Too much talk about Yamal but hardly a mention of Porro, who scored a brilliant goal by the way and was man of the match!? Both Porro and Cucurella were excellent and also no mention of Fabian Ruiz who hasn't lost a game in 49 appearances. You have to look beyond the light that's shining in your eyes.

why oh why do pundits constantly refer to teams from 20/30/40 yrs ago as if they are the same teams playing today?

"Introverted wingers" and empirical strength"? Some humdingers!

Gotta score first against Spain, they're very very risk averse, mostly behind the ball  - even attacking.

Totally agree with Miguel on how Spain were perceived as the underdogs going into the match (and the bizarre negative reaction to Spain throughout the tournament). I always felt in the early rounds that if France don't win the World Cup, Spain will. Spain started off poorly in the early games, but Spain are the masters at controlling midfield.

Great sophisticated and wide ranging discussion. Nice job.

Great comment from Miguel about how the England Women beat Spain.

OK, this is exactly why Spain took down the mighty France's Blitzkrieg...

Firstly, Spain's possession-based football is why Spain has only conceded one goal in the WC.  
Spain's possession based football football is the reason why France always trips and falls over a Spanish hurdle.  

But why is that, I still hear you asking   ????

HERE'S A CLUE:       Torpedoes need time to arm themselves immediately after they have been fired (as seen in the movie The Hunt for Red October); otherwise, they won't explode on impact.  

Spain knew that even the mighty French team needed a little time (15-20 minutes) on the ball to settle into the game.
Time to start feeling the game
and then play their way into the game.  

In other words, France wasn't OFF their game,
They didn't have an OFF day.
Spain just did not allow them enough ball possession to switch their power game ON.  
So it stayed switched off;  leaving the French chasing shadows (that's why they could not even score one goal).

It's that simple.

But Spain also needs to be switched on, and their on switch is  Lamine Yamal.  
Spain does not get to the Final without Lamine Yamal, because Lamine is the ultimate disruptor.
Just his presence on the field is enough to unsettle the opposition.  
Spain play with more confidence when LY is playing.
He rattles the nerves of the opposition team and settles the nerves of his own.  
Spain won the 2024 Euros because of LY (he was the difference-maker), and they will likely win the 2026 World Cup for the same reason.

Er Rogers as inverted RW rather than introverted RW Mr Malaprop!

Most people in Argentina don’t know a single person who served in the Falklands. It was pockets of poorest areas that were dragged into it.

I think everyone  disrespected Spain after the Cape Verde result and turned their attentions more to France but Spain are peaking at the right time. That performance was a masterclass in technical ball retention.  They neutralised France.

It’s not colonialism if there’s no indigenous population. The Brits were the first permanent settlers.

France struggled all tourney to break down compact blocks.  That can look fine against a team like Paraguay who can't possess the ball or deal with a press.  Bc eventually they will overwhelm them.  Once they were behind against Spain it was a real problem.  They want to win the ball and hit with quick transitions.  In the end, that was too one dimensional.  Careful to England today as well.  Outside of Spain no one has passed the ball more around this tourney and with the same type of accuracy as Argentina.  And for all their claimed fragility they've produced more xGF and fewer xGA than England.  I do like England's strengths against Argentina's weak points though.

Bad choice by deschamps putting Digne against Yamal. Hernandez more street-wise and stronger.

Gabriel was not doing his job. He was interviewing in complete bad faith.

Gente que no sabe de fútbol hablando de fútbol

Yamal was 'mid' Yamal; having 3 fouls in the first half and 2 more in the second, before a coming-from-behind, blatant hacking down of an goal bound rusher, red-yellow foul, which wasn't called (nor did it draw even a warning from the referee) In many people estimation, there were at least 6 players on Spain more influential than he on the pitch... Yamal REALLY gets over-praised, lauded when he's not actually playing anything like his top level... Amazing!

Why are we talking about being scared of emotional energy like it's an unknown? Let's not forget this team went in to the Azteca, the fervent cauldron that it is, with the record Mexico had, at altitude, and got the job done with ten men.

These players are tougher than previous generations. Hopefully they will have learned from Quansah to tackle cleanly.

The atmosphere in the stadium will not be remotely close to Azteca. Therefore, it's down to pitch level and most of our squad have faced down difficulties in Europe and win silverware.

We have the best goalscorer on the planet right now. We have the best all round footballer on the planet right now.

Believe! Let Argentina take their digs and jabs but believe our boys have that mentality to rise above, thanks to Tuchel.

Coz poro is and has been crap for spurs for years

They missed Kante-Pogba-Matudi energy