Looking at how Spain became World Cup champions, Softfootball gathered that the journey followed a tough path. A remarkable detail shows that eight players who started Spain’s 2021 Tokyo Olympics final, a 2–1 loss to Brazil ended up winning the 2026 World Cup with Spain five years later.
To make it more enticing, Luis de la Fuente, who coached Spain in that 2021 Olympics final, also managed Spain in the 2026 World Cup final against Argentina, where Spain won 1–0 to lift the trophy.
Here is the list of players present in both the 2021 Olympics final starting XI and the 2026 World Cup final:
1. Unai Simón
3. Marc Cucurella
6. Martín Zubimendi
8. Mikel Merino (c)
11. Mikel Oyarzabal
12. Eric García
16. Pedri González
19. Dani Olmo
Coach: Luis de la Fuente
