Spain’s confidence has followed them to Chattanooga, and Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia is the phrase now sitting beside their World Cup buildup. Luis de la Fuente has pushed the idea even further by asking, “Why can’t Spain win the World Cup?”
That belief rests on a simple run of results. Spain won Euro 2024, then stretched their unbeaten sequence to 30 games, even if the line was broken in one respect when they were beaten on penalties in the 2025 Nations League final.
Mikel Merino’s 100%
Mikel Merino summed up the mood on the eve of the first match in Atlanta with one word: “100%.” It is the clearest sign that Spain are not arriving cautious or split between hope and caution. They are carrying the same certainty that carried them through Euro 2024.
Mikel Oyarzabal said there was “Not much” difference between this group and the one that won the Euros. That matters because Spain’s case as favourites is not being built on a fresh reinvention. It is built on continuity, with the same core idea still driving the team.
Berlin to Chattanooga
The turning point came in Berlin on 15 July 2024, when Álvaro Morata lifted the Henri Delaunay Cup after Spain beat Croatia, Italy, Germany, France and England on the way to the title. A month before that tournament, Morata had already singled out Rodri, Pedri, Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal as world-class players, and his line after the final — “Seems I have an eye for a player” — proved sharper a few months later when Rodri won the Ballon d’Or.
That run left Spain with more than a trophy. It gave them a public claim to the favourite tag they are now embracing in the United States, with the first match in Atlanta looming after their time at the training base in Chattanooga. Spain’s challenge is not to prove they can win once; it is to show that the level they reached in Euro 2024 still holds after a final defeat in 2025.
The noise around them has changed. Before Euro 2024, Oyarzabal said there was not much trust in Spain and that people were climbing on board only after the results started to come. Now the burden is different. They are the team others are measuring, and de la Fuente has already said the question in front of them is the simplest one of all: why can’t Spain win the World Cup?
