Every preview of Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal leads with the same two names. Kylian Mbappé, eight goals, chasing history. Lamine Yamal, the heir apparent. Fair enough. Now let’s talk about the men whose job is to ruin all of that, because they’re the ones who will actually decide this game.
Start with the numbers, because Spain’s are absurd. One goal conceded in six matches. Six consecutive clean sheets to open the tournament, the longest shutout streak in World Cup history. Unai Simón went 649 minutes without picking the ball out of his net, breaking a record that had stood since Nadine Angerer’s 622. The streak finally died in the 41st minute against Belgium, when Charles De Ketelaere headed one in, and the Spanish defense almost looked incredulous.
Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte and Marc Cucurella for Spain.(Photo by Alex Pantling – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
The men in front of Simón deserve credit. Aymeric Laporte and Pau Cubarsí are the tournament’s most composed center-back pairing: a 32-year-old who has seen everything next to a 19-year-old who plays like he has. Cubarsí’s calm on the ball, a signature of a Barcelona defender, is Spain’s escape valve, and teams that press him tend to regret it two passes later. Marc Cucurella and Pedro Porro bomb forward on the flanks, which is both Spain’s weapon and Spain’s problem. We’ll get to that.
Dayot Upamecano and William Saliba have been solid for France. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
