Lamine’s Great World Cup Day Still to Come, Says Spain’s De la Fuente

France coach Didier Deschamps insisted he still sees Spain as World Cup favorites on Monday ahead of Les Bleus' blockbuster semi-final against the European champions.

France take on Spain at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday in a match widely seen as a collision of the best two teams in the tournament.

While Deschamps' side have lit up the World Cup with a string of scintillating performances, Spain's campaign has built momentum gradually following a shock 0-0 draw against minnows Cape Verde in their opening game.

Deschamps, though, maintains that France -- beaten by Spain in their last two meetings -- will be the underdog on Tuesday.

"Forget about the first game against Cape Verde," Deschamps said of Spain's campaign. "Ever since then Spain have confirmed that they are the favorites.

"I don't want to add extra pressure to (Spain coach) Luis (De la Fuente) and their team -- he knows very well that people are expecting great things of Spain.

"But Spain can attack well, and they can defend very well. They've only conceded one goal in the last six or seven matches."

Spain coach De la Fuente meanwhile smiled when asked for his response to Deschamps' comments at an eve-of-game press conference.

"Since the beginning, I've always said that the fact that people say we're favorites or not doesn't mean anything," De la Fuente told reporters. "It doesn't. It's not decisive."

"We are two great national teams facing each other, just as there are two great national teams facing each other in the other semi-final," De la Fuente added, stressing that his team was comfortable living with the pressure to succeed.

"Regardless of whether we're favorites or not, it doesn't mean create additional pressure," he said. "We have that pressure anyway. We want to do well for our country."

Deschamps meanwhile believes Tuesday's game has all the makings of a classic.

"With the quality of the two teams offensively, I think we could think that is going to be a spectacular game," he said.

Deschamps is also not overly concerned by the threat posed by Spain winger Lamine Yamal, who scored in La Roja's victories over France in the European Championship semi-final in 2024 and the UEFA Nations League last year.

"We know the strength of the opposing team. We have our own strengths," Deschamps said.

"Have I studied Yamal and his assets? Yes, he's one of the players that can really make a difference on the pitch.

"And all opponents should try to limit the strength of the other team, but we have many solutions.

"When it comes to a one-on-ones it could be tough. But having a one-on-one against some of my players is not an easy task either."

Deschamps confirmed that France captain Kylian Mbappe, who left the quarter-final win over Morocco late in the second half after taking a knock, was "100 percent" fit for the semi-final.

More than 100,000 fans flooded the streets of the Norwegian capital Oslo on Monday to give their football team a heroes' welcome, turning the heartbreak of their World Cup exit into a massive national celebration.

A 2-1 extra-time defeat by England on Saturday brought Norway's historic run to an end in the quarter-finals, shattering the Nordics' dreams of a place in the last four. However, it did not stop the country celebrating their heroes.

Massive crowds under the Norwegian summer sun filled the grounds of the Royal Palace ‌early on Monday ‌afternoon, with an unofficial turnout estimated at more than 100,000 ‌people.

The ⁠Norway squad touched ⁠down to a traditional water cannon salute before commencing their homecoming parade in the capital.

The line of supporters quickly packed the palace square before stretching far down the main street, Karl Johans gate, as the squad first attended an audience with King Harald.

The team then stepped out to greet the fans with the Royal Guard standing to attention behind them.

Striker Erling Haaland was noticeably absent from the final stage of the celebrations, having left ⁠early.

His departure meant he missed joining his teammates on the ‌palace steps for one last "Viking row", with tens of ‌thousands of fans gathered below, which was led by Crown Prince Haakon on the drums.

"Erling ‌and Sander (Berge) had to catch their plane as our trip from the US was ‌delayed four hours," coach Stale Solbakken said, as the squad prepared to continue the celebrations in an open-top bus parade around Oslo.

Crowds slowed the bus to a halt through central Oslo, forcing it to reverse at one point as police escorts struggled to carve out a path. ‌Undeterred, Norway's players celebrated with beer and waved as the party continued long after dark.

CABLES PAUSE NORWEGIAN CELEBRATIONS

There was a moment ⁠of irony when ⁠the parade was halted by low-hanging overhead cables. The players, who had been standing and waving flags on the top deck, were forced to sit down to clear the obstruction before the double-decker could proceed.

Solbakken said earlier he was convinced the ball hit a camera cable above the pitch just before Jude Bellingham scored England's equalizer in the first half of the quarter-final.

World soccer's governing body FIFA has repeatedly denied that the ball touched any wire before the goal.

Hours after the parade began, it completed the 1.3-km route at City Hall Square, where tens of thousands of patient supporters were still waiting to welcome the team.

"I don't think anyone had imagined this," captain Martin Odegaard told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. "The support we have received in the USA and here at home in Norway, has been beyond all expectations. It has been absolutely incredible to see."

Lionel Messi has done just about everything possible in a glorious career, but the 39-year-old Argentinian great has never taken on England -- he will finally get the chance in Wednesday's World Cup semi-final.

Messi won his 200th cap for the Albiceleste in the group-stage victory against Algeria and dreams of leading his country to the final once again, said AFP.

The diminutive playmaker is surely in the final days of a remarkable international career which began when he was a fresh-faced 18-year-old in 2005.

Having broken into the Barcelona team late the previous year, Messi had just starred for Argentina as they won the Under-20 World Cup in the Netherlands.

He was handed his Argentina bow by Jose Pekerman in a friendly against Hungary in Budapest that August, replacing Lisandro Lopez in the 64th minute and joining Hernan Crespo up front.

Ninety seconds later he was sent off for what the referee saw as an elbow. It was quite the ignominious way for his Argentina career to begin.

"An 18-year-old kid who is making his debut for the national team and has so much hope -- he can't be punished like that. The referee needed to be more understanding," said Crespo.

Messi might look back now and laugh at that incident, which led to him being suspended for a friendly against England in Geneva three months later.

The nations have not met since, and so Messi will play against the Three Lions for the very first time under the roof of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

"I have played against everyone except England and it is special because they are a major nation, a powerhouse, and it is always nice to play against a side like that, especially in a World Cup semi-final," said Messi after Argentina beat Switzerland in Kansas City in the last eight.

- Emulating Maradona -

The man who emulated Diego Maradona by inspiring Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar four years ago will now hope to leave a similar mark on England as his legendary predecessor.

Any meeting of these countries evokes memories of the 1986 quarter-final at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, when Maradona punched in to score the 'Hand of God' opener and then ran past half the England defense for his team's second goal -- perhaps the greatest World Cup goal of all time.

Messi has not scored one quite like that, but ahead of the semi-finals of the current tournament he had scored more World Cup goals than any other player.

With 21 goals from a tournament record 32 appearances, he led France skipper Kylian Mbappe by one after the quarter-finals.

The Inter Miami player had found the net in nine consecutive World Cup matches before the Switzerland game, when he let others -- notably Julian Alvarez -- take over the goalscoring duties.

Argentina are now one game away from reaching another World Cup final, as they aim to become the first team to retain the trophy since Brazil in 1962.

It would be a third final in four World Cups, and Messi could follow in the footsteps of Brazil great Cafu. The full-back played in three in a row from 1994 to 2002 -- even Maradona only played in two.

"Getting to another semi-final is not a normal, mundane thing, so this is something we should really enjoy because we don't know if it will happen again," Messi said.

The England players will hope to enjoy it as well.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Nico O'Reilly, who is likely to come up against Messi if he starts at left-back, told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"He's coming towards the end of his career. For me personally, he's the best player to ever touch a football pitch. And yeah, I can't wait for the challenge."

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