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Spain have booked their place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals after a 2-0 win over France on Tuesday, adding to the team’s long list of achievements in the sport at all levels.
“Women’s football, youth tournaments, the Olympics – I lost a final to them,” World Cup winner Thierry Henry said of Spain after the match. “Time and time and time they come.
“They have an identity, a philosophy, they all play the same way at every level.”
(Photo by Juan Luis Diaz/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
In the last three years, the men’s national team has won the UEFA Nations League in 2023, the European Championship in 2024 and the gold medal at the Olympics in 2024. Spain is almost in the middle of the longest unbeaten streak in the history of international football with 37 games unbeaten.
The women’s national team, meanwhile, won its first ever World Cup in 2023 and a UEFA Nationals League title in 2025. It reached the final of the 2025 European Championship, but lost to England on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Their shared success is not a coincidence, according to Henry.
“They have an identity, a philosophy, they all play the same way at every level,” Henry said. “The coach knows exactly how the system is, you see, this is a team with stars on it.”
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has coached a total of 14 games across the World Cup and European Championship, winning 13 and drawing one, the most games coached without losing by a European coach. Before taking over the Spain men’s national team, he coached Spain at the youth levels — U19, U21 and U23 — for nine years.
(Photo by Paul ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Henry believes De la Fuente’s ability to enjoy instant success at senior level is testament to Spain’s tactical philosophy.
“When Spain have the ball, they don’t give you the ball back, you have to go and get it,” Henry said. “I want to give credit to the system and what they’re putting in place. Because Spain used to win like that. And now they’re winning at every level.”
Spain will face the winner of Argentina v England for the World Cup title on Sunday at the New York New Jersey Stadium.
