Semi Final Preview: France vs Spain | Morning Cupdate, Presented by The Home Depot

0:00Get that Amex Gold Card ready. I'm way too tired to cook tonight. You read my mind. With the Gold Card, we can get up to$120 a year in statement credits. Are you feeling the Cheesecake Factory? Five Guys? Either of those sound good? Yes. Which one? Both. Pay with the Gold Card to receive up to$10 a month in statement credits at participating partners. Uncover more ways to reward yourself at americanexpress.com slash explore-gold. Enrollment required. Terms apply. Hello guys, my producers, oh my God, have challenged me to do the opening to the show from a mechanical bull. So here we go. Wish me luck.

0:38Hello and welcome to Morning Cup Day. Coming to you from Texas, the semi-finals are underway. This is it. Four teams are two matches away. Oh my God, this is really scary. Oh my God. Two matches away from World Cup glory. France and Spain get the semi-finals underway. We've got everything that you need to know on Morning Cup Date.

1:05Hello and welcome to another Morning Cup Date built by the Home Depot. We are coming to you from Dallas. Yeehaw! That was good. Thank you very much for having us Texas and also for giving me whiplash. Now the Home Depot is your winning assist to host the ultimate watch party with fast free delivery to get your backyard match day ready. Subject to availability. Now, we took a trip to Fort Worth yesterday where we spoke to some very confident French fans that also had a go on the mechanical bull. They weren't as good as me. They want Argentina in the finals. They can get revenge. But look, they've got to get past Spain first.

1:42It is semi-final time. Woo, World Cup. Now, we've played exactly 100 games at the tournament. It feels like that as well. It feels like we have actually played in those 100 games. Knackered. We now know that the winners will be either France, Spain, Argentina or England. It's coming home! It actually could. He's got a point. But enough of that, producer George, actually, because you'll have your time tomorrow. Today at 3pm here in Dallas, it is all about France against Spain. The current tournament favourites against the pre-tournament favourites. Many people would probably argue that this match deserves to be the final.

2:20But only one of them will make it through to New Jersey on Sunday. We'll start with France, who beat Morocco 2-0 on Thursday. And their left-back, Lucas Dinha, did his trademark celebration in the tunnel. If by another one he means a comfortable victory, he would be correct. Everybody expected Morocco to be a bit of a test for Didier Deschamps' team. But in the end, it was a pretty simple task to dispatch the last remaining African team in the tournament. Kylian Mbappé scored his eighth goal on the hour mark to set France well and truly on their way. Then Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead just six minutes later.

2:55The quality throughout this team is absolutely remarkable, isn't it? With the front four in particular on course to be the most iconic international front line since Brazil 2002. Here's our French football journalist Jean-Sebastien Grand. In the attacking part of you, it's the greatest attack in history of French national team, for sure. They are pretty spectacular going forward, aren't they? As for Spain, well, against Belgium, they did eventually concede a goal, their first of the tournament, but it still wasn't enough to send them packing. Now we know you can always count on Mikel Moreno to come off the bench and score a last-minute winner.

3:38Moreno is definitely the most loved man in Spain right now, isn't he? That's two consecutive games where he's scored the winner off the bench. Not half bad being known as that guy, is it? Spain have the edge in terms of recent clashes. They've won seven of their past ten games against France, and the last two are particularly notable. A 2-1 win in the semis of the last Euros, and also a breathtaking 5-4 win in the 2025 UEFA Nations League. Could we have another game like that, please? That would be pretty fun, wouldn't it? In this tournament, the Spanish haven't been quite as fearsome going forward as France, with Lamin-Yamal in particular not shining quite as bright as many would have expected.

4:17But could he once again be the French nemesis? Let's break it down.

4:26Today's drill down brought to you by Makita is all about Lamin-Yamal, who yesterday celebrated his 19th birthday here in Dallas. Maybe he celebrated on a mechanical bull as well. Yamal's only goal came in Spain's 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia with his pre-tournament hamstring injury preventing him from hitting top gear like his peers. Now, the attention has been on France, and particularly one man, Kylian Mbappe. But earlier in the tournament, Lemine was asked whether this French team was better than Spain, and his response was very defiant. France? Better than us? No. No? No. And Jamal has every right to be confident against France.

5:03Two years ago, when he was just 16 years old, it was this fixture in the semi-final of Euro 2024, where he truly announced himself on the world stage. Remember that goalie scored a beautiful curling shot to win the game and send Spain to the final. Then a year later, he scored twice in that thrilling 5-4 win in the Nations League. This World Cup, it hasn't quite clicked for him though, but Spain's captain Rodri is backing him to shine, saying against France, we hope he can be important. Rodri thinks he knows why Jamal hasn't quite hit top gear as well, telling the Guardian the way to help Lamine is to keep him calm, suggesting that maybe the weight of expectation is making him try almost a little bit too hard.

