Como as seleções nacionais masculina e feminina da Espanha se destacaram do resto do mundo

NEW YORK — Spain has the chance to accomplish something no nation has ever achieved.

If it defeats defending champion Argentina in Sunday’s World Cup final, both its men’s and women’s national teams will simultaneously hold the sport’s biggest trophy, which no country has ever done before.

Germany’s men and women have each won two World Cups, but never concurrently. Similar feats have happened in other sports, including UConn’s men’s and women’s basketball teams winning national championships in 2004 and 2014, USA Basketball’s men and women taking gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the American men’s and women’s hockey teams winning gold at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Now Spain — with the women’s side winning its first World Cup title in 2023 — has a chance to set a new standard for sustained dominance on soccer’s biggest stage.

So how did Spain get here? What has allowed it to separate itself from the rest of the world? What is it doing better than everyone else? 

“This is the only country that starts a philosophy and an identity at a young age, and they’re all doing the same things from 9 years old and up, both the men’s and women’s side,” U.S. women’s national team legend Carli Lloyd told me. Now a FOX Sports analyst, Lloyd played against Spain during her career and has watched firsthand how the program evolved into a powerhouse.

“They focus on technical excellence first and their positional play, short passing, patience, development — all those different things. And I think for a number of years, they weren’t incredibly successful but have figured out ways of going about that with the way they play.”

The World Cup is only part of the story. Spain’s superiority has extended across nearly every major competition. The women’s national team won the 2025 Euros, while Barcelona — the club that is essentially the backbone of the squad — has captured three of the last four Women’s Champions League titles.

The men’s team enters Sunday’s final as the reigning European champion and Olympic gold medalist. Twenty of the 26 players on Spain’s World Cup roster were part of one or both of those triumphs, evidence that this success has been building for years.

For many of these players, the foundation was laid years ago at La Masia, Barcelona’s famed academy that has long been considered one of the world’s best at developing young talent. It’s where Lionel Messi arrived as a 13-year-old before becoming arguably the greatest player in history. 

The academy’s legacy extends beyond Messi, though. Nine alumni will be on the field for Sunday’s World Cup final: Messi for Argentina and Lamine Yamal, Gavi, Pau Cubarsí, Dani Olmo, Alejandro Grimaldo, Marc Cucurella and Víctor Muñoz for Spain. The viral photo of Messi bathing baby Yamal has become a symbol of the passing of the torch, but a deeper connection is that both were shaped by the same developmental system.

The academy opened its doors to women residents in 2021, and its pipeline has already produced many of Spain’s biggest stars, including three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí, two-time winner Alexia Putellas, Clàudia Pina, Ona Batlle and more. 

The familiarity and continuity built through this pathway is partly what has made these teams so successful.

“We did it with discipline, being organized, with sacrifice, with commitment, with effort,” Spanish manager Luis de la Fuente said when asked how his team was able to beat France in a third straight major tournament semifinal last week. “I think that was what we do best as Spanish football players is to interpret and read the game. They know how to behave in defensive and offensive phases and in the midfield.

“And that’s the fruits of our labor in the academies — all the coaches in Spain, we really value what we’re doing at that level. And this is another example that, in spite of being happy, we want more. And we want to take this World Cup and claim this title. That would be a really amazing achievement.”

And it’s not just about the players coming through the youth system, but coaches, too. De la Fuente spent nearly a decade coaching and winning with Spain’s U-19, U-21 and U-23 programs before he was named senior team manager in 2022. Even Jorge Vilda, who managed Spain at the 2023 women’s World Cup, coached the senior team for eight years after winning titles at the youth level. He was later fired in 2023 as part of the fallout from the Luis Rubiales scandal.

“There is something to be said for even the coaches being educated on that philosophy and that identity and working themselves from youth levels on up,” Lloyd said. “You just continue to get better as a coach, just like as a player you’re developing through the ranks.

“I think there is a huge importance. I just don’t know anywhere else in the world if that could be replicated. It would be very interesting to see. I think we [the U.S.] não faça isso. Cada treinador que tive teve um sabor e sutileza diferentes em seu treinamento. Claro, tivemos aquela mentalidade e DNA americano de sermos físicos, corajosos e determinados para vencer. Mas você não pode realmente olhar para toda a nossa estrutura e dizer: ‘Ah, é exatamente assim que os EUA jogam'”.

Antigamente, A Espanha era conhecida pelo estilo “tiki taka” e passes curtos e intrincados que muitos tentaram imitar. Evoluiu para passes mais progressivos, encontrando maneiras de ser clínico e punir as equipes na frente do gol, além de jogar de forma mais vertical e chegar atrás.

“Eles vão te matar com 1.000 passes de posse de bola”, disse Lloyd antes de se referir ao segundo gol da Espanha contra a França na semifinal da Copa do Mundo. A combinação e a sequência de passes rápidos de Pedro Porro e Olmo foram a quintessência da Espanha, antes de Porro chegar ao fundo da rede e dar à sua equipe uma vantagem de 2-0.

“O movimento deles não é realmente uma questão de estar em sincronia. É sobre onde deveriam ser as próximas uma ou duas passagens, e todos eles sabem o que fazer, e é realmente incrível”, continuou Lloyd. “Acho que eles são provavelmente o time mais completo desta Copa do Mundo. O último jogo [against France] foi uma masterclass absoluta.

“E o segundo objetivo, que só é ensinado a partir de um sistema e de uma filosofia que vem sendo desenvolvidos há anos. Isso não acontece apenas quando você chega à seleção nacional e começa a fazer alguns padrões de passe”.

Poderia ser este o início de uma dinastia? Se os homens vencerem no domingo e as mulheres puderem voltar atrás na Copa do Mundo de 2027, no próximo verão, no Brasil, a resposta será um retumbante sim.