Spain head to North America for the World Cup as Europe’s reigning champions and unbeaten in 33 matches, a run that has turned them into one of the tournament’s most watched teams before a ball is kicked. Luis de la Fuente’s side have not lost since March 2023, and the question now is whether a side built on cohesion, youth and confidence can turn momentum into another title.
That is why Spain are being searched and scrutinised now: they arrive with a 26-man squad that includes no Real Madrid player for the first time, and with Lamine Yamal turning 19 five days before the final, they look both experienced and still unfinished. The mix has been shaped by De la Fuente, who stepped up from the Under-21s and has kept the group tight enough to make the unbeaten streak last across qualifiers for two tournaments, Euro 2024 and friendlies.
Marc Cucurella sits at the centre of that story. The left-back, who has 23 caps, has been a mainstay since Spain won the Euros in Germany two years ago, when he also assisted the winning goal in the final. He opened his Spain account in qualifying with a goal away to Bulgaria, another sign of how much he has become part of the core rather than a specialist outsider.
Spain’s qualifying campaign also showed why the unbeaten run carries weight and why it is not untouchable. They opened with 3-0 and 6-0 away wins against Bulgaria and Turkey and beat Georgia home and away, but then dropped points and conceded their first goals of qualifying in a 2-2 draw at home to Turkey in their final fixture. The scoreline did not end the run, but it did remind them that even a team arriving as favourites can be pulled back.
That tension follows Spain into Group H, where they will face Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. Their matches are set for Atlanta against Cape Verde on Monday 15 June at 5pm, Atlanta again against Saudi Arabia on Sunday 21 June at 5pm, and Guadalajara against Uruguay on Saturday 27 June at 1am. Spain won the World Cup once, in 2010, beating the Netherlands in the final and winning every knockout game 1-0, and the next step is clear: protect the streak long enough to give that history another chapter.
