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Belgium manager Rudi Garcia has made it clear that his team will not design a specific plan to contain Lamine Yamal ahead of their World Cup quarter-final clash with Spain. Instead, he believes the Red Devils must challenge Spain as a unit and utilise their own strengths to end the reigning European champions’ perfect defensive record in the tournament.

Garcia emphasises team strategy over individual focus

Going into the quarter-final encounter in Los Angeles, Belgium are seen as underdogs against a dominant Spanish side. However, Garcia insists his players will not concentrate solely on Yamal, who has been one of the standout performers of the tournament. The Belgian coach feels Spain’s true power lies in their overall team cohesion and tactical structure.

Spain come into the match as favourites, having won Euro 2024 and maintained a clean sheet throughout the World Cup so far. While acknowledging the magnitude of the task ahead, Garcia said Belgium must aim to disrupt Spain’s rhythm and exploit every opportunity when they regain possession.

Garcia details Belgium’s tactical mindset

The Belgian coach outlined that his approach is to counter Spain’s collective play rather than focus on any single individual. He noted that his side must prevent Spain from dictating the game’s tempo while maintaining belief in their own attacking capabilities.

“There is no anti-Lamine Yamal plan because there would need to be one for every player,” Garcia told RTBF. “There simply needs to be an anti-Spain plan; we must not let them play to their strengths. They will have possession, but we also have our own qualities.

“When we win the ball back, we must do everything possible to create problems for them. Everyone already expects us to be out, but that gives us everything to win. I hope we attack this quarter-final with complete determination. I have Andalusian roots, but my heart is Belgian.”

Belgium confident despite Spain’s dominant form

Garcia underlined that Belgium possess enough firepower to challenge Spain’s possession-based style. Although he recognised Spain’s collective strength, he reminded that even the best statistics can be broken.

“We must have faith in ourselves. Spain are the favourites; they are the defending European champions and have kept the same core group of players since that triumph. They haven’t conceded a goal so far in this tournament — it will be time for them to concede at least one against us,” Garcia continued. “We respect them immensely, but to progress, we must beat top sides. The level of difficulty only increases from here.”

“We know all their players individually, but their real power lies in the group. They are perhaps even stronger collectively now. Statistics are there to be broken. We don’t want to simply endure; we want to make our presence felt. We are the second-highest scoring team in the competition and will fight hard for every ball. Our goal is to prove that we deserve to go beyond the quarter-finals.”

Belgium eye a major upset

Belgium now face one of their toughest challenges of the World Cup — a Spanish side yet to concede a single goal. To reach the semi-finals, Garcia’s team will need to combine defensive resilience with the attacking sharpness that has defined their campaign so far.