The World Cup assumption Spain proved very wrong

ARLINGTON, Texas — We’ve had it all wrong, all tournament. Instead of France’s front four, it was Spain’s midfield three.Instead of Kylian Mbappé, this World Cup is about Rodri.

And the trophy is Spain’s to lose.What other conclusion is there to draw after Spain 2, France 0 on Bastille Day in Dallas? Luis de la Fuente’s side marched into the World Cup final in such dominant fashion that it would be hard to conjure up a comparison, had one not presented itself on the 60-yard video board inside Cowboys Stadium. Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos and Xavi Hernández — Spain’s goalkeeper, two center backs and central midfielder at the 2010 World Cup — were pictured, all sitting together in a suite to watch this dismantling.Yeah, that pretty much fits.“Our message was that we were probably facing one of the best national teams in the world,” De la Fuente said.

“However, they were going to face the best team.The best group in the world.”Not since South Africa has a Spanish national team looked so inevitable.

Unai Simón never even had to make a save. Lamine Yamal said Spain wouldn’t fear France, and by the end, it was Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola quaking in their boots.The obvious problem France coach Didier Deschamps had to solve from the moment this matchup became clear — his numerical disadvantage in the midfield given the four attackers his team played with all tournament — became the advantage Spain rode all afternoon.

Stunningly, Deschamps never seemed to attempt a solution.“We knew that ball possession was gonna be super important for us,” Pedro Porro said.“That we would have to fight their strikers, their forwards, so we feel super happy.”Fabián Ruiz, Dani Olmo and Rodri, a Ballon d’Or winner who for some reason never gets mentioned on the list of this tournament’s superstars, ran roughshod over the entire game. “I said a long time ago that questioning Rodri was...