The 2026 World Cup is over and Spain were crowned as world champions. The side coached by Luis de la Fuente weren’t a surprise at all, as they managed to win the most important soccer trophy in the world two years after winning the 2024 European Championship. The Spanish soccer model and national team have been among the world’s elite since 2008, when Spain won their first UEFA European Championship since 1964. Since then, supported by a footballing system built on outstanding youth academies and continually improving infrastructure, Spain have become a benchmark for international success. The national team captured back-to-back European titles in 2008 and 2012, won the World Cup in 2010, reached the UEFA Euro 2020 semifinals under Luis Enrique, and reclaimed European glory in 2024 before winning a second World Cup in 2026.
When the current PSG head coach returned to club management in 2021, the Spanish Football Federation appointed a relatively unknown figure outside Spain, Luis de la Fuente, as his successor. Having previously managed Spain’s youth national teams, de la Fuente possessed an in-depth knowledge of the country’s emerging generation of players. It turned out to be a smart choice. The secret of this national team wasn’t just about Rodri, Lamine Yamal or Pau Cubarsi, but a team that worked well since he was appointed as the Spanish national team manager. But what should other hungry national teams learn from the Spanish’s success?
What should the USMNT learn?
Let’s be real about the gap here. Spain have two World Cups and three Euros since 2008. The USMNT have won two knockout round games, total, in program history. So comparing these two isn’t really about talent or trophies; it’s about figuring out what Spain’s blueprint says for a program still trying to find its footing on the sport’s biggest stage.
The big one — stop chasing names and start trusting a system. De la Fuente didn’t build his roster around whoever had the flashiest club season; he built it around players who fit a specific way of playing, even when that meant benching a Champions League regular for someone less famous. The USMNT have a habit of hyping up individual talents, think Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, without necessarily building an identity around them. Pochettino’s got some pieces. What Spain shows is the next step isn’t finding more talent, it’s building something everyone actually trusts and buys into.
For example — remember the performance against Paraguay in the opener? That 4-1 win? That caught most people by surprise, because that was a team we hadn’t seen before. There was no pre-established identity of a team that could play such a way, dominate the ball and chances, impose their will on their opponents. That lasted about 90 minutes and wasn’t seen again for the rest of the cup.
The other one — this takes forever, and that’s fine. Spain’s run didn’t happen in one cycle; it’s the payoff of nearly 20 years of academy work and sticking with a philosophy through the bad tournaments too. With 2026 on home soil and the pressure cranked all the way up, it’ll be tempting to judge everything off this one summer. But Spain’s story is basically a reminder that there’s no shortcut here. The USMNT aren’t behind schedule; they’re just still early in a process that takes decades to actually pay off and will take a whole lot more investment in every possible way. Think about Barcelona’s academy La Masia, which produced numerous players on that World Cup squad. The U.S. does not have anything that can hold a light to such a prestigious academy, and the reasons are many. Firstly, soccer is not embedded in society as it is in Spain. It isn’t the sport in the states. It may never be, but until it becomes more mainstream, more accessible and with better opportunities for development, we should not expect the U.S. to resemble such a program in any way. The challenges are endless — having a country as big as the U.S. presents numerous ones. The pay-to-play model, soccer being a hobby with practices twice a week, months off, etc. In other countries, for many kids, soccer is 24-7, and it has to be. Whether it can ever become that stateside remains to be seen and feels a long, long time away.
What should England learn?
One of the best skills of the Spanish coach wasn’t just the selection of the roster, but also the discipline in his choices. Over his years as coach of La Roja, de la Fuente opted to call players who could play together easily from a tactical standpoint instead of individual reputation in their clubs and there are some incredible examples of that. One of the clearest examples of this philosophy is the goalkeeping position. Unai Simon has remained Spain’s undisputed first-choice goalkeeper despite the presence of David Raya, Arsenal’s starting goalkeeper and one of the Premier League’s outstanding players.
De la Fuente’s faith in Simon was confirmed at the 2026 World Cup, where he not only helped Spain lift the trophy but was also awarded the Golden Glove as the tournament’s best goalkeeper. Rather than selecting players based solely on club pedigree or recent form, Spain consistently prioritize continuity, tactical fit, and trust in established roles. Raya is probably one of the world’s best goalkeepers, yet Simon remains the preferred choice because he best fits the national team’s playing model.
The same philosophy can also be applied in the opposite way. Not only by maintaining trust in established players but also by being willing to not call high-profile stars, probably a decision that didn’t work so well. England under Thomas Tuchel provided an example of this approach as he decided to leave out of the roster some talented players such as Cole Palmer or Phil Foden instead of building a team that could also benefit from their individual talents. Tuchel showed greater willingness to make unpopular selection decisions, prioritizing what he believed best served the collective rather than the reputations of individual players.
What should Brazil learn?
The same concept of the Spanish national team can be applied to other key players, such as Marc Cucurella over Alejandro Grimaldo, Alex Baena over Ferran Torres, or Aymeric Laporte over Dean Huijsen, who wasn’t even called up for the World Cup. De la Fuente was not trying to assemble the most talented starting XI on paper. Instead, he chose the lineup with the strongest chemistry, placing greater value on tactical compatibility and understanding than on individual performances at club level during the season. This willingness to make difficult and, at times, unpopular selection decisions stood in stark contrast to the approach adopted by Brazil.
Brazil, on the other hand, appeared unwilling to make similarly difficult decisions. Carlo Ancelotti opted to include Neymar Jr. in the World Cup squad despite his recent form, while leaving out Joao Pedro, who had performed so well with Chelsea and had consistently demonstrated that he deserved a place in the squad. The decision reflected a preference for experience and star power over current form and tactical fit. Ancelotti, renowned for managing some of the world’s greatest players, may have been reluctant to exclude a figure as influential as Neymar, whose absence would have created public criticism.
De la Fuente’s Spain showed that the World Cup isn’t just about assembling the best players or the most talented team. International tournaments like the World Cup are not won by simply assembling the most talented squad. They are won by selecting the right players, assigning each of them a role and placing trust in a cohesive group rather than relying on the individuals. In doing so, Spain have set a benchmark for their rivals and have all they need to replicate the success at UEFA Euro 2028 and the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
