The expanded format of the 2026 World Cup, in which the games will be played in cities in the USA, Mexico and Canada, poses new logistical and strategic challenges for the Spanish team, the EFE agency said after the official FIFA draw. National coach Luis de la Fuente highlighted the need to adapt internal organization and personnel planning to the requirements of a tournament taking place simultaneously in three countries, which entails extensive transfers and a decentralized agenda.
In the draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, Spain was placed in Group H, where it has Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay as its primary rivals. As published by the EFE agency, De la Fuente explained that the top priority is not only to overcome the group stage, but also to focus on overcoming all the challenges that lie ahead in the competition. The coach explained that the big challenge lies in the knockout phase and the possible confrontation with teams that have historically shown high performances in international competitions.
The Spanish team’s sporting project is based on a planning that includes not only the analysis of the first opponents, but also a preparatory approach for each subsequent phase of the tournament. As detailed by EFE, the coaching staff and footballers work with an eye on achieving long-term results by balancing enthusiasm and discipline. De la Fuente emphasized in statements made by EFE that respect for each rival and detailed preparation characterize the team’s mentality: “There is nothing easy,” said the coach, adding that each game “must be approached with great calm, with calm, with a lot of respect and, above all, with the thought that our goal is not only to get through the group stage, but also everything that comes after that; and then there are other great teams.”
The media outlet EFE highlighted that both the technical bodies and those in charge of the Spanish Football Federation are making progress in defining specific logistical and sporting protocols for the 2026 edition. The purpose of these measures is to minimize the impact of travel and the tight calendar on the physical and mental aspects of the players. This approach prepares the group for a competition that, according to the agency, requires modern human resources management and precise implementation of operational plans.
In sport, as EFE reports, De la Fuente’s strategy is based on eliminating improvisation and complacency once the first objectives of the championship are achieved. The coach stressed the importance of maintaining an attitude of maximum responsibility and effort, given the broad structure of the competition and the diversity of opponents that the new format of the tournament brings. The team’s preparation aims to ensure that both technical and physical work is accompanied by composure and precision, laying the foundation for a culture of constant competitiveness.
The design of collective and personal preparation is viewed as a series of sequential phases, each equally important to overall performance. According to EFE, the central idea shared in the first meetings is that the adaptation to the tournament must be done day by day, taking into account the possibility of advancing to the most demanding rounds against teams that, according to history, could be among the most outstanding.
The comprehensive plan drawn up by the Spanish federation and the working group led by De la Fuente, as highlighted by EFE media, covers logistics with an emphasis on operational details, the organization of transfer and recovery plans and time management between games. This approach aims to neutralize any negative effects of long distances and constant changes of venues, which are unprecedented factors in terms of the traditional development of the World Cup in a single country.
According to EFE, De la Fuente insisted that access to the direct elimination rounds was the initial goal of a process whose demand is increasingly increasing, forcing both the players and the technical team to maintain maximum concentration and intensity of competition. The coach expressed the need to establish a mentality focused on continuous respect for the opponent, complemented by constant preparation, as key elements to achieve and maintain the desired performance.
The sporting, logistical and psychological strategy drawn up by the Spanish team for the 2026 World Cup, as the statements published by EFE confirm, is aimed at consolidating an attitude of calm and consistency from the beginning to the final rounds, strengthening group cohesion and prioritizing tactical and physical preparation, given the expansion and complexity of the format proposed by FIFA. The institutional and operational message aims to ensure not only competition in the first outings, but also the robustness necessary to face the most advanced phases of a championship that in this edition faces unprecedented logistical and sporting conditions.
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