Defender · #0 · Cayman Islands · 20 yrs
The Cooligans break down the leaked USMNT World Cup roster and debate the biggest snubs, surprises, and Mauricio Pochettino’s toughest decisions, including whether players like Diego Luna, Tanner Tessmann, Gio Reyna, and Alejandro Zendejas deserved a place. Then, Mexican legend Javier “Chicharito” Hernández joins the show for an honest conversation about the state of Mexican soccer, fan culture, the pressures of representing El Tri, his striker mentality, and why Hugo Sánchez deserves more respect among football’s all-time greats. Plus, the guys recap one of the wildest Premier League decision days in years, from West Ham’s relegation and Tottenham narrowly surviving to Sunderland’s European qualification and Pep Guardiola’s emotional farewell.
Luis de la Fuente spoke about Spain’s chances at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, placing them among the top contenders. As the reigning UEFA Euro champions, Spain appear firmly established as one of the leading contenders to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Coach Luis de la Fuente shares that belief, though he also sees two other teams in the same tier. De la Fuente appeared on the podcast ‘La estrella que nos une’ for a conversation with former coach Vicente del Bosque, who led Spain to the 2010 FIFA World Cup title in South Africa — still the country’s only global triumph to date. “We have to stay grounded. I’m not avoiding it, we’re favorites,” De la Fuente said before adding an important clarification: “But just as much favorites as England or France.” In that sense, he agreed with Del Bosque, who recommended approaching North America “with caution.” With those comments, De la Fuente made his opinion clear regarding the teams he believes are best prepared to compete for the title. Spain, as the reigning UEFA Euro champions, are viewed by many as one of the favorites, while France also earn that status because of their recent performances and the quality of their roster. France are favorites to win the 2026 World Cup, according to De La Fuente. England, meanwhile, have not generated the same level of consensus. Led by Harry Kane, they have cruised through qualifying but still face questions about whether they can finally break through in a major tournament. Even so, the Spain coach believes The Three Lions are better prepared than other traditional powers such as Argentina, Brazil, and Germany. De la Fuente discusses the challenges of coaching a national team During the same conversation, Luis de la Fuente reinforced the importance of staying cautious and avoiding assumptions when evaluating Spain’s potential opponents. “People are not aware of how balanced national teams are right now. It has nothing to do with clubs. Every country has 11 good players,” he said. He also discussed the biggest challenges that come with his role. “The most critical process is scouting players, but the most painful part is leaving out players who are good enough to be there. Along with injuries, seeing players miss out because of that is difficult,” Luis said. “There are no club players here, only national team players. It’s a different mindset.” Spain’s challenge at the 2026 World Cup For decades, Spain occupied a secondary place among the world’s top international soccer powers. In fact, their best World Cup performances before their golden era were quarterfinal appearances in 1934 and 1986, along with a third-place finish in 1950. That changed at the start of this century, when a generation of stars including Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, and Sergio Busquets emerged and led the country to UEFA Euro titles in 2008 and 2012 and, most notably, the 2010 World Cup. However, after reaching the summit of international soccer, they have struggled to replicate that success. In their next three appearances at the FIFA tournament, Spain failed to reach the quarterfinals. They were eliminated in the group stage in 2014, while in 2018 and 2022 they suffered unexpected round-of-16 exits against Russia and Morocco, respectively. In North America 2026, Spain will look to end that streak and perform up to expectations.
Vicente del Bosque provided an advice from his experience managing Spain to Luis de la Fuente. The World Cup is a very particular competition, and the most talented team does not always win it. Still, Spain proved the rule in 2010 under Vicente del Bosque, who offered Luis de la Fuente some advice in a conversation between the two managers arranged by the Spanish Federation. Del Bosque had a managerial style in which he gave players room to say what they thought, which sometimes drew outside criticism over a supposed lack of leadership, as he said: “Make it seem like they’re the ones in charge, but have things done the way you want.” That champion team included major names in the history of the sport such as Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, and Iker Casillas, among others. While de la Fuente does not have players with that much experience, he is managing a young, talented team that showed all its personality when it won the Euros. Del Bosque’s hardest decision For the former manager, there are not many people more accustomed to the spotlight than him, considering that almost his entire playing career was spent at Real Madrid. But that was not the only time he was at the club. Raúl is a Real Madrid legend (David Ramos/Getty Images) In his conversation with Spain’s current manager, Del Bosque admitted what the hardest decisions of his career were because they involved players like Raúl González, with whom he won everything at club level while at Real Madrid. Del Bosque said: “There are three things that will stay with me for the rest of my life. One was not taking Raúl to the national team because he was a kid we had brought from Atlético Madrid when he was very young and we had a special affection for him. The second was not taking Marcos Senna to the World Cup after we had become European champions with him in 2008. And the third was Iker Casillas, when in that tournament we decided to play someone else.” Del Bosque on Spain’s favoritism There are a few teams that always seem to be considered favorites. While that has not happened to Spain many times in history, they look like a team to beat. As de la Fuente waits until Monday to provide the squad list, the former manager is measured in his approach. Del Bosque said: “We have to be cautious, despite being favorites.”
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