$ETH Spain

The team under de la Fuente’s leadership has clearly come back to life, in essence for the first time since the “golden period” of 2008–2012. True, after wins in the Nations League 2022 and, especially, at Euro 2024 there was a slump. And now, at the World Cup, one of the favorites kicked off the tournament with an unpleasant surprise—failing to score against Cabo Verde. However, then the debutant still managed to surprise many.

Meanwhile, the Europeans continued to do their job. Afterwards, they only scored and practically didn’t concede—only in the quarterfinal against Belgium was it a tough match, finishing 2:1, with the winning goal scored at the very end. As for the game with France in the semifinals, much of it was decided by an optional penalty that Yamal practically won out of nowhere. The opponent still couldn’t beat Unai Simón, and then, after another great combination, the Euro champion scored again and headed to the final of a new major tournament.