Euro 2024: Where the France-Spain semifinal is likely to be won or lost?

Rodri vs N’Golo Kante

The tussle in midfield couldn’t be more delightfully lit up. Until the Frenchman left for Saudi shores, he was the best holding midfielder in the Premier League, and architect of Chelsea’s trophy-winning moments. There have been times when he bossed Rodri in England, but since his departure, Rodri has established himself as the finest in the business. Kante is all energy and efficiency, dexterous in ball retrieving. Rodri’s hallmark is his positional intelligence, apart from his reading of the game and passing canvas. Rodri sets the tunes of Spain; Kante artfully disrupts the opponent’s rhythm. If anyone doubted Kante’s fitness and sharpness after a season in the 33rd-best league in the world, he has emphatically proved them wrong, emerging as France’s un-tearable midfield screen. If Rodri masters in finding space to pass, Kante specialises in filling the space his attackers have left behind in search of someone to mark.

Kylian Mbappe versus Jesus Navas

It is a mismatch on paper. The world’s reddest, hottest forward, screaming at the speed of a light year. Navas is 38 and the lone link to his country’s golden generation in this team. On paper, Mbappe should tear him apart and hurry him to pack his bags to the Saudi Arabian league. Except that it wouldn’t be as straightforward a meeting as it looks. The French virtuoso has been a few yards slower than he usually has been, his shots on goal have not stung. But Navas, a dodgy winger with atrocious crossing range converted into a utility left-back, still retains the pace of his youth and enthusiasm to run as fast as he can. He could match Mbappe’s pace. Navas has combined pace with smart positioning and tight marking.

France’s Theo Hernandez and Kylian Mbappe celebrate at the end of a round of sixteen match between France and Belgium at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Dusseldorf, Germany, Monday, July 1, 2024. France won 1-0. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Like Dani Carvajal, the man he replaces, Navas can fling his body around to thwart goal-bound shots. Mbappe would undoubtedly target him, looking to drive through the channel between Navas and Nacho, the centre-back. But the Sevilla man is a feisty character and would not run away from the challenge.

Unai Simon versus Mike Maignan

Goalkeepers would not be involved in direct contact. Nonetheless, they would wield their powers in the game. Both carry a penalty-saving reputation, should the game tumble into a shootout. The French custodian has saved 23.7 percent of all spot-kicks he has faced in competitive games. His pre-shot antics could unsettle shot-takers, as Portugal’s Joao Felix realised. His Spanish counterpart Simon is taller, nearly two metres, bigger, and has a better record in denying penalties. He has saved 27.4 percent of all penalties he has countenanced. The French stopper has been excellent between the sticks, with a save percentage of 94, the best of any goalkeeper to feature more than once in the competition. Simon had been less busy, but conceded a goal more often (with a save percentage of 84). Worryingly, he is prone to hideous errors, one nearly costing Spain in the quarterfinal against Germany, when he sent a goal-kick straight to Kai Havertz, only for the German forward’s chip to soar over the post.