The thought of the metronomic Spanish passing machine, that had seen them concede just one goal all tournament, against the iconic French team that included a front line comprising the current Ballon d'Or Ousmane Dembele, joint current WC Golden Boot Kylian Mbappe, and the astonishingly talented Michael Olise.
Only three goals conceded in total by both teams at the World Cup
A nine-goal thriller had occurred the last time the two teams met, in the Nations League semi-finals a year ago, and with La Roja also having beaten Les Bleus in the 2024 European Championship semi-final, this match was a chance for Luis de la Fuente's side to complete a unique hat-trick.
Didier Deschamps, who had already set a new record of games managed at World Cups by taking charge of this match, also had the opportunity of being the manager to oversee the most won games in the tournament, should the French progress to the final.
To put either team's challenge into perspective, France had won all of their six previous games, scoring 16 and conceding only two, whilst Spain had won five and drawn one, scoring 11 but conceding just a single goal during their victory over Belgium.
Spain were unchanged for the match, whilst Deschamps had decided to bring Aurelien Tchouameni and Bradley Barcola in for Manu Kone and Desire Doue.
Pattern set early
The pattern of the game was set within the opening few minutes as La Roja quickly settled into the match, setting the tempo with some incisive passing moves.
Though Les Bleus weren't quite chasing shadows, they were noticeably second to a number of balls, and so when Adrien Rabiot received the first booking of the match for an ill-timed challenge, it was of little surprise.
Rodri was a formidable presence in front of his back four, and his distribution (86.6% across the 90 minutes) as well as 16 one-on-ones attempted with 11 successful - both the best on show - were a major reason why the likes of Mbappe, Olise and Bradley Barcola were finding it problematic to escape the shackles.
At the opposite end, Lamine Yamal was being marked out of the game thanks to a disciplined defensive performance from the French, but the mask slipped in the 20th minute after Lucas Digne allowed Lamine to get on his blind side.
Oyarzabal opens the scoring
Before he had a chance to assess the danger, his kick out brought the Spaniard down in the box and gave Mikel Oyarzabal the chance to net for the fifth time in this tournament.
Despite French gamesmanship, the outcome was never in doubt as Oyarzabal clinically dispatched the spot-kick past Mike Maignan.
It would prove to be the attacker's only shot on target and only touch in the opponent's box in the entire game; however, seven attempted duels, three of which he won, evidenced how hard he was working for the cause.
France looked lost for long periods and was nothing like the team that had rampaged through the tournament to this point.
Saliba's pain
At the half hour, William Saliba, the only player on the pitch with a 100% pass completion, pulled up with what was clearly a bad injury.
His replacement, Maxence Lacroix, couldn't lay a hand on the Spanish for the 60+ minutes he was on the pitch, unable to even attempt one tackle, let alone win one.
The same could be said of the French attack, with only Olise winning one of his three attempted tackles. All of Barcola, Dembele and Mbappe ended the match without even attempting a tackle, and none of them had managed a shot on target before the half-time whistle was blown.
Expectations that Les Bleus couldn't be so toothless in the second half weren't without foundation, but the status quo remained the same.
Laporte and Cubarsi were outstanding
With Aymeric Laporte and Pau Cubarsi outstanding at the back for Spain, both completing 100% of their passes into the final third, it allowed Pedro Porro and Marc Cucurella to raid down the channels, curtailing French progress in the process.
When the Tottenham man burst forward again just before the hour, his run wasn't tracked, and a superb lay off from Dani Olmo sent Porro clear to hammer Spain into a two-goal lead.
Given how lacklustre France remained as an attacking force, it wasn't hard to appreciate that it might've already been game over for them at that point.
Some belated off-target efforts from Les Bleus were all in vain, though it's worth pointing out that by the end of the game, they'd equalled Spain's total of 11 shots, and actually had more on target (three to two).
Too little, too late from France
All of those efforts that found the target didn't arrive until the 81st minute onwards, and those stats don't come close to telling the story of the game.
A game in which France were completely outplayed in all areas, and they also didn't control any part of the proceedings, something that'll clearly rankle with Deschamps and the backroom team.
Lamine could've made things even more embarrassing if his late goal hadn't been ruled out for offside, whilst Mbappe's yellow card for a needless challenge on Unai Simon clearly evidenced his and the French team's frustrations.
A sixth clean sheet in seven matches for a Spain team that has won its last six games at the World Cup - their joint-longest winning streak along with the triumphant 2010 team - means that whoever they face in Sunday's showpiece is going to have their work cut out to lift the trophy.