The World Cup final had finished on 19 July, and nobody had even cooled down, when one of Spain’s longest-serving players turned to Luis de la Fuente with a question. “Mister, now what? What’s left to win?” De la Fuente’s reply came straight back: the game against England at Wembley on 26 September. He told the story at Las Rozas on Friday afternoon, having just named his first squad since that day in New Jersey, and declined to say which player had asked.
The squad was a familiar one, and deliberately so. Of the 26 who went to the World Cup, only four have been left out, each with a clear reason: Marcos Llorente has announced his international retirement, Joan García is injured, Borja Iglesias is not fully fit, and Gavi is suspended for Wembley, although he could have faced Croatia and Czechia.
The additions are few. Fermín López returns after missing the World Cup through injury, and is joined by the Inter goalkeeper Josep Martínez, Dean Huijsen and Roberto Fernández. Pedro Porro subsequently pulled out and was replaced by Iván Fresneda. “How could there not be continuity with players who are champions of everything?” De la Fuente asked. There had been little time for anyone else to make a case anyway, though three players were in the frame for the spare striker’s role: Sergio Camello and Carlos Espí, competing with Espanyol’s Fernández.
Even the new face is not entirely new. Josep Martínez has been in the set-up before and officially holds a cap, earned when Spain’s under-21 side — managed by De la Fuente — stepped in for the senior team just before the pandemic-postponed Euros in the summer of 2021. Asked whether Unai Simón might lose his status as No 1, De la Fuente pointed out that Simón was recognised as the best goalkeeper at the World Cup and broke every record, adding that perhaps he should be given some continuity.
That loyalty runs both ways. The bond between coach and players is such that Marc Cucurella has De la Fuente’s face tattooed on his arm. The coach accepts there will be personnel changes at some point, saying there are plenty of players knocking at the door — it is up to them, he explained, to walk through it and into the house. For now, the status report on Spain can be reduced to four words: still world champions. They are still European champions too, and Nations League winners as well.
Back home, the team has been celebrated. Supporters have paid homage to the champions at grounds around Spain, though not at the Camp Nou, which eight members of the squad call home, and players have been feted in their own small towns. Ferran Torres threw the first pitch at Yankee Stadium and appeared on just about every television show in the United States; his image celebrating the winner at the MetLife hangs on the wall by the dressing room at Spain’s Las Rozas headquarters. At Wembley, Spain will walk out with an extra star on their shirt, with those stars already added to badges around the base.
They go to London to compete, not just to celebrate a first outing as world champions. De la Fuente admitted he does not like an international break that crams four games into 11 days, but he does like the Nations League and does want to win it. That competition marked the start of a new Spain era: the first trophy, won in 2023, for a generation that had always lived in the shadow of its predecessors. When they reached a second final in June 2025 and lost it on penalties to Portugal, it hurt.
Spain may be world and European champions, but they retain a unique objective. To match the feted side of 2008-2012, they have one more major tournament to win. This week De la Fuente’s contract was extended to 2032 — less a reward for services rendered than for services pending, the two coming together in a conversation in New Jersey. He took over the senior side in 2022, after winning European titles at under-19 and under-21 level, and has reached every final. He joined the Spanish set-up 13 years ago on a three-month contract with the under-19s for the Euros, having been unemployed for more than a year.
“This team won’t stop; it wants more and more, to be the best,” De la Fuente said. “I will tell them that too. What we did at the World Cup is not enough to keep us winning games or to beat England. You have to be better. That’s our culture and our mentality, our attitude, so I have no doubts and no worries. We know Spain are the team to beat, we know that it makes things harder, but it motivates us and we’re ready for it. Success is not winning; it is being in a position where you can win. And I would back these players, always. You can follow them to the end of the world.” The word he keeps using is insatiable. He means his players, but it fits him just as well.