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Spain have dreams of 2010, but their highly inexperienced squad will face an uphill battle to replicate those heroics.
In recent years, Spain have come close to major honours, losing the European Championships on penalties and then losing the UEFA Nations League to a dodgy goal.
At the World Cup, they’ll be hoping everything finally goes right and they can claim the most important national honour available.
Spain’s road to Qatar
Spain qualified automatically by finishing first in their group during qualifying.
They won six of their eight matches in qualifying and finished ahead of Sweden, Greece, Georgia, and Kosovo in that order.
They were not exceptional, and they did not blow their opponents away often, but they were efficient, and they still qualified with a game to spare.
15 goals scored and five goals conceded suggest that they were more concerned with keeping it tight at the back than they were about being explosive in the final third.
Spain’s best performances at the World Cup
Spain were lumbered with the bottlers' tag for years but were finally able to shed it with their first World Cup win at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
After struggling to make an impact on the world stage despite having some of the best talent around, it seemed like Spain would never win the World Cup until Andres Iniesta volleyed home in extra time at the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg.
As with most World Cup title defenses in recent years, Spain’s was terrible, and they were dumped out in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
This matched their worst ever performances at the World Cup, which were also achieved in 1962, 1966, 1978, and 1998.
Spain’s final World Cup squad
Luis Enrique’s squads are often strange and usually come under a lot of criticism. This one is no different.
The absence of players like Sergio Ramos, David De Gea, Thiago Alcantara, Sergio Canales, Dani Parejo, Gerard Moreno, and Iago Aspas raised eyebrows, and left fans wondering who exactly was in the final squad for the World Cup.
There is still a lot of talent left on the Spanish national team. Barcelona’s teenage trio of Pablo Gavi, Pedri, and Alejandro Balde were all included in the team, as were Manchester City’s duo of Rodri and Aymeric Laporte.
Also included were three exciting 20-year-old forwards Yeremi Pino, Nico Williams, and Ansu Fati, who all stand a chance of being the best young player at the tournament.
Spain key players at the World Cup
Sergio Busquets
Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets will be playing in his last World Cup as he winds down his career with both Spain and Barcelona.
He remains an integral part of both teams and will captain Spain at the World Cup, as he did at the 2020 Euros.
Busquets' calmness on the ball and expertise in building attacks from deep will be important for Spain as they look to confound critics and win another World Cup title.
The relatively young La Roja team could also use his experience as the last member of the World Cup-winning side from 2010 who is still actively playing.
Ferran Torres Ferran Torres always seems to find his rhythm in the national team shirt, and fans of La Roja will be hoping that he can turn on the magic once again at the World Cup.
He was Spain’s top scorer in qualifying with four goals, and he will be hoping to carry that form into the World Cup as well.
With his ability to find spaces in the final third and make incisive runs into the box, Torres could prove to be a valuable asset to Spain’s attack, like his namesake Fernando Torres was many years ago.
Spain’s coach at the World Cup
The problem with having a country full of undeniable football talent is that all your final squads for tournaments will come under scrutiny. Nobody is more aware of that than Spain’s coach at the World Cup, Luis Enrique.
Despite an impressive run with the national team that has seen him reach the semi-finals of the European Championships and the final of the UEFA Nations League, Luis Enrique remains one of the world's most criticised coaches and has even had to tweet spreadsheets of his accomplishments to defend himself from the never-ending criticisms he has faced as Spain's manager.
The former Barcelona manager will be hoping to put another nail in the coffin of his doubters with an impressive World Cup run, and given the audacity of some of his selections, he will definitely need it to push back on the inevitable criticism waiting for him after the tournament.
Spain World Cup group fixtures
Spain vs Costa Rica 23rd November 17:00 UTC +1 (Local Nigerian time)
Spain vs Germany 27th November 20:00 UTC +1
Spain vs Japan 1st December 20:00 UTC +1
Spain’s chances and odds to win the World Cup
Spain are still among the favourites to win in Qatar, and this is reflected in the bookies' decision to back them at 9.00 odds to win the World Cup. This leaves them as joint fourth favourites alongside England to go all the way.
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