‘We’ve a lot of work to do’ – Spain manager picks out one player for special praise after Turkiye draw | OneFootball

Spain mathematically assured their place at the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States with a 2-2 draw against Turkiye on Tuesday night. Manager Luis de la Fuente assured that there was much work ahead, as their winning run was halted, but their unbeaten run extended.

La Roja will next be in action in La Finalissima in March, where they will take on Argentina for the Copa Artemio Franchi.  De la Fuente assured MD that there was plenty of work ahead, but was happy with the qualifying campaign, with Spain topping the group.

“There’s still a long way to go until March, we’re very excited but there’s a lot of work to do and time to think about many things.”

“We’re happy and content. This makes us appreciate the run of results we’ve had. We’re happy to be at a World Cup and to have qualified the way we did.”

‘Today I learned how difficult it is to win’ – de la Fuente

Many in the Spanish media were casting the result as a warning against complacency, or a Spain side that has been blowing teams away. The reverse leg saw Spain win 6-0 in Konya, and de a Fuente looked on it positively.

“Today I learned how difficult it is to win, and it’s good to be reminded of that from time to time. This Jiminy Cricket reminds us how difficult it is to win.”

Image via FCBN

Praise for Spain’s number one

Late on Samu Aghehowa might have won it for La Roja, but de la Fuente described it as ‘normal’ that he might get over-excited while playing for Spain. They were only in that position due to several strong saves from Unai Simon in goal, and de la Fuente was keen to praise him.

“Unai Simon is performing exceptionally well, and today he had a very important performance. Unai is a legendary goalkeeper, in terms of statistics, figures, and his future potential. In my opinion, six of the ten best goalkeepers in the world are Spanish. That’s incredibly fortunate.”

Records extended for La Roja

The match also saw one record set, and another extended. De la Fuente’s Spain are now 31 games unbeaten, with their penalty shoot-out loss to Portugal in the Nations League officially going down as a draw. Meanwhile Mikel Oyarzabal became the first player to go nine straight games scoring or assisting for La Roja.