World Cup 2026: Spain 2010 vs Spain 2026 – How do the two XIs compare?

The year is 2010. A star-studded Spain team sneaked into the World Cup final and eventually beat Andres Iniesta in a brutal match against the Netherlands.

Fast forward 16 years and a more under-the-radar, but equally efficient, Spanish team has once again arrived at the football show.

The names may not roll off the tongue as easily as they once did, but Luis de la Fuente’s side are now on course to match the success of the country’s golden generation and lift the trophy for a second time on Sunday, July 19.

Certain parallels are obvious.

Pick up the continuity two years ago when both teams entered their respective World Cups after lifting the European Championship trophy.

In the year Of the team that won in 2010, only three of the starting XI were not in Euro 2008. Only two players who started Tuesday’s semi-final against France were not part of the successful Germany 2024 squad.

Interestingly, Spain’s 2026 squad of 26 players is older than the squad selected by Vicente del Bosque in 2010 (27.8 compared to 26.7) but less experienced on the international stage (an average of 33 games compared to 56).

Spain had not won a World Cup knockout stage before starting this run after lifting the trophy in South Africa.

Della Fuente’s men’s esteemed 37-game unbeaten run is impressive – matching Italy’s world-best mark – although it was cut short by a penalty shoot-out loss to Portugal in last year’s Nations League final.

This Spanish team is the first team to keep six clean sheets in a single World Cup.

So how do the two XIs compare? Watch BBC Sport.