Ahead of the 2026 World Cup Semi-Finals, Konate confirms that France is not intimidated when facing Spain.

France national team defender Ibrahima Konate has acknowledged that Spain performed exceptionally throughout the 2026 World Cup. Despite this, the newly signed Real Madrid player stressed that Les Bleus are in no way intimidated to face La Furia Roja in the semi-final match.

The France vs Spain fixture will be held at AT&T Stadium, United States, on Wednesday, 15 July 2026 WIB. This clash is predicted to be one of the most intense matches of the 2026 World Cup, as it pits two top favoured squads against one another, both possessing elite level quality.

"You cannot fear anyone. Right now we will prepare ourselves as properly as possible and hope that the final result will work in our favour," Konate stated, as reported by Diario AS on Monday, 13 July 2026.

Konate's statement was made in response to comments from Spain's young star Lamine Yamal, who had previously insisted his squad hold no fear facing France. Yamal also reminded that Spain had won both of the last two head-to-head meetings against Les Bleus.

"We have defeated France in our last two matches. If there is one team France should fear, it is us. We will just see what unfolds, but we are not scared," Yamal remarked.

Spain indeed entered this fixture with high confidence. Luis de la Fuente's side remains unbeaten across 36 consecutive matches. At the 2026 World Cup, La Furia Roja also delivered extremely solid performances, conceding only one goal across six matches, on top of their two straight wins over France in recent encounters.

While acknowledging the strength of their upcoming opponents, Konate confirmed that the France national team will not fixate on any single individual player. According to him, Spain have numerous quality players across their squad, meaning Les Bleus must watch for the entire team rather than only focusing on Lamine Yamal.

"Spain are a special side with many talented individuals. We will not focus on just one player, even though Lamine Yamal is an excellent footballer," stated the defender who recently joined Real Madrid.

The same optimistic sentiment was shared by fellow France defender Maxence Lacroix. He acknowledged Spain's quality, but expressed confidence that Les Bleus can halt their opponent's impressive run and secure a ticket to the tournament final.

"I will not say 'afraid', but we are fully aware of their quality. They have won every match so far, aside from their 0-0 draw against Cape Verde. We respect them because they have very high calibre players, but we came here to win," Lacroix said.

For France, victory over Spain would open the chance to make new history. Les Bleus hold the opportunity to appear in three consecutive World Cup finals, following their title win in 2018 and runner-up finish in 2022.

Should they advance to the final, France will face the winner of the other semi-final match between England and defending champions Argentina.