Spain are closing in on a place in football history that only three other nations have ever reached in the sport’s long story.
Luis de la Fuente’s side are bidding to become just the fourth team to hold the World Cup and European Championship simultaneously, following their compatriots in 2010, France in 2000, and West Germany in 1974.
De la Fuente is now four years into the job, having won the Euros two years ago and guided Spain to a quarter-final against Belgium, with France waiting for the winners.
Since taking charge in January 2023, he has lost just three times and is currently on a remarkable run of 35 games without a single defeat.
There are coaches who build teams through tactics, and there are coaches who build teams through people, but De la Fuente has found a way to do both at once.
His style can be defined as controlling possession with alternatives, yet alongside that football philosophy he has constructed something deeper, a genuine culture within the squad.
De la Fuente’s success is the product of decades spent inside the Spanish federation system, shaping players and instilling values since he began coaching within it in 2013.
At the heart of his world view lies a simple conviction, one he repeats almost with surprise that anyone finds it unusual or noteworthy.
“Those of us who have been in a locker room know what it means to be a good person,” he said ahead of the Belgium quarter-final, adding: “Almost every squad has had the opposite, the player who disrupts harmony, who puts himself first.”
De la Fuente, 65, has lived through enough dressing rooms to understand that talent without generosity rarely travels far in the long run.
Spain’s footballing identity has been developed over decades, meaning players and coaches are selected because they fit the idea rather than the other way around.
As a member of Portugal’s staff put it after their last-16 defeat, Spain remain “the easiest team to analyse” but “the hardest to beat,” a combination that continues to frustrate opponents.
De la Fuente has added layers to the foundation he inherited, bringing more versatility, more depth, more unpredictability in the final third, and greater solidity throughout the side.
To paraphrase what Pep Guardiola once said of Johan Cruyff, De la Fuente “has not built the cathedral, he merely re-paints it from time to time,” though the brushstrokes are increasingly his own.
Experience has sharpened his emotional intelligence too, particularly his understanding of how Spain can lose their way when dragged into chaos and provocation.
“Experience has taught me to face these situations many times,” he said. “I’ve been through these games — I’ve already lived through them and usually lost. Why? Because we didn’t know how to play certain types of games.”
Against Uruguay, he insisted on calmness and emotional control, knowing from hard experience that Spain unravel when they abandon their identity under pressure.
His news conferences reflect those same values, prepared with the help of Aitor Karanka, director of football at the federation, the media team, and federation psychologist and former player Javier Lopez Vallejo.
He calls journalists by name because he was taught at home that “respect begins with recognising the person in front of you,” and insists these are not media tricks but genuine beliefs.
Managing Lamine Yamal remains one of De la Fuente’s most delicate responsibilities, with the prodigy returning from two months injured before joining Spain this summer and not yet fully fit.
“This is the moment for him,” De la Fuente said. “Not the moment to score 10 goals, but the moment to be decisive in decisive matches.”
His admiration for Mikel Oyarzabal tells the same story, describing him as one of the five best centre-forwards in the world who deserves far wider global recognition than he currently receives.
“In my understanding of this sport, success comes with a good team,” De la Fuente said. “If you add some incredible individual players, well, you almost, almost hit perfection, but it’s the only way to achieve anything.”
Everything about De la Fuente points toward consistency, including training daily himself, a discipline his friends once told him made him exhausting to be around.
“When I set my mind to something, I’m one of those who just keeps going,” he said, and right now there is only one destination on his mind.
