​Entering Tuesday’s men’s World Cup semifinal match, the prevailing sentiment seemed to be that France deserved to be the favorite over Lamine Yamal and defending European champion Spain. After the Spanish defense systematically dismantled Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, and Co. in a decisive 2-0 win, it’s clear many underestimated just how good this Spain team is.One person who didn’t overlook what Spain was capable of was French manager Didier Deschamps.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhereas it felt like most had crowned France as the favorite, Deschamps had actually fought back against this sentiment with some of his pre-match comments. As it turns out, his below praise of the Spanish defense — which has conceded just a single goal en route to Sunday’s World Cup Final — was accurate foreshadowing about what ended up happening to the usually potent French offense:It was easy to take Deschamps’ commentary here as trying to motivate his players in the biggest game of the tournament against elite competition. We’ve seen so many coaches try a similar tactic in so many sports. But no, this was Deschamps being candid. He knew what France was up against with a Spanish team that plays every single blade of grass while showing off the epitome of disciplined and technical soccer. And his assessment came to fruition.Spain now moves on to its first World Cup Final since 2010. Call it a good hunch, but I don’t think anyone will underestimate the Spanish anymore, regardless of which opponent awaits them on the other side.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSpain is waiting for the winner of the Argentina vs. England match. Those two countries will engage in the other World Cup semifinal on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. The loser of the match will play France in the third-place game on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.This article originally appeared on For The Win: Didier Deschamps’ pre-match Spain compliment was spot-on foreshadowing