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The stakes in Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal between Spain and France were already high even before Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal further ramped up the pressure.
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Yamal warned the France players they should “fear” Spain ahead of Tuesday’s latest installment of this international rivalry, but his comments did not sit well with a handful of Les Bleus’ biggest names.
“We shouldn’t be afraid of anyone,” center back Ibrahima Konaté responded. “The important thing is to maintain the humility with which we started this competition and not fall into those kinds of traps, especially at a time like this.
“[Yamal] can say whatever he wants. We’re going to prepare for the match in the best way possible, and I hope that when it’s over, the result will be in our favor.”
Asked how France plans to stop Yamal, the new Real Madrid defender stressed: “Spain is an exceptional team, with many outstanding individual players. But the goal isn’t to focus on just one player, because the whole team can hurt you. It’s not just Lamine, it’s the whole of Spain.”
Midfielder Adrien Rabiot also admitted there is no “anti-Lamine Yamal plan” for the next round of a feud between the pair that stole headlines back in Euro 2024.
Rabiot Stands by Previous Yamal Comments
Euro 2024 was a breakout tournament for Yamal, who was just 16 years old as he played an integral role in Spain’s continental dominance-a triumph which included a victory over Rabiot’s France in the semifinals.
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Before that game, Rabiot suggested Yamal needed to “do more” to lead Spain to the final, to which Yamal responded with a stunning goal in a 2–1 victory. “Speak now,” the young winger said to the cameras as he celebrated the win, before telling a press conference the message was “for the person who it was for, they will know it was for them.”
Two years later, the pair are set to meet on the pitch once again, and Rabiot was reminded of the pre-match taunt that backfired on him last time they faced off.
Lamine Yamal’s 2026 World Cup Statistics
*Stats provided by FotMob
“I don’t remember those statements exactly,” he claimed. “But if I said them, it was because that’s what I thought at the time. This is still a football match, and we’re not afraid of anyone.
“Given our journey so far, we’ve arrived at this semifinal in the best possible condition. Everything is in our favor. Honestly, I think it would have been very difficult to be better prepared. The pitch will decide, because this is still football.”
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This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 5:00 AM.