5:44On a personal level, many people will be comparing Jamal to Kylian Mbappe. The Real Madrid forward has played some of the best football of his career, scoring eight goals, joint top with Lionel Messi. At this tournament, he has been on fire. But there's one stat that will definitely be keeping him up at night because, in his own words... I think sometimes in the life I'm too competitive. The stat that Killian would like to break is that in knockout football, when he and Jamal have played, the record stands at Jamal 5, Mbappe 0. Yeah, he's not going to like that, is he? Three times whilst playing club football, two times whilst playing international football.

6:20In a finely balanced game like this between two top teams, a moment of brilliance is likely to be needed to break the deadlock. Will it be advantage Jamal again or will Mbappe finally find himself on the winning side? Let's take a look at some other World Cup news. And first of all, let's discuss how FIFA wants to make the World Cup even bigger. What? What? Yeah, not quite content enough with going up from 32 to 48 teams at this World Cup. Gianni Infantino has said that FIFA will look to expand the competition up to 64 teams in 2030. Maybe finally Wales will qualify. Mixed reviews for this, as you can probably imagine.

7:00A lot of people not happy with the idea. More games could dilute the World Cup product, but it could also mean no third place group qualifiers, which some fans will probably like the idea of. Also in World Cup news, we've got a bit more context on how this decision was reached. Sky News understands that FIFA has suspended the one match ban for US star Florian Balogun. Oh, this caused a ripple, didn't it? Well, it has now emerged that the controversial decision to waive a ban for the USA's striker flow, Balogant, was taken solely by the chairman of FIFA's disciplinary committee without any of the 17 other members asked to be involved in the case.

7:37And no, before you ask, this isn't Gianni Infantino, but it's Mohamed Al-Khamali. Now, normally, at least three members meet for serious decisions, but not in this case. FIFA haven't responded to this latest report. Moving on, this isn't really news, but the coldest photo of the World Cup has dropped late on Monday with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Erling Haaland taking part in a photo shoot. Zlatan posted it on his Instagram with the caption, the power is in the hair. I like it. And sticking with Norway's number nine, Haaland mania is officially out of control. In Peru alone, more than 500 newborn babies have been named after the striker.

8:14Yeah, no, I'm not lying. That is true. 468 babies were registered simply as Harland while another 91 were given the full shebang, Erling Harland. Can you believe it? And if that wasn't enough, today he's arrived home with a new friend, a taxidermy raccoon holding a bottle of whiskey. Now, you can even vote for its name on Harland's Instagram if that's what you want to do and you're quite bored. Cowboy Ranger Tex or R-O-W, raccoon on wheels, are the name options. It's not quite the World Cup trophy, Erling Haaland, but, you know, if it fills up space on your mantle, then fair play. And finally, Thomas Tuchel is set to make a late decision as to whether this man starts in their World Cup semi-final against Argentina.

9:04Declan Rice is reportedly still shaking off the remains of an illness he picked up in Mexico, with Tuchel admitting he spent three days in bed before the Norway game. Now, the midfielder was subbed off at half-time. Whilst it's understood he's not fully recovered, there is growing hope around the camp that he will be well enough to start in Atlanta. Has cruel fate smashed your dreams of footballing glory during this FIFA World Cup? Fear not. You're now a sporting free agent. With your choice of squads, the opportunity to pick someone new, the teams with the catcher songs, the country you studied abroad in, the goalkeeper with the magnificent hair.

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10:21When your team's gone, fun doesn't have to be, because on the Leys bandwagon, every match is another excuse to grab a snack and pick a new favourite. There are no wrong answers, only good times and tasty snacks. So jump on and enjoy the rest of the tournament, because Leys keeps the party going, and the bandwagon has never tasted better. Lay's official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026. With the American Express Platinum card, I can unlock experiences like no other. Since I'm always booking my next trip, I love that I can earn points on travel. Plus, I get a resi benefit, so you know I'm hitting the restaurants everyone's talking about.

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11:17After the full-time whistle of France against Spain, Roger Rory will, of course, be back making their grand return on the beloved second home, the big orange bus. This lovely thing. Nightcup is back. Tune in right here on the Men in Blazers YouTube to watch them break it all down with a dear old friend, Humphrey Carr. On to predictions now. and it was level pegging before Saturday's fixtures, but Rory somehow managed to get two perfect scores, so that means it's now 10-9 to the night cup. Today, I took on James Horncastle, and I'm going to be honest, I wasn't feeling confident.

