Spain’s 2026 World Cup win has allowed the current era of the squad to win every meaningful trophy in international football, begging the question: What’s next?
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has to find ways to motivate a young core to remain competitive at the highest level going forward, despite having won the Nations League, Euros, and now the World Cup.
The manager addressed this burning question as the players and teams don’t reunite till the international break in September.
Spain is looking ahead to high-stakes clash against England as enough motivation
De La Fuente spoke to the media before the upcoming international break, addressing the question of how Spain’s players will motivate themselves to keep winning after their recent success.
“After the match finished, I spoke with players with whom we have already won everything. Some of them said to me: ‘Boss, what’s left for us to win now? What is left for us to achieve?’ I told them: the next match is in September against England. We still have a lot left to win.”
De La Fuente led Spain to the 2022-23 Nations League title before winning the 2024 Euro against England in the Final. Their 2026 World Cup win has made Fuente the first manager in history to secure all three trophies.
De La Fuente also won multiple major trophies as Spain’s manager across youth groups. He won the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in 2015, the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2019, and won the Silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Given England’s status as the bronze medal winner at the World Cup, this is a serious challenge for Spain to overcome in their next Nations League clash against them on September 26.
The next step for Spain is to establish its credentials as one of the greatest national team squads of all time, which more titles at the highest level will earn it.
The 2010 Spain squad didn’t have a Nations League to compete in, but they did win the 2008 Euro, 2010 World Cup, and the 2012 Euro.
This generation of Spain will have to win another Euro and a World Cup just to surpass their own predecessors, so there’s a lot more to be motivated for.
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