Spain captain Rodri has expressed confidence that the team can beat France in tonight’s FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final matchup.
Acknowledging France’s form and physical defensive structure, he believes past victories, such as at Euro 2024, prove Spain has the strategy and quality to overcome them.
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Rodri also praised the immense attacking quality in the French squad but stressed that Spain knows exactly how to neutralize their threats.
“I feel good and I’m happy about the team’s growth, which is so important at tournaments. France are one of the best teams here, in great form, but so are Spain. We can beat them; we’ve seen that at the Euros and in the Nations League,” Rodri says.
“We’ve got the feel of things as we went, and now we’re in a good moment. I see a team that’s as competitive as [they were] at the Euros. The form people were in [when we arrived] is different, the physical condition.
“That’s why I kept saying it would be a long tournament, that we would have to ‘chew’ on it, become a good version of ourselves. We can see that now. If we can continue this progression, we can reach our level but what I would underline is how competitive this team is.
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“France have great attacking qualities, but I’d also highlight their defensive strength. They defend well in a low block, they’re very physical, very aggressive. We’ll have to take the game to where we want it.
“It’s rare for any game to finish 5-4 like last year and we can’t allow that to fool us, to think this will be something it won’t. If only it could be like that! But I don’t think it will be. We’ll see a stronger team, harder to score against.
“World Cups are different. And I don’t know that an open game, a back-and-forth like that, suits us. We’ll have to control more. This is a big challenge against one of the teams playing the best and we’re looking forward to it.”
