"Some time ago, we began to emphasise a word that gave us a great deal of security, confidence and strength — 'family'." That's how Luis de la Fuente describes the foundation of a Spain side that won the Nations League in 2023, the European Championship in 2024, and now heads to North America as many people's pick to lift the World Cup.
Not bad for a man the Spanish press once dismissed as "Luis de la Who?"
A coach who took the long road
De la Fuente, 64, was never a glamour appointment. A former full back who built his name at Athletic Bilbao, he spent the best part of a decade quietly working through Spain's youth system before being handed the senior job three years ago. No Champions League pedigree. No marquee club stint. Just a methodical, faith-driven man who knew exactly what he was building — even when nobody else did.
His answer to the sceptics has been delivered in silverware. And he has no interest in gloating about it.
"Time proves you right and proves you wrong. Time puts everyone in their place. I knew what I had to do," he told Reuters. "I'm not vindictive... I haven't changed a bit since then. I go to the same places, the same restaurants, the same cafes."
There's something quietly steely in that. A practising Catholic who says his faith shapes how he lives, De la Fuente doesn't do revenge laps. He just keeps going to the same café.
The decade of shared dressing rooms that built a team
What separates Spain from most international squads right now isn't just talent — it's continuity. De la Fuente coached Rodri at the 2015 European Under-19 Championship. He took Mikel Merino, Mikel Oyarzabal, Dani Olmo and Fabian Ruiz to back-to-back Under-21 European finals, winning in 2019. Pedri, Marc Cucurella and Martin Zubimendi came through the Tokyo Olympics cycle together.
This isn't a squad assembled from a shortlist. It's a group that has been losing and winning together for a decade under the same man.
"With Rodri in particular, we've known each other for more than 10 years," De la Fuente said. "I'm sure that in his life, and in the lives of many of the players who are with me today, there hasn't been a single coach who's been able to tell them things the way I've told them. I guarantee it."
That kind of trust isn't replicable in a transfer window. It's why Spain's tournament odds deserve serious respect — this side doesn't just have quality, it has collective intelligence built across years of shared experience. They know what he wants before he says it.
Spain open their World Cup campaign in Group H against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. Three very different opponents, but on current form, none of them capable of derailing a side this settled. If Spain are going to be stopped, it won't be in the group stage.
