Lamine Yamal has sent a confident warning to France.
Most bookmakers have France as the favourites to win the 2026 tournament, but Spain’s Lamine isn’t in agreement.
France lost to Spain in the semi-finals of Euro 2024, and as such, Lamine thinks the proof is in the pudding.
Lamine says France aren’t favourites
Asked if there’s a clear favourite for 2026 by Cadena SER, he said: “No. I don’t think there’s any national team where you can say, ‘It’s impossible to beat them.’”
The interviewer then suggested France, and Lamine responded: “No.
“They didn’t beat us at the European Championship. So they can’t be better than us.”
When their form was put to the Barcelona starlet, he was just as definitive.
‘The World Cup starts now’
“That doesn’t matter, the group stage means nothing, look at Germany, for example,” he said.
“The World Cup starts now. The World Cup starts now. From this point on, it has nothing to do with the earlier matches.
“We could have drawn every game, and now we eliminate France – and that’s how it is. So I don’t think there’s any favourite.
“Obviously France comes in with very good form, playing at a high level, and they have excellent players.
“But I don’t think they’re above anyone else. Above anyone, really. For me, no team is above any other team.”
Lamine in awe at Messi
Asked which teams he’s enjoyed watching, he named France, but some other interesting names.
“I’m really enjoying Morocco. Ivory Coast too; I was really liking Japan, and Argentina, well, it’s only because Messi’s playing, otherwise I wouldn’t watch them much,” he said.
“France has good players, and if I had to pick a surprising one, I’ve liked Ecuador. They’re very intense. I’m watching almost all the matches.”
Lamine was then asked for his favourite players, and gave Messi another shout-out.
“Messi, obviously. Everyone knows who he is, but I wasn’t expecting it,” he said.
“I’m liking Vini, Saibari too, and I’ll stick with those two.
“The whole Messi and Cristiano thing is crazy. If you’re going to ask me if I see myself doing it, I don’t (laughs).
“I haven’t really thought about it, but I might not have time. I’d have to be the same age as them, and I just don’t see myself doing that, honestly.”
Despite being confident about Spain, the country’s form was put to Lamine, and he had a well-thought defence.
“It’s true that everyone expected us to play better, but they were different teams, none of them European,” he said.
“They were tough matches, especially the third [Uruguay]. The game was constantly stopped.
“The Saudi Arabia game was good, and the Cape Verde game was the first.
“We’re going to play very well and show that we’re the best team playing football.
“I don’t think we’ve had any outstanding matches. We could have easily won 3-0 against Uruguay, but beyond that, we want to recover the fluidity of our play and move the ball faster. To be ourselves, ultimately.
“I’m very demanding when it comes to the speed of the ball, because we’re the only team that’s expected to play very well.
“The others are content with just winning. That’s normal. When we reach that point – which we surely will – we’ll be almost unstoppable.”
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