Finishing first in group I of the main round would allow the winner (or France in the event of a draw) to face the second and not the first in group III: but this meeting between neighbors hardly resembles a cleaver match and the saturday atmosphere was relaxed at the hotel where the two selections gathered.

On a staircase, the Blues winger Dylan Nahi teases that of Spain Ferran Sole, with whom he played at Paris SG, on his abs.

The goalkeeper of the "Roja" Gonzalo Perez De Vargas, former Toulousain, and the French right-back Melvyn Richardson, teammates at FC Barcelona, ​​laugh up their sleeves.

This scene illustrates the closeness and sometimes even the friendship between French and Spaniards, because of the "very regular links and exchanges" between the two nations, underlines the French coach Guillaume Gille.

Spanish winger Ferran Sole during the World Cup group match against Poland on January 18, 2023 in Krakow © JANEK SKARZYNSKI / AFP

In the Spanish group selected for this Mondial-2023, they are six to evolve in France, the most represented host country (Pecina in Aix, Maqueda and Odriozola in Nantes, Fernandez in Limoges, Sole in Paris and Figueras in Chartres ).

"The championship (of France) continues to progress structurally, the teams and institutions are more and more professional", explains Perez De Vargas.

Barça alone in Spain

The goalkeeper also highlights, to explain the attraction exerted by the Starligue on Spanish players, the "cultural proximity" and the fact that it allows them to take "more vacations" than the German championship, the other reference .

"There are also Spaniards in the French second division. It's good that they can earn a living there, but we would like there to be other clubs in Spain than Barça" continues Perez De Vargas, repatriated in the country by the Catalan giant in 2014 after a season in Toulouse.

Spanish goalkeeper Gonzalo Perez de Vargas celebrates the victory against Slovenia in the group match of the World Cup, January 20, 2023 in Krakow © JANEK SKARZYNSKI / AFP

The other reason (the main?) pushing the Spaniards to cross the Pyrenees is indeed sporting and financial: since the bankruptcy filings of Santander, Ciudad Real (ex-club of Didier Dinart) and Portland San Antonio (Jackson Richardson) at the turn of the 2010s, Barça was alone in the world in a low championship.

He has thus won all the trophies at stake since 2013, including cups!

Only two Spanish players selected for the World Cup play in the country, the center half of Granollers Pol Valera Rovira and Perez De Vargas.

Winger Aleix Gomez, who would have been retained had it not been for his injury, also plays in Catalonia alongside Frenchmen Ludovic Fabregas, Dima Mem and Melvyn Richardson.

Fabregas "learned a lot" there tactically, especially in defense: "playing on combat distances, (cutting) passing lines, trying to create traps for the opponent to recover balls."

"Tactical Science"

French winger Yannis Lenne, who played a season at FC Barcelona (2017-2018), agrees.

"Spanish handball is much more advanced, intelligent, tactical than the French school. This is generally seen in the youth categories, where we are generally more physical, when the Spaniards are super intelligent ball thieves" develops Lenne , emphasizing, like Fabregas, that the double French-Spanish curriculum formed a very complete handball player.

Blues winger Yannis Lenne during the World Cup group match against Iran on January 20, 2023 in Krakow © JANEK SKARZYNSKI / AFP

The "tactical science" of Spanish coaches is also "rated" in Europe, notes Guillaume Gille, no doubt thinking of Raul Gonzalez at PSG, Xavier Pascual at Dinamo Bucharest or Talent Dujshebaev in Kielce in Poland.

"Our players, in contact with these coaches, have also learned from their ability to read situations very well, to set many traps for the opponent", he adds.

This is particularly the case of Nicolas Tournat, Nedim Remili and Dylan Nahi, with Dujshebaev.

Sunday evening, the former legend of the USSR naturalized Spanish will have six players on the ground, with, in addition to the three French, his sons Alex and Dani, and Miguel Sanchez-Migallon.

© 2023 AFP