Tactical formations offered England little comfort when Marc Cucurella raced down Spain’s left flank with the Euro 2024 final level. Four minutes of normal time remained in Berlin. Mikel Oyarzabal moved toward the delivery, extended his left boot and redirected the ball beyond Jordan Pickford. Spain led 2–1. England faced another final slipping away.
The cross and finish appear straightforward in UEFA’s match report. Their cruelty lay in the timing: a fullback arriving outside, a striker attacking the space inside, defenders turning toward their own goal. No formation graphic captures the difficulty of tracking both runs at once.
Earlier, England had made Spain’s midfield look manageable. Phil Foden, Declan Rice and Kobbie Mainoo had opponents to follow and passing routes to close. After halftime, those familiar reference points shifted.
That struggle explains more about modern international soccer than any argument over three defenders versus four. Managers need players who know where to stand. Winning also demands that they recognise when to leave.
England’s marking dilemma
Rice could see Dani Olmo. Mainoo had Fabián Ruiz nearby. Foden watched Rodri, the midfielder through whom Spain wanted to organise possession.
UEFA’s technical observers identified those assignments in their analysis of England’s first-half marking. Spain struggled to advance centrally because England’s midfielders stayed close enough to challenge receivers before they could turn. The arrangement worked, and the teams reached halftime goalless.
Then Rodri departed through injury. Martín Zubimendi replaced him, while Ruiz dropped deeper to offer another receiving option.
Now England had a problem. Following both deeper midfielders risked opening space ahead of the defence; holding position gave Spain more room to build.
UEFA’s July 16 analysis recorded the difference through Olmo’s involvement. He received five line-breaking passes after halftime, compared with one before it. Spain had changed the distances England needed to defend.
This is where tactical formations become useful to the viewer. Watch Rice’s next decision, or the space behind a midfielder stepping forward. The important movement may happen before the eventual scorer touches the ball.
Wide threat, inside damage
Spain’s opening goal showed how those decisions connected. Ruiz passed forward to Dani Carvajal, whose advanced position confronted Luke Shaw with two threats: the fullback outside and Lamine Yamal moving inward.
According to UEFA’s technical breakdown, Jude Bellingham’s movement toward Ruiz also helped open room for Yamal. Carvajal found the teenager with an outside-of-the-foot pass. Yamal carried diagonally before releasing Nico Williams, while runs from Álvaro Morata and Olmo occupied defenders. Williams finished first time.
The sequence depended on players exchanging spaces without abandoning their responsibilities. Carvajal supplied width, Yamal attacked inside, and Williams remained available across the pitch.
Williams waiting on the opposite flank also showed how Spain had changed since its 2012 European triumph. Back then, Andrés Iniesta and David Silva drifted inward from wide positions, as UEFA’s tournament report notes. In 2024, Williams and Yamal stretched opponents before choosing when to move inside.
Similar tactical formations presented defenders with different problems. England had to protect the middle while accounting for a winger waiting near either touchline.
Morocco’s controlled squeeze
Where Spain pulled opponents apart through movement, Morocco’s 2022 World Cup side worked to keep its own lines connected. Their defensive discipline offers the natural foil to Spain’s attacking fluidity: deny the gaps that runners and quick combinations seek to open.
Against Croatia, Youssef En-Nesyri approached the centre-backs along a curved path. Charging straight toward the ball would have left a simpler pass into Marcelo Brozović.
Instead, the striker screened that route. Behind him, Morocco’s midfield shifted together, protecting the space Croatia wanted to enter.
FIFA’s analysis describes a 4-1-4-1 mid-block. Azzedine Ounahi moved across to screen Mateo Kovačić, while Hakim Ziyech narrowed his position before pressing toward the flank. In one sequence, Ziyech intercepted Borna Sosa’s pass as Morocco converged around the ball.
The movement had bite. Croatia could carry possession forward, but Morocco prepared the next challenge before the pass arrived.
