Spain Launches into the World Cup with High Ambitions and Big Stars

Background: Spain's Strength and the Burden of the Favorites' Role

In terms of personnel, the 64-year-old can draw, as emerges from his own statement, from an enviable repertoire of world-class players. "I'm the national team coach, I don't look at one club or another," the Spaniard explained. The 64-year-old continued: "That even helps us to approach this World Cup with the enthusiasm to achieve something significant." Since a 0-1 friendly defeat at Wembley Stadium against Colombia in March 2024, the Iberians have recorded 23 wins and seven draws in 30 international matches.

Such an imposing run could not even be claimed by the "Golden Generation," which won two European Championships and one World Championship between 2008 and 2012. At World Championships, however, the Iberians have not made it past the quarterfinals since their only title to date in 2010. In Brazil, they were eliminated in 2014 in a group with the Netherlands, Chile, and Australia; the last two tournaments in Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) ended as early as the round of 16.

Superstar Lamine Yamal is set to play a decisive role in the tournament. "It's his World Cup," said Spain's Technical Director Aitor Karanka. "He has a god-given talent." De la Fuente also raves: "He plays with a maturity that you normally only see in 25-year-olds." Not just once, but "a thousand times, in my room or when we won neighborhood games." It may be that the young Yamal was also shaped by a rather unusual bath: as part of a campaign for a UNICEF charity calendar in December 2007, a historic photo was taken. It shows the 20-year-old Messi bathing the roughly six-month-old Yamal. The image by photographer Joan Monfort went viral during Euro 2024 and was interpreted as a kind of "symbolic passing on of football's powers."

Key Player Lamine Yamal

There had been major concerns in Spain recently that the 18-year-old dribble genius could miss the World Cup after sustaining a thigh injury at the end of the season. Now he is fit in time, just like his strike partner. "Everyone will be available for the game against Cape Verde. That doesn't necessarily mean, however, that they will play," de la Fuente kept all options open. The same applied to Williams, who, like Yamal, arrived in the base camp in Chattanooga/Tennessee in good time and will be able to play.

For the opener, the 18-year-old, like the recently also injured Williams, could be rested. On Monday evening, speculation was rife that Yamal might initially start on the substitutes' bench for the match against debutant Cape Verde in Atlanta. "You have to go step by step," said the Barcelona player. "High expectations bring out the best in me. Ultimately, you raise your level when you set higher standards for yourself. If my expectations were the same as those of other players, I probably wouldn't be playing at the level I'm at now."

Playing Style under de la Fuente

The playing style of the Spanish team has changed in recent years. The Tiki-Taka favored by Luis Enrique – at times unsightly, fruitless, and dominated by possession – had to give way; the modern Tiki-Taka developed and perfected by team boss Luis de la Fuente appears extremely promising: after all, "La Furia Roja" has been unbeaten in 30 competitive matches since March 2023. A small disappointment, however, was the 2025 Nations League final, which was lost 4-5 on penalties after a 2-2 draw against Portugal.

After the opener against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay await the title contender in the group. Yamal already won the European Championship title with Spain two years ago in Germany – at just 16 years of age. Even then, he delivered tasty morsels of his genius. In North America, the next big coup is now to follow.

"Then the results will take care of themselves," is the credo of the Iberians. Whether this will ultimately translate into a second World Cup title will be decided on the pitch – beginning with the duel against the outsider from Cape Verde.