The Spanish national team is taking steady steps on the journey to conquer the 2026 World Cup. The foundation for La Roja's success lies not in the flashy attack, but in the defense system that is almost impossible to penetrate.
After a 1-0 victory over Portugal in the round of 16, coach Luis de la Fuente's team continued their clean sheet streak and won the right to enter the quarter-finals against Belgium.
The moment Bernardo Silva shot wide of the goal in injury time made Rodri celebrate emotionally, before quickly apologizing to his former teammate at Manchester City, partly showing the special meaning of the defensive achievements that Spain possesses.
De la Fuente affirmed that victory came from team spirit, solidarity and discipline in defense. According to this strategist, every Spanish player is ready to sacrifice, support each other to maintain certainty for the whole team.
With a clean sheet against Portugal, goalkeeper Unai Simon has set a new record with 609 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal at the World Cup. This achievement surpasses the milestone set by Switzerland in the period 1994-2010. Notably, Simon almost did not have to work too much when the defense above played extremely tightly.
Spain's solidity is built from a squad including Marc Cucurella, Pau Cubarsi, Aymeric Laporte, Pedro Porro and especially Rodri. The Man City midfielder continues to play the role of anchor, both regulating the play and effectively shielding the defense.
The ball control style and high-intensity pressing ability help La Roja narrow down the opponent right from the midfield area. When losing the ball, De la Fuente's students immediately approached to regain control, minimizing the opponent's counter-attack opportunities.
Not only possessing a solid defense, Spain also maintains a 35-match unbeaten streak in official tournaments since the defeat to Scotland in 2023. If they continue to win the 2026 World Cup, La Roja will surpass the 37-match unbeaten record of Italy under coach Roberto Mancini.
In the upcoming quarter-finals, the Belgian team with stars like Charles De Ketelaere, Romelu Lukaku, Jeremy Doku or Leandro Trossard will face the ultimate challenge. To defeat Spain, they need to do something that no team has done at this year's World Cup. That is to penetrate the almost perfectly operated defense system of Rodri and his teammates.
I am not afraid, worried or self-conscious when saying whether we are a bright candidate or not, because that does not guarantee anything. What I like is that if people say you are a bright candidate, it is because someone sees the value or success in the work you have done. Anyway, in this kind of game, I don't think there are any bright candidates.
In addition to being rated higher, even if you do better than your opponent, you can still lose. Therefore, whether you are rated higher or not has no meaning" - De la Fuente said before the match against Belgium.
The match between Spain and Belgium takes place at 2:00 AM on July 11 (Vietnam time).
