Spain’s Defensive Fortress

As Portugal’s Bernardo Silva glanced his stoppage-time header inches over the crossbar against Spain on Monday, Rodri’s emotion got the better of him. The Spanish captain screamed in the face of his former Manchester City teammate, prompting an angry reaction from Silva. Rodri’s composure was regained in the mixed zone afterwards, where he apologized to Silva.

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“I made a mistake,” Rodri said. “I celebrated when he had missed – I apologized to him immediately.”

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The miss secured Spain’s passage to a World Cup quarter-final in Los Angeles, where they thumped Austria in the last-32 and where they will take on Belgium after their thrashing of hosts USA. Yet the miss also preserved Spain’s impeachable defensive record, which is more so than any attacking statistics, the absolute cornerstone for Spain’s record-breaking international era.

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Defensive Solidarity

Head coach Luis de la Fuente acknowledged as much after the win over Portugal: “This (win) is the result and fruits of collective work – great defensive solidity, of course. There is solidarity, effort, sacrifice and everybody runs for one another. Every football idea is present very clearly, but what is beautiful is the attitude these footballers show, they are committed to the cause.”

Unbeatable Record

It’s worth putting Spain’s clean sheet record into perspective. Before this tournament, Switzerland held the record for the most consecutive World Cup minutes without conceding a goal between 1994 and 2010. One of those matches, ironically, was a 1-0 opening game victory against eventual champions Spain in 2010.

That record is no more. With his clean sheet against Portugal, Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon has not conceded a World Cup goal for 609 consecutive minutes. That’s five matches at this tournament, alongside their 0-0 draw and penalty shoot-out defeat in their last match against Morocco in Qatar.

“I feel proud of him,” De La Fuente said of the record. “I feel like he is a member of my family. I’m very happy for him.”

One astonishing record did go in Dallas on Monday: prior to Cristiano Ronaldo’s first-half shot on target, Simon had not had a save to make in the first-half of his preceding four games this summer. It speaks to a rock-solid defensive unit in front of him which, in turn, is marshalled by the world’s most accomplished defensive midfielder in Rodri.

The Backbone of the Team

Three of the back-four are the first names on the teamsheet: left-back Marc Cucurella (a revelation for his country, compared to his topsy-turvy form for Chelsea over the past few years), Barcelona teenager Pau Cubarsi (who has replaced Robin Le Normand, a shock omission in this squad, from the Euro 2024 winning team) and centre-back partner Aymeric Laporte.

Tottenham’s Pedro Porro, meanwhile, looks to have cemented his spot at right-back in the last two matches over Atletico Madrid’s Marcos Llorente, scoring against Austria and a constant threat in tandem with Lamine Yamal on the right-hand side versus Portugal.

Pressing High

With Rodri, so poised on the ball and destructive off the ball, it is easy to see why Spain have been so impenetrable so far this summer. La Roja keep the ball for the majority of their matches and, when they lose it, they press high – and fast. It suffocates the opposition, forcing them to play long and usually lose possession. That is what Belgium, who are off the back of their best performance of the tournament against the United States, are up against in Inglewood this evening.

“We have many qualities that will make our opponents think we’re the team to beat,” De La Fuente said. “We have a lot of confidence in ourselves, we are very sure of ourselves, and we’ll give our best until the very last moment. Our opponents will have to beat us.”

Again, some perspective on the scale of this Spain team. Their unbeaten streak currently stands at 35 competitive matches, dating back to a 2023 defeat to Scotland; some may remember Rodri’s salty post-match interview then.

If they win the World Cup, they’ll overtake the all-time international record of 37 matches, set by Roberto Mancini’s Euro-winning Italy squad in 2021. And with a blockbuster clash against France potentially in the offing in the semi-finals, they will have earned that record the hard way.

But more so than Yamal, Pedri or Dani Olmo, their dazzling creators in the attacking third, the foundation for that potential landmark and second World Cup triumph will be the five at the back and Rodri overseeing the defensive operation. Can Belgium attackers Charles De Ketelaere, Jeremy Doku (benched for the last game), Leonardo Trossard and Romelu Lukaku find a way through the rearguard and go where no team has gone before this summer? It feels… unlikely.

With this solid defensive unit, Spain will look to take on Belgium in the quarter-finals and continue their unbeaten streak. But will their opponents be able to break through their impenetrable defense and cause an upset?

Only time will tell, but one thing is certain: Spain’s rock-solid defense will be a key factor in their World Cup campaign.