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The stars of “Real Madrid” and “Barcelona” meet again
France star Kylian Mbappe must prepare to at best erase his eternal nightmare, or at worst perpetuate it, when he meets his rival, Spain star Lamin Yamal at the World Cup.
Spain secured their place in the semi-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 2-1 quarter-final win over Belgium at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday.
Thus, “Matador” will have a heated match with the French team in the semi-finals next Tuesday at the “Dallas” stadium in Texas, after the latter crossed the barrier of Morocco with a clean double in the quarter-finals.
Semi-final round
This will be Mbappé and Yamal’s first meeting at the World Cup, but it will not be their first meeting at international level.
The two stars have met Spain and France twice before, also in the semi-finals, but from two different tournaments.
The first time was in the semi-finals of the European Cup of Nations “Euro 2024”, when the Spanish team managed to win 2-1 with Yamal scoring without Mbappe doing anything.
The encounter was repeated almost a year later, but this time in the 2025 UEFA Nations League semi-final, and Spain won 5–4, with Yamal scoring twice to Mbappé’s one.
At Euro 2024, Yamal managed to lead Spain to victory in the tournament after a 12-year absence, defeating England in the final, but he was unable to do so in the 2025 UEFA Nations League after losing to Portugal.
Strangely enough, the confrontation between the two stars of the national team is repeated for the third year in a row, in the semi-finals, but this time from the 2026 World Championship.
Classic loop
Mbappé’s fall out with Yamal wasn’t just at international level, it was even bigger domestically as the French star moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024.
Since then, the two stars have met in El Clasico 6 times, with Yamal’s Barcelona teammates winning 5 times, while Real Madrid have only won once under Mbappe.
Even this one win, which came against two goals, one of which was scored by Mbappe, last season in the Spanish league was unimpressive as Barcelona eventually won the title.
On the other hand, Yamal’s other five wins led Barcelona to 4 titles, including the Spanish Super Cup twice, the Copa del Rey once and the Spanish Liga after back-to-back El Clasico wins in the 2024-2025 season.
Excellence of one group
In fact, Mbappe did not know the taste of superiority over Yamal, as the latter was a rising player in the Barcelona team before spending his last season at PSG before moving to Real Madrid.
In the 2023–24 season, Paris Saint-Germain faced Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while Yamal was enjoying his first season with the first team under Spanish coach Xavi Hernandez.
Yamal played 61 minutes in the first leg, as Barcelona won 3–2, and played just 34 minutes in the second leg, where he was substituted to compensate for the dismissal of Ronald Araujo, and Mbappe scored twice in the French club’s 4–1 victory.
It was the only time Mbappe outscored Yamal overall as PSG ended their run in the Champions League and Barcelona were knocked out in the quarter-finals.
But even this time, Mbappé and his team-mates’ journey to the title was not complete as they exited the Champions League in the semi-finals after a back-and-forth defeat to Borussia Dortmund.
Individual excellence is not enough
Thus, before the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup, the two stars will meet in 10 matches: 6 Clasicos, 2 between PSG and Barcelona, as well as between Spain and France.
Yamal managed to lead his teams in 8 matches, defeating Mbappé, while the French star managed only two wins without a draw.
It is true that Mbappe excelled in the number of goals individually, as he scored 9 goals in those matches to Yamal’s 6, but this individual superiority was not enough to give him a collective victory over the Spanish star.
