There are many who believe that the Spanish national team will be the winner in this year's World Cup hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Azerbaijani sports journalists participating in a survey recently conducted by Medianews.az also placed the Spanish national team first when answering the question "Which teams seem likely to become world champions in 2026?"
Spain has only won the World Cup once - in 2010. What makes Spain a favorite in a competition that includes five-time world champion Brazil, four-time winner Germany, three-time winner Argentina, two-time champions Uruguay and France, and England, who, although they have won the World Cup once, is considered the birthplace of football?
Medianews.az- speaking on this topic, well-known sports commentator Rasim Mövsümzadə says that what makes the Spanish national team one of the main favorites for WC-2026 is its steady play and high performance in recent years: "The team won the 2024 European Championship. The Spaniards managed to defeat opponents such as Croatia, Italy, Germany, France, and England in that tournament.
The Spanish national team is known for a style of play based on ball control and short passes. This characteristic makes them one of the teams that are hard to defeat. In the last three years, no opponent has been able to beat Spain in the main or extra time of official matches. The team has only lost to Colombia (0:1) in a friendly match in 2024 and to Portugal in the penalty shootout in last year's UEFA Nations League final.
These results justify a high evaluation of Spain's chances to repeat their 2010 achievement and win the World Cup for the second time in their history.
The team's head coach Luis de la Fuente had success as a coach with Spain's U-19, U-21, and U-23 teams, advancing to the main team in 2022 and already winning the European Championship title with them."
According to R. Mövsümzadə, the main strength of the Spanish national team is its wide and high-quality roster: "The backbone of the team largely consists of players from Barcelona. Eight representatives from the club, which was the Spanish champion for the second consecutive season, are included in the squad for WC-2026. These are reserve goalkeeper Joan Garcia, defenders Eric Garcia and Pau Cubarsí, midfielders Gavi and Pedri, forwards Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo and, as last year, this year too, one of the main candidates for the "Golden Ball" award, 18-year-old Lamine Yamal."
The squad also includes three players from the English champion Arsenal: goalkeeper David Raya, midfielders Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi.
Thus, the factors that make Spain one of the favorites in WC-2026 are their successful results in recent years, their undefeated series of games, a stable team model formed under the leadership of Luis de la Fuente, and a strong squad consisting of high-level players."
Naile Qasımova,
Medianews.az