Expectations for “La Roja” at the World Cup

It is an interesting period for Spain in this World Cup. While far from the powerhouse they once were in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it has to be said that they can still surprise a lot of people this time around. Few can compare to the Spaniards in terms of technical ability and know-how in international club competitions.

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Now, can they replicate that in Qatar this year? Let’s find out.

Manager

Manager Luis Enrique has won everything there is to win at the club level with FC Barcelona, but there are a lot of claims from the Spanish press that he is not the right man to lead the national team to success. In fact, he is often criticised for not calling many Real Madrid players, and it is said that he prefers Barcelona players.

Regardless, Enrique has managed to take Spain to a semifinal in the Euros and a final in the Nations’ League. Sure, they haven’t won these competitions, but they have gone far with a Spain squad that a lot of people have claimed it to be weak, which goes to show that Enrique has added solidity and unity to this group of players.

Main Players

One thing that has to be said is that this is a very young Spain side, and that should play a role in the analysis regarding the chances of this group of players in the World Cup. Sure, there are a lot of technical players, but the lack of experience might play against them, which is something worth taking into account.

Enrique has built the team around the two big Barcelona talents, Pedri and Gavi, so we can expect them to have a major role to play in the competition. Now it is also worth pointing out that, beyond these two players, there isn’t a lot of difference in terms of quality between the remaining players, which can be both positive and negative as they are all pretty even in that regard.

Now, players such as Marco Llorente, Carlos Soler and Koke give a lot of variety to the midfield while this is a Spain squad that has a lot of pace in their attack, which is an oddity in their history. Attacking players such as Ansu Fati, Yeremy Pino and Nico Williams can provide a lot of pace and flair to the front three, which is something that Enrique is probably going to seize.

Prediction

While a group with Germany, Japan and Costa Rica suggests that Spain shouldn’t have a lot of problems to make it past this stage, probably in second place behind the Germans, it is worth pointing out that is very difficult to know how far can the Spaniards go.

The truth of the matter is that while manager Luis Enrique has proven time and time again that he can go far in competitions with the national team, the World Cup is a different time of competition and the lack of experience from the vast majority of the squad could play against them.