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Should Mikel Merino start for Spain against France?
Two match-winning goals. Nine total minutes on the pitch.
To say that Mikel Merino has had an impact for Spain at this World Cup would be a massive understatement.
The midfielder-turned-substitute striker has been the hero for La Roja in each of their last two knockout matches, scoring in stoppage time to defeat Portugal in the round of 16 and tallying the winning goal in the 88th minute of Spain's quarter-final against Belgium.
Watch: Famous World Cup Last-Minute Goals
Merino has been Luis de la Fuente's late-match good luck charm, but does his production justify a move to the Spain starting XI?
The 30-year-old has shown a knack for scoring big goals over the past two years, not only in the World Cup but also for club side Arsenal. When injury woes deprived the Gunners' of their preferred attacking options in the second half of the 2024-25 season, Merino was plugged into the centre-forward rold by manager Mikel Arteta and proceeded to score several times in both the Premier League and Champions League.
There was more of the same from Merino in Arsenal's title-winning campaign, as the Spaniard scored six times in all competitions as a No. 9 before succumbing to the injury bug himself.
Now fully healed, Merino's exploits as a makeshift forward have come to the forefront after his timely strikes against Portugal and Belgium. The nature of each goal — with Merino entering the match mere moments before netting the game-winner — lends itself to the natural question of whether he should be playing more minutes for De La Fuente.
Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images
However, it's hard to argue with success. Spain have rolled along in this World Cup, using sturdy defence to position themselves for dominance at the attacking end of the pitch. De La Fuente's preferred 4-2-3-1 formation has brought the best of out the Spanish squad, with Mikel Oyarzabal leading the line ahead of attacking midfielders Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo and Álex Baena on the left.
Tucked in behind them are two defensive midfielders, usually Rodri and Pedri, although the latter was replaced by Fabián Ruiz in Spain most recent contest.
This formation has worked wonders for Spain so far because it allows them to utilise the world class technical skill of their midfielders to control the play, resulting in the team having dominated the possession and chance creation statistics in every one of their World Cup matches so far. A byproduct of this is that opponents cannot get the ball as often as they want to, and thus do not enjoy nearly as many look at the Spanish goal as they'd like.
Oyarzabal is part of this as well, as the striker puts in the work on both sides of the ball and has developed an understanding with the midfielders behind him, opening up chances not only for himself but for his teammates as well. The Real Sociedad man has four goals and an assist in this World Cup as De La Fuente's chosen No. 9, and even when not scoring the 29-year-old is making his team better.
Theoretically, Merino could replicate Oyarzabal's intelligent play up front as a starter, but it actually hasn't been Oyarzabal who he has replaced when coming on to provide a late-game spark. Against both Portugal and Belgium, the man who came off for Merino has actually been Olmo, as Spain threw out a different look in order to find a match-winning goal.
It obviously worked in both instances, with Merino the hero, but Spain completely changing their shape just to accomodate Merino in the biggest match of the tournament so far seems an unlikely play, especially at the expense of Olmo.
If anything, De La Fuente will keep things as consistent as possible against France in the semi-final, with Merino watching on from the sidelines until his services are required.
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