World Cup Story Feed
World Cup Story Feed
0 0. The goose egg on the scoreboard hung for 90 minutes.
0-0. The goose egg on the scoreboard hung for 90 minutes.
Their opponent was Cape Verde, an island nation whose total registered players couldn't fill five La Liga starting lineups. Spain dominated possession, dominated shots, but couldn't score. Cape Verde's goalkeeper, Vozinha, had the goal welded shut. After the match, De la Fuente didn't throw a water bottle; he squeezed out a platitude in the press conference.
No one spoke in the locker room. The start of this World Cup was a disaster.
Four days later, it was someone else's disaster.
4-0 against Saudi Arabia. Spain scored three times in the opening 24 minutes. Yamal opened the scoring in the 10th minute, Oyarzabal struck twice in the 21st and 24th minutes. In the 49th minute, Saudi defender Al-Tambakti scored an own goal.
Before the match, De la Fuente had said, "Yamal will probably play about 45 minutes." After the match, he added, "It's absurd to doubt Spain." Shifting tone, he explained why Yamal only played a half: if the score hadn't been so lopsided, he could have played longer.
They had the luxury of winning comfortably. No need to let an 18-year-old just back from injury pad his stats.
Those 45 minutes were calculated.
On April 22, Yamal suffered a left hamstring tear while taking a penalty for Barcelona. The estimated recovery time was 5 to 8 weeks, causing him to miss the opening match. De la Fuente timed his return like a stopwatch. Minimum dosage, maximum impact, then substituted off.
An 18-year-old prodigy used like a precision-guided weapon. No one expected him to be the regular ammunition for a full-field brawl. Spain's tactical hand was revealed in this match.
Some couldn't even get 45 minutes.
Nico Williams, the man who scored in the Euro 2024 final. Zero starts in this World Cup so far. A recurring groin injury kept him bouncing between the bench and the recovery room. On June 27 against Uruguay, his right adductor finally gave out. The federation confirmed a "moderate injury."
Nico typed a line on social media: "Today is one of the worst days of my life." A winger in his prime, the World Cup slipped through his fingers.
Muñoz had it even worse.
Liverpool paid £34.5 million to poach him from La Liga. 22 years old, he reported to the national team with a calf injury. On June 19, during individual recovery training, he suffered a new muscle injury. The federation confirmed "additional muscle damage will delay his return."
His playing time in this World Cup: a perfect zero. A £34.5 million price tag, watching every single match from the bench.
Both flanks: one couldn't start, the other couldn't play. Spain heads into the knockout stage with a depleted squad, relying on the density of the midfield and the suffocating feel of the defense.
Unai Simón turned the goal into a sheet of iron.
Across two World Cups, his clean sheet streak stretched to 609 minutes. The previous record of 517 minutes belonged to a man named Zenga. At the 1990 World Cup on home soil in Italy, he lost to Argentina on penalties in the semifinals. From that year until this one, 36 years, no one had touched that number.
Unai Simón shattered it over two tournaments.
In the Round of 16 against Austria, the record was secured.
Oyarzabal scored a brace, his 4th goal of this World Cup, his 17th goal in his last 16 starts for the national team. Porro added another, making it 3-0. Possession at 59%, 23 shots, 91% passing accuracy. As the final whistle blew, Unai Simón's clean sheet streak surpassed 517 minutes.
The tighter the string is pulled, the faster it snaps.
Quarterfinal, SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, against Belgium. De la Fuente didn't talk about goalkeeper stats before the match; he talked about Marcus Aurelius. The Roman emperor's Stoic maxim was brought into the locker room: "What is not good for the hive is not good for the bee."
Personal stats take a back seat; the overall operation comes first. He never mentioned his own 13-match unbeaten streak in major tournaments, crediting all the success to the players and support staff. He publicly called France the "heavy favorite to win the title," shifting the psychological pressure of the semifinal onto the opponent early.
While he was reciting Roman emperors in the locker room, the Belgians only recognized the grass under their feet.
Fabián Ruiz opened the scoring in the 30th minute, De Ketelaere equalized in the 41st. Spain had 68% possession, 268 accurate passes to 150, and entered the attacking third 33 times. The 1-1 scoreline held for nearly an hour.
In the 88th minute, substitute Merino came on and scored the winner. 2-1, they advanced.
Unai Simón's 609-minute clean sheet streak ended with De Ketelaere's goal. The lock was kicked open, but the door was still standing.
The semifinal is right ahead.
De la Fuente said Belgium was "by far the toughest match," and it took until the 88th minute to decide the outcome. France will only be harder. Spain's stats are still intimidating: average possession around 66%, ranked second in forcing opponent turnovers in the attacking third. Only one goal conceded in five matches.
Nico is in the stands, Muñoz is on the bench. The flanks are empty. With their 66% possession swarm, what will they use to crash into the French wall in the semifinal?