There is no need to set off alarm bells, but the goalless draw that Spain achieved against Egypt in the penultimate friendly before debuting in the 2026 World Cup should serve as a lesson. Luis de la Fuente’s team gave away the first half and in the second half were denied a goal. In addition to lose first place in the FIFA ranking in favor of Francethe tie will serve to reduce the levels of favoritism before the big event.
Luis de la Fuente: “The further away from football and society the violent people are, the better”
For La Roja’s last game before the final World Cup roster, Luis de la Fuente had to test his players. Hence In the starting eleven only Lamine Yamal would repeat regarding the match against Serbia. The remaining ten were new to starting and even like Mosquera or Barrenetxea were making their debut.
Spain’s play during the first half tried to be characteristic of De la Fuente, but the speed both when moving the ball and pressing was not high enough.
This allowed the Egyptians to let go and be brave when it came to getting the ball out from behind. The Pharaohs team knows how to handle the ball and it would not have surprised anyone if they had taken the lead at half-time.
If it weren’t for the wood, Marmoush would have broken the initial zero-zero in the 29th minute.
The changes improve Spain in the second half
During the locker room, Spain made three substitutions. Rodri, Pedri, Fermín and Víctor Muñoz entered the pitch to try to monopolize the ball in the duel.
The changes were noticeable from the start of the resumption. Spain began to step into the rival area repeatedly thanks to the arrivals on the second line of Fermín and Pedri.
With game inertia in their favor, Borja Iglesias jumped onto the field to look for the goal and Joan García to debut in what was his house – he would hear as many applauses as whistles during his interventions.
“⚽️ One of the most anticipated debuts of recent times in the @SEFutbol.
Joan Garcia puts on the shirt of the senior team for the first time at the RCDE Stadium, his former home.
Division of opinions in their reception.
🇪🇸🇪🇬 Spain-Egypt, LIVE on @la1_tve. pic.twitter.com/P7y9nWiTzz“
— Teledeporte (@teledeporte) March 31, 2026
Pedri, Borja, Mosquera and Grimaldo all came close to scoring (he threw a free kick against the crossbar). However, the goal did not end up coming and the game ended as it began. We must assimilate well what happened and, especially, we have to reflect on what we heard in the stands.
Whistles were heard during the Egyptian anthem and racist shouts were heard during the first half. Intolerable.
00.26 min
Full transcript
bueno
of the Miñamal, Muslim, and the Muslim.
And recently Ramadan passed
In short, it’s embarrassing.
Where there is none, it cannot be removed.
This is absolutely embarrassing
Chants of “Muslim he who does not bounce” and whistles for the anthem in Spain-Egypt
