A wide net
The secret to forming a national team is having a framework and not relying on stars
Rob Palmer, commentator ESPN
Friday, 21 November 2025, 10:41
As some of the grandest football nations were sweating on qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, Spain breezed through with a second-string team.
It's not a natural trait; but for probably the first time in history, the nation believes the team can win the tournament - rather than just hope they give a good account of themselves.
They are ranked number one in the world by Fifa. That's ahead of world champions Argentina, who qualified early; France, the country with the most individual talent; England who always expect to win every competition; and Brazil who everyone fears.
Their 31 games unbeaten is now a record; it surpasses the run when Spain won the World Cup in 2010 and Euros in 2012.
Back then it was a team drawn from the Big Two, Barcelona and Real Madrid; it was a team drawn from superstars.
Two decades later, it is completely different. The net is spread right across La Liga and beyond. The biggest stars of the 2024 European Championship winning team were watching from home this week; Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Nico Williams proved to be three world-class talents at the Euros, but are currently unavailable to coach Luis de la Fuente.
No country has such a depth of talent; no side has a more defined style or substance.
The England manager, Thomas Tuchel, receives criticism for his continual experimentation with his players. The Spain coach has convinced many critics that he knows exactly what he is doing; he has a system and the players fit into it.
In an unbeaten qualifying campaign, he used 31 players. He could easily select a side without a representative from Real Madrid and Barcelona. In his final XI, he only selected four players from the Euro 2024 final win against England.
It wasn't only the injured Yamal, Rodri and Williams who were missing. Pedri and Dani Carvajal would leave a hole in any national team. Robin Le Normand is the recognised centre-back, Dean Huijsen the most likely candidate to play alongside him, Martin Zubimendi didn't start the final game, a fully fit Gavi would be a starter.
The secret is having a framework and not relying on the stars. The only three players who played every qualifier were Unai Simón, Mikel Merino and Mikel Oyarzabal.
Simón's goalkeeping place is often disputed, but he kept five clean sheets in six games. Merino is regarded as a squad player, but weighed in with six goals in the group matches. A talking point is the lack of a striker, yet Oyarzabal has scored nine goals in nine matches and assisted another six.
Dani Olmo is another player who comes alive when he dons the Spain shirt - remember his performances at the Euros persuaded Barcelona to buy him. He's not yet established himself there, but for Spain he excels; he opened the scoring against Türkiye.
It underlines the remarkable organisation in Spanish football. It's not sexy to praise a football association, yet the youth teams are regularly in the finals of world and European competitions. The women are currently World Cup holders. It would be a unique accomplishment if the men could match their achievement. No country has ever held both titles at the same time - yet!
