Defending Uefa Nations League champions Spain booked their place in the final yet again after a 5-4 victory over France in Stuttgart.
Performance wise, it wasn’t exactly as bad as the score (which was once 4-0 in favour of La Roja) indicated. Let’s begin with a positive surprise from the French starting line-up.
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France’s gamble
Didier Deschamps went away from his usual three-man midfield and took the risk of playing all four of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Desire Doue. It was a commendable effort to take the game to Spain instead of waiting around and hitting them on the counter-attack. Unfortunately for them, it backfired almost immediately.
France actually did get some positive moments in the start, pressing up high with the four players almost in line and immediately driving towards goal after recovering possession. They were exploring a lot of the Doue and Theo Hernandez combinations down the left, the opponent’s weaker defensive side. But they stopped at some point, prioritising the other wing with Dembele, finding it more difficult to break through.
It was nice to see a team trying to take away what Spain love to do the most and getting them out of their comfort zone. But when they managed to break through this first ‘wall’, there was nowhere near enough resistance to protect the defence.
Spain win the midfield battle
The ‘midfield battle’ is a classic footballing idea, but cliches are cliches for a reason. And what we saw in the opening hour was a prime example.
Sometimes, a double pivot in midfield isn’t enough to protect your own box even with a committed and hard-working team around it. But when it’s Adrien Rabiot and Manu Kone surrounded by Mbappe, Dembele, Doue and Olise, it gets even harder.
Lamine Yamal has earned enough respect from his opponents to attract two defenders instantly every time he gets the ball. And Doue was one of them, so credit to him for actually participating in the defensive phase. But it usually meant there was more space in and around him and Theo Hernandez – and Rabiot wasn’t there to provide cover in Spain’s first goal.
Yamal found a clean passing lane from the right wing to the middle of the box, where Mikel Oyarzabal had Ibrahima Konate under control, and just waited until Pierre Kalulu inexplicably doubled on him to put Nico Williams face-to-face with Mike Maignan.
Just three minutes later, Pedri beautifully manipulated France’s man-marking to drag Rabiot way out of position, taking him from the heart of midfield to the right wing. Kone, who was just recovering from a slight knock, saw himself completely on his own against Mikel Merino and Oyarzabal dropping deep. The Spanish pair played a one-two and the Arsenal man scored to make it 2-0.
Rabiot was at fault again in the third goal, giving away the penalty that Yamal converted. And in the following minute, Spain had all of their players almost lined up parallel to the touchline, meaning that France would be next to each of them and nobody would be positioned in the middle of the pitch. Merino dropped deep to attract Konate and open up space for Pedri to infiltrate — though the exquisite first touch was probably not part of the script — and another one-two, this time with Williams, led to a fourth.
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Game over (not really?)
France got one back but Yamal eventually scored his second of the night to restore Spain’s four-goal cushion, which led many (including manager Luis de la Fuente) to believe the game was over. The Spanish manager, who had already subbed off Nico Williams and Pedri, also removed Oyarzabal from the field, leading to a slightly alternate side ending the game.
On top of Spain’s understandably laid-back approach with a 5-1 lead, France recognised the changes and pounced, scoring three times in the final 15 minutes to make it 5-4. Rayan Cherki, specifically, caused all sorts of trouble, roaming freely in the attacking half. The Lyon youngster ended his international debut for France with one goal and one assist in under half an hour. He also registered created three chances, two of which were big chances.
But in the end, the damage was already done and Spain advanced to the Uefa Nations League Final for the second straight edition, defeating Croatia on penalties in 2023 to claim the trophy. And let’s not forget they followed that up by winning the European Championship and the Olympic Games in 2024.
This could be shaping up to be yet another Spanish dynasty in European — possibly world — football, and who knows where it will stop, with their main three players (Yamal, Pedri and Williams) all 22 years old or younger. Unbeaten in over a year with 15 wins and four draws in their last 19 games, Spain are sending clear signs of being one of or even the favourites to win it all in the 2026 World Cup.
But for now, an Iberian duel awaits with Portugal on the other side of the 2025 Nations League Final.