• Classification. This is how the groups stand with three rounds to go.

The conversations in the hours after a win like the one in Oslo on Sunday, the ones that follow the finals, are always the same. When is the giveaway? The draw is on December 2 at 18:00 p.m. Where is Spain going to concentrate? Of all the options that UEFA has chosen, Spain already has its eye on some, but there will be no decision for a few weeks. The base camp in Spain must meet the ideal conditions for the players (good courses, a good hotel or residence), but it must also meet other more mundane requirements: having a town nearby where they can go out for lunch or dinner on days off, that the accommodation of the families is not far away and that they can come and go with some comfort...

Spain has experience in this type of set-up, because it has passed the last 16 qualifying phases. He hasn't missed a tournament since Euro 1992. Germany is the only one that has also been to those 16 events, but twice as an organizer (World Cup 2006 and Euro 2024). In USA'94 she was the winner of the 1990 edition. There is no one, therefore, more reliable than Spain, which has won two European Championships and a World Cup in this cycle. In the last European Championship they made semi-finals, and only Italy, in the end champions, put them on penalties.

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Euro 2024.

Luis De la Fuente's Undisputed Six

  • Written by: EDUARDO J. CASTELAO (Special Correspondent)Oslo

Luis De la Fuente's Undisputed Six

Euro 2024.

The keys to the new Álvaro Morata, an unexpected leader

  • Written by: EDUARDO J. CASTELAO Madrid

The keys to the new Álvaro Morata, an unexpected leader

At the European Championship, from June 14 to July 14, there will be 24 teams. Although not everyone is known, far from it, in the bookmakers you can already play money to see who will win. In one of the most well-known in the world, on Sunday, at the end of the match, only England (5-1), France (5.5-1) and Germany (7-1) beat Spain as favourites to lift the title (8-1). Behind, Portugal (11-1) and Italy (13-1), despite the fact that the latter has not yet qualified. Luis de la Fuente's team is one of the seven teams that have qualified. Along with Germany as hosts, only France, Belgium and Portugal have taken less time than her. Scotland, in the same group, and Turkey, did it on Sunday. So, where is Spain on the European scene? De la Fuente, who has learned not to make mistakes, doesn't get wet. "We always look up. We have a very good base, a lot of present and, most importantly, a lot of future. This is not the time to compare ourselves with others, it will be the competition that puts us on or takes us away," he said on Sunday night in the press room of Ullevaal.

To begin with, of those already qualified, one step above it is intuited in France and Portugal. In the case of the French, because of the individualities, with Mbappé at the helm, but also with Griezmann, Tchouamenni, Camavinga, Dembele, Coman... World champions in 2018 and runners-up in 2022, the stumble against Switzerland in the last European Championship in the round of 2016 speaks of a team that is not invincible. In the case of the Portuguese, because of those same individuals (Cristiano, who is still there, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix, etc...) and also because Roberto Martínez has given solidity to a team that, however, since being champion in 18 has signed two round of 20 (Russia'5 and Euro'1) and a quarter-final in the last previous one, the World Cup in Qatar (lost to Morocco). England is the other team that, by names (Bellingham, Keane, etc...), is above Spain, although today a good part of their chances of qualifying without haste is at stake with Italy. Speaking of individuals, Spain can boast of players in the top 7 in the world in their positions. Rodrigo, of course, but little else. Of course, in a very short time, De la Fuente has built a block that is perceived to be reliable, capable of shining in thrashings (6-0 against Georgia and <>-<> against Cyprus) and of winning with more skill than brilliance against Scotland and Norway. Everything is needed in a big tournament like the one to come.

And that's it. Of the rest of the teams that are fighting, and that will do so during this week, during the month of November and, those chosen, in the repechage in March, there is no unapproachable selection. Far from it. Greece or the Netherlands in France's group. Wales, Croatia and Turkey are playing for two places. Austria and Sweden are another. Albania, Czech Republic, Moldova and Poland, two other places. Hungary, Serbia, Denmark, Slovenia... "When we get there, we'll see where we are, but from what we're seeing, from what this team is currently offering us, from the expectations it generates, I'm tremendously optimistic. We will fight, as always, to be at the top," says the coach, who has two games left in November and two friendlies in March (one against Brazil at the Bernabéu) to reach that appointment with the team fine-tuned.

  • Spain national football team
  • football
  • Luis de la Fuente