Belgium have 'no plan' to stop Lamine Yamal but Rudi Garcia says star players to 'fight and nail' to end Spain's perfect World Cup record

Belgium head into their World Cup quarter-final against Spain in Los Angeles as underdogs, but Garcia insists his side will not build their game plan around stopping one player. While Yamal has attracted widespread attention during the tournament, the Belgium coach believes Spain's greatest strength lies in their collective quality.

Spain arrive as favourites after winning Euro 2024 and have yet to concede a goal in the competition. Garcia acknowledged the challenge but said Belgium must focus on disrupting Spain's overall style while making the most of their own attacking strengths whenever they regain possession.

Garcia explained that Belgium's tactical focus is on Spain as a whole rather than one individual. He believes his players must prevent Spain from playing to their strengths while remaining confident in their own ability to cause problems.

"There is no anti-Lamine Yamal plan because there would need to be one for every player," Garcia admitted, as quoted by 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 have qualities too.

"When we recover the ball, we will have to do everything to cause them problems. We have everything to win in this match because everyone already sees us out. I hope we will bite into this quarter-final with full teeth. I have Andalusian blood in my veins, but my heart is Belgian."

Garcia stressed that Belgium have enough attacking quality to compete despite Spain's possession-based style. He described Spain as stronger collectively than before but insisted statistics are there to be broken.

"We must believe in ourselves. Spain are favourites, they are the defending European champions, and the team hasn’t changed since that victory. They are used to playing together," Garcia added. "They haven't conceded a goal in this tournament; it will be time to concede at least one against us. We have a lot of respect for them. To go far, you have to beat big teams. The degree of difficulty rises in this competition.

"We know all the players individually. Their strength is also collective, they are perhaps more solid than before. Statistics are made to be overturned. We want to exist and not just suffer. We are capable of scoring; we are the second-best attack in the tournament. We are going to defend our skin dearly. We want to show that we deserve to go further than the quarter-finals."

Belgium now face a tough test in their World Cup campaign against a Spain side yet to concede a goal. Garcia's team will need to combine defensive discipline with the attacking efficiency that has carried them through the tournament if they are to reach the semi-finals.