​Spain midfielder Rodri called for more protection for Lamine Yamal after seeing his team-mate on the receiving end of plenty of fouls in Tuesday’s win over France at World Cup 2026.Yamal seems to have avoided injury, despite being seem limping after the game, and Rodri says the referee was far too lenient.“We’ve been dealing with this situation for three games now,” he told reporters afterwards.“There are too many fouls. I understand that some might not be fouls, but we’re talking about more than 10 or 15 fouls where the player goes to ground, gets tackled, and you have to call them because otherwise the defenders are going to keep doing it. The leniency today (yesterday) was quite obvious.”Rodri went on to praise Yamal for his display. The teenager won the penalty for the first game but Rodri highlighted another aspect of his performance, adding: “He had a great game, especially off the ball. He was sensational, he helped us a lot.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSpain will now play either England or Argentina in Sunday’s World Cup final in New York.