Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente shared his expectations for the 2026 World Cup quarterfinal match against Belgium. The match will take place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, and the winner of this pair will face France in the semifinals. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Spain approaches the match as one of the tournament favorites. However, the coach himself does not believe that one can talk about his team's advantage in advance in a quarterfinal.

"I am not afraid or complexed to admit the status of favorite, but in such matches there are no favorites. We are not pressured by the fact that someone considers us favorites," De la Fuente is quoted as saying by Cadena Ser.

According to the coach, Spain is now thinking only about Belgium, despite the fact that France has already reached the semifinals and is waiting for the winner of this pair. De la Fuente noted that as fans, Spaniards can discuss a possible meeting with the French, but inside the team there is no such agenda.

"In our heads, only the match with Belgium. As fans, we can talk about France, but as professionals, no. We managed to watch that game, and it seems to me that France was stronger than Morocco," the coach noted.

De la Fuente specifically focused on Lamine Yamal. The 18-year-old winger remains one of the main figures of the Spanish attack, although he has only scored one goal in the tournament so far. The coach made it clear that more is expected from Yamal in attack, but his work without the ball is also valued.

"When you see Lamine's motivation, you know he is very dangerous for opponents. And we must motivate him, but so that it does not turn into anxiety for him. The best is yet to come, because he has not yet shown the brilliant game we expect. In the game with Portugal, there was a match scenario where he had to work in defense until he had to be substituted. Lamine showed his maturity, and we look forward to his attacking power," said De la Fuente.

In a similar vein, the Spanish specialist assessed Pedri's performance. After the match with Portugal, the midfielder was criticized for not the brightest performance, but the coach believes that his contribution cannot be measured only by spectacular actions near the opponent's penalty area.

"I see him very well. Perhaps his work was not so spectacular, but it was very important. The players who came on later benefited from what he did on the field," De la Fuente stated.

Recall that the quarterfinal match between Spain and Belgium will take place on the night of July 11. The match starts at 00:00 Astana time.