11:50James Horncastle:You're going down, Horncastle. James, predictions for our first semifinal. France against Spain. Oh, this one's so hard to predict, isn't it? It really is. I think Spain, people are sleeping on them, which sounds really strange given they're the European champions. Lamine, Nico Williams haven't performed like they did two years ago. But I think people may be taking it for granted that France will reach the finals. I'm going to go with Spain. Oh, go on. Give me a scoreline. OK, I'm going to go 1-0 Spain. 1-0 Spain? So you don't think France are going to score? I think they're going to shut out France because I think France will struggle to keep the ball.

12:27Oh, I don't know. That French team look insanely good, don't they?

12:31James Horncastle:They really do. I think that's what everyone's saying. I've been to a load of France games and they are amazing. They find a way, not always from the get-go, sometimes take like an hour before they score. But I don't think they've come up against a team as good as Spain. And I was there two years ago when they dumped France out in the semi-finals of the Euros. That was with an incredible Lamin goal. So he needs to step up. He hasn't really done it so far. But he is a man for the big occasion. So I'm going to go with Spain. Okay, weirdly, I had a hunch yesterday that Spain were going to win this, but for the sake of the game, I'm going to predict France, which is probably what most people would do, I would just say.

13:11James Horncastle:Justifiably so. I don't think anyone would begrudge you. No. So I'm going to go France 2-1 win.

13:22Today's Finishing Touch brought to you by Bear Payne is all about what makes La Mignogne so good because we just haven't talked about him enough on this programme. have we? We are looking at a world-class star, but he's had a pretty quiet World Cup with just that one goal against Saudi Arabia. But everybody, there is still time. And let's be honest, he is a player who thrives in the big moments. Here's Spanish football expert James Horncastle, who's seen a lot of Lamin.

13:46James Horncastle:You know, I've seen this guy performing Clasicos, performing big Champions League games against Atletico Madrid or against Inter in a Champions League semi-final two years ago when, okay, his team didn't get through, but he really stood up. To put his talent into context, he reached over 100 goal contributions for club and country at just the ripe old age of 18, something that neither Messi nor Ronaldo managed, by the way. He turned 19 on Monday and has already made 13 appearances across the Euros, which he won, and the World Cup. That's more than double any other player at that age. He's already been compared to some of football's greats.

14:24Le Mien does things that you've never seen before and there are very few players who do that.

14:30James Horncastle:Ronaldinho was one. I've seen Le Mien in that France semi-final two years ago where he made me grab the person next to me and not many people do that. To be compared to Ronaldinho isn't half bad, is it? But guys, it gets better. Being left-footed, ridiculously talented and playing on the wing for Barcelona, he's also been compared to Lionel Messi. High praise indeed. Messi himself has even weighed in, saying, there's no doubt for me, he's the best. Naturally, such high expectations could weigh heavy on young shoulders, but Lamin just seems to take it all in his stride, and he's not sure of confidence either.

15:08But it often happens to me that when a competition comes up, I think I'm going to win it. So I think I'm going to win the World Cup this year. Oh, the confidence just oozes off him, doesn't it? Now, one person who will be sure to be by his side if he does lift the trophy is this little guy, Kane, Lamine's little brother who's stolen the spotlight from the stands with his passionate celebrations. As cute as Kane is, he's also just a reminder of just how young Lamine is. To have achieved what Jamal has achieved at this age is unprecedented and it's clear that he thinks the best is yet to come. That is it for Morning Cup Date today, built by the Home Depot.

15:44Join the Home Depot to welcome the world to our backyards and get fast free delivery on everything you need to get Matchday ready, subject to availability. Now, just got to say, thank you so much for all of your comments on our YouTube videos. We read them every day and we take all of your recommendations on board. So thank you very much. We're going back to Atlanta and then we're finishing off the journey in New York. So keep them coming, guys. Keep them coming. There are only a few stops left on the Matchday Live Tour as well. Kicking off today in Dallas at 12.45pm Central Time, ahead of France against Spain, Rog James, Horncastle and Humphrey Carr will be joined by two NFL and Cowboy legends with six Super Bowl rings between them, Emmitt Smith and Daryl Johnston.

16:24Then tomorrow, the tour rolls back to Atlanta at Founders Green in South Downtown at 1pm Eastern Time. Rog, Rory and James will preview England and Argentina with two incredible guests, Ted Lasso's Brendan Hunt and the legend that is ludicrous. and fun fact me and producer George actually watched him in Santa Monica on the pier at the beginning of the World Cup and he was excellent so shout out Ludacris love him anyway the link for all of that is in the notes below we're going to be back tomorrow but do enjoy Spain against France

17:01oh my god okay I'm good

17:09No.