Defensive tactical formations depend on that connection between pressure and cover. If Ziyech advances alone, he leaves space behind him. When Ounahi and the defensive line adjust with him, the receiver faces a much tighter escape.
FIFA recorded Morocco spending 38% of its time without possession in a mid-block, the tournament’s highest proportion. France followed at 37%. Those figures measure a defensive phase, rather than total match time or possession share.
The back-five trap
Where Morocco squeezed the lines together, Serbia left gaps Switzerland could attack in Qatar. FIFA’s analysis highlighted Switzerland finding room between Serbia’s midfield and back five.
The winning goal showed how quickly combinations could punish an opening. FIFA’s match report describes Xherdan Shaqiri chipping into the penalty area, Rubén Vargas cushioning the ball back, and Remo Freuler finishing. Serbia’s defenders had to react to successive touches facing different directions.
Adding a centre-back cannot prevent that exchange by itself. Tactical formations need midfielders close enough to interrupt the pass before defenders must chase the receiver.
Freedom needs cover
Achraf Hakimi driving forward offers a different way to examine a fullback’s freedom. Watch the teammate behind him as closely as the player carrying the ball.
At the 2024 Olympics, FIFA’s analysts highlighted Hakimi advancing after Morocco regained possession against Argentina. Midfielder Amir Richardson stayed behind to cover the space he vacated.
That detail turns an attacking run into a team decision. Hakimi could relieve pressure and carry forward because Richardson supplied protection behind him.
The Olympic example comes from an age-restricted tournament with permitted overage players, rather than the senior World Cup side. Still, it makes the responsibility visible: one player advances, another adjusts.
Coaches call that protection rest defence, the positioning a team maintains while attacking to handle a possible turnover. Through this lens, tactical formations reveal the cost of each forward run.
Push both fullbacks high without nearby cover and a misplaced pass can expose the centre-backs. Keep everyone behind the ball and the attack may lack the runners needed to break through.
The space left behind
Cucurella’s cross and Oyarzabal’s finish deserve the replay. Richardson’s covering position deserves attention too, even when it produces no tackle, shot or crowd reaction.
Those actions belong to the same tactical argument. Attacking freedom requires someone to recognise the space a teammate leaves.
The next useful development in tactical formations will depend on how clearly coaches assign those responsibilities. A fullback moving inside needs a winger who understands when to stay wide. An attacking midfielder occupying the half-space—the channel between the centre and flank- needs teammates who can find him without crowding his route.
International managers must also decide how much movement their players can coordinate under pressure. Every additional rotation creates another moment when someone must recognise a cue and act.
Spain’s final offers one answer: adjust the midfield distances, preserve the wide threat and let the next pass force a defender’s choice. Morocco offers another: close the centre, move together and prepare the escape before winning possession.
Neither approach survives through numbers alone. Players have to see the danger developing while the ball still sits at someone else’s feet.
Before the next decisive cross, look behind the runner. Leave that space unprotected, and the next attack belongs to the opponent.
READ MORE: Evaluating the Argentina 2026 World Cup squad and midfield depth
FAQs
What do tactical formations tell us about a soccer team?
They show a team’s starting arrangement. Player movement, passing options, and defensive cover reveal how that shape works during a match.
How did Spain change its midfield in the Euro 2024 final?
Fabián Ruiz dropped alongside Martín Zubimendi after halftime. Their deeper positions helped Spain find Dani Olmo in space ahead of England’s defence.
What formation did Morocco use to defend against Croatia in 2022?
Morocco used a 4-1-4-1 mid-block. En-Nesyri screened central passes while the midfield shifted together and pressed toward the flanks.
What does rest defence mean in soccer?
Rest defence describes how a team positions players while attacking to handle a possible turnover. It helps protect the spaces advancing teammates leave behind.
Does playing five defenders make a team harder to break down?
Five defenders still need midfield protection. Opponents can exploit gaps between the lines when those units lose contact.
