Spain are set up for a decade of dominance: World and European champions will take some stopping as Lamine Yamal & Co. prepare to enter their peak years

Five-time champions Brazil still look lost under Carlo Ancelotti, there are serious questions over England’s true quality and Thomas Tuchel’s tactics, Argentina could be about to lose the two Lionels – Messi and Scaloni – that played such integral roles in their spell of sustained success, France have yet to take their first steps under Didier Deschamps’ expected successor, Zinedine Zidane, while Jurgen Klopp has a serious job on his hands with Germany.

Spain, by complete contrast, are the picture of stability under De la Fuente, who has overseen just two competitive defeats since taking over from Luis Enrique following Spain’s disappointing last-16 exit at the 2022 World Cup – and one of those losses was on penalties to Portugal in the final of the meaningless Nations League.

Crazy as it is to think about it now, but there were serious doubts over whether De la Fuente was really the right man to succeed Luis Enrique at the helm – given he’d not won any major honours at senior level during his coaching career.

However, by using the very same methods with which he won European Championships at both Under-19 and Under-21 level, De la Fuente has led Spain to their first World Cup since 2010 – and with the sixth-youngest squad at a 48-team tournament. Just imagine how good 19-year-old duo Cubarsi and Yamal might be by the time the next World Cup rolls around!