022, another 16 out of penalties, it went down again, to 0.76. Then the turn: for Euro 2024, which Spain won, the number increased to 1.08 twice the number of the field. Now, at the end of this World Cup, it is at 1.09. Both outputs came in below average. Both European and World Cup finalists have been on top of it.Oliver Kahn, a former German footballer and Zee5 pundit, thinks the change explains a lot of what happened this summer.“He made tiki-taka again in the last 10 or 12 years. Luis de la Fuente has changed. He is playing more direct and aggressive, all the backs are fighting all the time. This is a very different Spain than 10 years ago.”Robbie Fowler, former England batsman and fellow Zee5 pundit, put it the same way in a press release.“Everyone goes on about tiki-taka, and I don’t think this is the Spanish tiki-taka we’ve seen before. They’re still a team with possessions, but what I like is taking it in the right direction, being in the right positions. There’s a purpose to the way they’re playing.”
Spain did not stop France. They destroyed them
France came to Dallas with, arguably, the most dangerous attack left in the competition. Kylian Mbappe led the race for the Golden Boot. Michael Olise was one of the main competitors. Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola have been cutting open teams time and time again throughout the summer.Spain eliminated each of those threats.Anti-French articles told part of the story. It didn’t even come close to capturing how one-sided the game was. No finalists have been reduced to as few as France that night since Sweden, eight World Cups ago. France’s expected goals per game averaged 2.4 throughout the tournament; against Spain it fell to 0.31, their lowest figure of the summer. Spain allowed them 0.6 xG and created 1.7 of their own, a night that was built more around control than creating chances.France’s approach throughout the tournament relied on winning the ball back and standing up at the same time, exploiting defensive opportunities quickly. So Spain refused to allow this to happen. The press came right away. By the time France won, Rodri, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo had already closed the gap before Les Bleus stepped up. Mbappe spent most of the night chasing long balls that didn’t reach. Dembele was sent off. Olise, who usually performs in France, had his quietest night of the tournament. Mbappe did not register a single shot in the entire game. France managed 10 total tries, even touching 152 in the third.
Security that has gone under the radar
Attacking games in Spain have big themes. The back four deserves a lot of attention, maybe even more.Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsi, Aymeric Laporte and Marc Cucurella have, hands down, been one of the strongest defensive groups in the tournament. Through the knockout stage, Spain have allowed 1.59 goals against, which is a surprising number for a team that has gone this deep.Against France in particular, Porro, Rodri, Laporte, Cubarsi and Ruiz won 25 out of 34 duels and made 44 defenses between them. And they didn’t break form to do it.But perhaps the biggest reason for Spain’s success is the one few are talking about: Rodri.He has come back from a difficult season for the club, punctuated by a serious knee injury he suffered in September 2024, and has found something close to his best form at a time when his country needed it. Against France, the attacks continued, whether they were dribbling, carrying possession, or simply slowing down the game when Spain needed a break.The numbers prove it. Rodri has managed 655 passes in this World Cup, more than any player has managed in a single edition since the record began in 1966. It refers to the number of Spanish passes passed by one person.Kahn classifies it as a system built to work because the people inside it are unique.“They have a good system, but you always need good guys like Rodri and Lamine.”Along with Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo, Rodri only played Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni in the middle, and France could not find a way back into the fight.Despite Didier Deschamps dropping Desire Doue, Manu Kone and Rayan Cherki looking for a way back into the game, Spain simply changed their starters and settled down. Every change that France made was met with a smart response from the Spanish bench.
Lamine Yamal, playing another game for his country
On paper, Yamal’s competition has been quiet. Five games, one goal, no assists, far and away the 24 goals and 17 assists he has provided for Barcelona this season.The numbers don’t tell you much, though.His own run forced Lucas Digne into a foul that gave Spain their penalty and the lead in France. Throughout the tournament he stretched the defense, drove the ball deep, and put opponents behind him just by being on the field.Kahn thinks his role with Spain is different from the one he plays at clubs.“Lamine was coming back from an eight-week injury. He plays a little differently than in Barcelona. There he has a lot of freedom. Genius players like him and Messi need that freedom.”“In the Spanish team, he has to bring himself into the system. He has to play more for the team, not for himself.”Even so, Kahn believes that the teenager was arrested in the same way.“He is only 19 years old. He has to earn that freedom. Now he has the chance to show for the last time what a great player he is. I have a lot of respect for a 19-year-old kid who is playing in the final of the World Cup.”
Always understand each other
Most notable, perhaps, is that Spain no longer need one player to create magic. Everyone on the field seems to know when to press, when to stay calm, when to step forward.Fowler sees it as having a purpose behind it, rather than having it as an end in itself.“He still plays possession-based football, but I think there’s more focus. He can disrupt the press by going past Rodri or Olmo, and in terms of transitions, he’s very quick.”This balance between control and focus has made them one of the most difficult teams in the world to play against.
The final challenge: Stopping Messi
Standing on the way to a second title are the defending champions, Argentina, led by Messi, who at 39 is playing better than he did in 2022. His goal percentage has doubled, from 0.26 per 90 minutes four years ago to 0.52 now, and his shooting and receiving volume is close to third. Where Spain has developed a system that no longer relies on one player to create a moment of magic, Argentina’s path through the tournament has relied heavily on individual performance.For Fowler, stopping them starts with limiting what the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner can do on the ball.“You have to have players who are ready to set up tight spaces, ready to close the barriers, block the channels, run with the runners and not let Messi get the ball.”Spain have already shown this tournament that they can unearth elite attacking talent. They closed Belgium. They reduced the French front to almost nothing. Now he faces the most difficult task in football: stopping Messi from making the run to the World Cup final.Kahn sees the story within the story here.“Unlike one is 19, the other is 40. Both come from Barcelona. Both come from La Masia. The boy plays against his role model. This is good news.”Messi’s pursuit of consecutive titles, the last minute of a long-standing career. Yamal, the youngster expected to be the next big man in the game, is heading to the final of the World Cup. It’s hard to write something better.Spain are unbeaten in 37 consecutive internationals, equaling Italy’s record from 2018 to 2021, and enter the final having climbed to No. 1 in the FIFA rankings. There aren’t as many household names in this category as there were in 2010. Based on performance rather than reputation, it probably won’t need them. This could be the most complete Spanish team of the last decade.Argentina and Messi stand between them with the second star on the shirt.
