The vast stadium screen which hangs above this pitch beamed the image of the teenager whose thin hairband carries a number, 08304, which is the postcode for the working-class district of the Catalonian district which he calls home.
He was standing there with his teammates hearing the anthems played, looking for all the world as if he had just wandered in from that neighbourhood and though it could not be said that he bent the World Cup semi-final Spain’s way – others did – Lamine Yamal’s intermittent, iridescent dazzle still shaped the course of this hugely significant evening.
The French players had said Yamal was wrong to claim, before this game, that they were ‘scared’ of him but he was undeniably right. He cut them and broke them, just as he did on the July day two years ago when his team beat France in a European Championship semi-final in Munich.
Yamal was lurking, just out of Lucas Digne’s peripheral vision, as the defender struggled to get a ball under control and though his kick at him was accidental, it was a foul nonetheless. The penalty, converted by Mikel Oyarzabal sent the Spanish on their way.
This was a story of the collective over one stellar individual because the man who converted the kick could scarcely have been more unremarkable. Oyarzabal, the Real Sociedad player, has scored 30 goals in 60 appearances for his country and would admit that he is just a solid pro.
There was nothing prosaic about the real architect of this performance, though. Spain knew full well that they were up against a superior attacking presence but in Rodri, they had a force field who could close it down. When France began brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise briefly threatening, Rodri simply closed down the central passing lanes, France were chasing down blind alleys. They were slowly suffocated. Denied the space he tends to thrive in, Olise swapped wings with Dembele in an attempt to find some. On a most wretched night for France, it simply never came.
Spain earned a 2-0 victory over favourites France to progress to their second World Cup final
Lucas Digne gave away a penalty after kicking Lamine Yamal as he attempted to clear the ball
Mikel Oyarzabal held his nerve from the spot to give Spain a deserved lead in the first half
The only way the French had previously fallen in line behind anyone at this World Cup was by taking up residence in the downtown Adolphus Hotel in Dallas that the Argentinians, Portuguese and Dutch had all vacated. There’d been a distinct sense that France, not Spain, were the nation that the USA has fallen in love with. Mbappe, oozing self-confidence again as he walked out here last night in pinstripe kit, oozing chic elegance was a significant part of that.
But it’s all well and good having a front four like France but it doesn’t work when there is noone to get the ball up to them. Mbappe was unable to find possession or impact. When Dembele sent a gorgeous diagonal ball across 30 yards to Mbappe in the first half, Spaniards swarmed around him. When Jules Kounde fizzed a low ball into Spain’s six-yard box, Mbappe was a yard or more behind it. His barrelling run into the box just beyond the hour for a shot which sailed narrowly wide was a rare moment of jeopardy for an untroubled Spanish back four. He was booked before the end.
Didier Deschamps had selected Bradley Barcola instead of Desire Doue on the left because he is a more dynamic and attacking player, though he could not set this place alight. A cut inside brought a shot which sailed high and wide. He simply couldn’t flourish in the tight spaces. Doue was brought on in the hope of something better. It also never came.
The Spanish players were the ones writing their names across this night. Pedro Porro thrives for La Roja, on that flank with Yamal, in a way which is light years from his struggles at Tottenham last season. The intricate one-two with Dani Olmo at its apex which brought Spain’s second befitted a World Cup semi-final. No France defender had tracked Porro as he doubled the lead.
Olmo brought danger, too, in a Spain team which was so good both with and without the ball. But always, there was Yamal. Lurking like a demon, to put the fear of God into the France rearguard.
Tracing a path along the dead ball after collecting possession from a blocked free kick. Getting in behind on a Porro pass early in the second half.
France so desperately wanted something better than this. There was the significance of this semi-final being played on Bastille Day and the tenth anniversary of the Nice attacks which were remembered before kick-off.
Pedro Porro doubled the after the break after a fine move from Spain against a below-par France
The defeat will see Didier Deschamps’ era as France manager end in the third placed play-off
Yamal will look to lead Spain to World Cup glory as Mbappe and France lick their wounds
Spain had known they were against a superior attacking side but Rodri was key to shutting France down
France now face an uncertain future having lost three successive semi-finals by Spain
It didn’t help their belief that they lost William Saliba early on. The Arsenal defender seemed to jar his back as he fell awkwardly. Nor that the player who had initially looked like France’s own sentry, Adrien Rabiot, received an early yellow card which, with Yamal to police, created too much of a risk for him to reappear for the second half.
France now look into an uncertain future – defeated in three successive tournament semi-finals by a golden Spanish generation and looking to a new manager to help them find the way. Deschamps is stepping down. Zinedine Zidane is the overwhelming favourite but Spain look like they might dominate for years to come. It’s not the first time France will go home with lots of bouquets but no trophy. Michel Platini’s great team of 1982 and 1986 lost back to back semis, too.
This complete Spain team, meanwhile, have reason to believe they can conquer either England or Argentina. The stadium screen returned to Yamal at the end but it was Rodri, crimson-faced with effort, who they most have to fear.
