“European champions are the most successful”. Deschamps will nominate Spain to win.

France coach Didier Deschamps has confirmed that Spain are the most likely candidates to win the 2026 World Cup title, clearly trying to put the pressure on the rival camp ahead of the two teams’ upcoming semi-final clash.

Deschamps said in a statement to the Spanish “Movistar” TV channel. “We know Spain well. They are the reigning European champions and we played them last summer in the semi-finals of the Nations League as well. They considered us the favorite before the World Cup, but Spain is the favorite.”

The French coach added to the classic psychological game before the big games. “It puts more pressure on them because of what they did, although they lost to Portugal in the Europa League final, but they are a very good team with a lot of strengths.”

Deschamps praised the level of the tournament, saying: “First of all, this is the first semi-final match of the World Cup and the level is really very high.”