​Former England international Stephen Warnock was at the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a BBC co-commentator. He sat down with Get French Football News to discuss France’s tournament so far and the impact Michael Olise has made. What were your thoughts on France before this tournament, and have they changed?My thoughts were that they were the favourites, and from what I’ve seen so far, I haven’t changed my mind. Spain, Argentina, and England are also left. I think in one-off games that if England were to get to the final, I think that they can win the game, but I’d still have France as favourites going into it. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhen you look at their forward players and the depth in their forward players – to be able to change a game, to change the wingers, add more pace, and more guile into the attack. You’ve got finishers off the bench, people who know where the goal is. And you’ve arguably got the player of the tournament in Michael Olise. I mean, everyone will look at the goal scorers. I just look at him and think he’s the difference maker. He’s the player who can change things, who can, within an instant, hit that killer pass or beat a player. My only concern with the French team is that they can be got at in defence. Lucas Digne, I think he’s a brilliant player, but when he comes up against fast wingers, I think [the opposition] can utilise that. Dayot Upamecano has the odd mistake in him, where he almost gets too complacent and finds things a little too easy, and I think you can take advantage of that. But I think the French have the best squad, and we know what their capabilities are. Morocco were expected to be their biggest test so far, but they struggled to lay a glove on them. Were you surprised by that?Yeah, I was. And that is where you look at the French team and think that’s why they’re so good. We thought it would be a huge problem; obviously, Morocco were missing Ismael Saibari, and that did change things. It didn’t give them that outlet that they wanted, that ball in behind. However, like you said, they couldn’t get close to them, and that shows the quality of the French team. There are levels, and everyone was waiting for France to go up a level. It was almost as if everyone knew that Morocco was going to be a challenge, and well, they dismantled them. It was so easy for them at times. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHow do you think Spain will prepare for the semi-final? I think Spain will be more than comfortable going into the game. They know they’ll probably have more of the ball. France will allow them to have the ball. The danger is on the counterattack. Obviously, Spain have only conceded one goal in the tournament, in the last game against Belgium, but I think the interesting part of this is the centre-forward position. Mikel Oyarzabal plays almost as a false nine. And the two France centre-halves aren’t going to have anyone to play against; when do they step in?