{"id":374066,"date":"2025-08-26T04:41:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T04:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/374066\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T04:41:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T04:41:12","slug":"yamals-spain-and-messis-argentina-favorites-for-2026-world-cup-coach-de-la-fuente-makes-things-clear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/374066\/","title":{"rendered":"Yamal\u2019s Spain and Messi\u2019s Argentina favorites for 2026 World Cup? Coach De la Fuente makes things clear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Argentina<\/strong><\/a> and Spain<\/strong> have been among the most consistent national teams in world soccer in recent years, each building successful projects with an eye on the 2026 World Cup<\/strong>. With Lionel Messi<\/strong><\/a> and Lamine Yamal<\/strong> as the main figures for their respective sides, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente addressed whether both nations should be considered favorites heading into the tournament<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

De la Fuente took charge of La Roja after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, succeeding Luis Enrique, and quickly sparked a new era. Under his leadership, Spain captured the UEFA Nations League in 2023 and the UEFA EURO 2024 title<\/strong>. Now, with Yamal<\/strong><\/a> emerging as the team\u2019s brightest star, De la Fuente has his sights set on replicating that success on the world\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Radiogaceta de los Deportes on Spain\u2019s national radio station RNE, De la Fuente was asked if Spain<\/strong><\/a> and Argentina are the frontrunners for 2026. \u201cWinning is very difficult. And doing it against teams of that level is even more complex<\/strong>. You can\u2019t make mistakes. The important thing is to feel capable of competing for a World Cup,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Unlike Argentina, Spain must still qualify for the tournament through UEFA\u2019s qualifying rounds, which begin next month. \u201cWe\u2019re going to work hard in the months we have left. We also need the good fortune of avoiding injuries<\/strong>,\u201d De la Fuente<\/strong><\/a> added.<\/p>\n

\"Lamine<\/p>\n

Lamine Yamal of Spain speaks with Luis de la Fuente, Head Coach of Spain, during the UEFA EURO 2024 final match between Spain and England at Olympiastadion on July 14, 2024 in Berlin, Germany.<\/p>\n

Spain will begin their qualifying campaign in September, entering Group E alongside Bulgaria, Turkey, and Georgia<\/strong>. La Roja are the favorites to top the group, but anything less than first place could send them into a playoff, or in the worst case, see them miss the tournament entirely.<\/p>\n

\"Argentina<\/p>\n

see also<\/p>\n

Argentina star reportedly snubs Tottenham\u2019s \u20ac70M offer targeting 2026 World Cup with Lionel Messi<\/p>\n

<\/a>Is Yamal Messi\u2019s successor?<\/p>\n

Beyond the World Cup<\/strong><\/a>, anticipation is building for Messi and Yamal to potentially face off in the Finalissima ahead of the tournament. The competition, officially scheduled for the March 2026 international break<\/strong>, will take place only if Spain secure first place in their qualifying group.<\/p>\n

That matchup could serve as a symbolic \u201cpassing of the torch\u201d between two generations of stars. When asked about the idea, De la Fuente responded: \u201cHe has a great mirror to look into. He needs to take in everything Messi has achieved<\/strong>. Hopefully, we can enjoy Lamine on the same scale as we\u2019ve enjoyed Messi.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Argentina and Spain have been among the most consistent national teams in world soccer in recent years, each…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[10105,2000,299,15217,2746,130809,104,1514],"class_list":{"0":"post-374066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-argentina","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-lamine-yamal","12":"tag-lionel-messi","13":"tag-luis-de-la-fuente","14":"tag-spain","15":"tag-world-cup"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115093234484666667","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}