Yamal: "I feel like a world champion" ahead of France semi-final

France await in the semi-final, Tuesday at 21:00

This is the one. Spain face France for a place in the World Cup final on Tuesday evening (1) (2) (3). The winner meets Argentina or England. Your team got here through a Mikel Merino goal deep in added time against Portugal, and the path does not get easier. France have Mbappé. Spain have belief.

Yamal turns 19 and asks for one present

Lamine Yamal celebrated his 19th birthday at the pre-match press conference and knew exactly what he wanted. "What I want as a present is a win," he said (4). De la Fuente sat beside him. The kid who carried Spain through the group stage is not hiding from the moment.

Yamal: France's attacking strength could help Spain

France's firepower might be exactly what Spain need. "Their offensive strength could be an advantage for us," Yamal said ahead of the semi-final (5). The logic is simple: France commit numbers forward, Spain find the spaces. Confidence is not in short supply.

Deschamps plays the underdog, De la Fuente shrugs

The mind games have started. Didier Deschamps called Spain "the favourites" before the semi-final. De la Fuente brushed it aside: "Being favourites or not, it doesn't change anything." Yamal went further: "Obviously I feel like a world champion" (8). Three words that will travel.

The Spanish press names the climb: Mbappé

"Le Tourmalet s'appelle Mbappé," wrote the Spanish sports press, comparing the French attack to cycling's most feared mountain (6). The message is clear: stop Mbappé, reach the final. No-one is pretending it will be straightforward.

Merino primed for a role off the bench

Mikel Merino, whose late header broke Portugal, is expected to start among the substitutes again on Tuesday (9). De la Fuente sees him as a weapon to deploy when the game opens up. The probable lineups have Spain's midfield and possession game intact, with France fielding Mbappé from the start (9).

Fan reactions

Spain fans are treating Deschamps' "favourites" label with the eye-roll it deserves. The bigger talking point on Reddit is a quirk of World Cup history: no team has ever won the tournament with a foreign manager, which leaves England and Thomas Tuchel as the odd one out among the four semi-finalists. De la Fuente, like Deschamps and Scaloni, manages his own nation. Read the thread