De la Fuente: We must focus on what we can control after Copa draw | OneFootball

Spain must focus exclusively “on what it can control” ahead of the start of the 2026 World Cup, where it will face Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, and Cape Verde, said the coach of the Spanish national team, Luis de la Fuente, this Friday. The World Cup draw, held in Washington, placed Spain in Group H.

World champion in 2010 and European champion last year, Spain is one of the favorites, the Spanish coach acknowledged.

“Praise will not weaken us, quite the opposite. It is a great responsibility. We want to achieve something significant at this World Cup, and that means having a good group stage and continuing to advance. The matches will get tougher as we progress,” he told Spanish radio broadcasters.

“There are many teams in contention for the title and we feel the same as they do, nothing more, nothing less. But that guarantees nothing,” he also told the written press.

“We are in the process of continuing to improve, and our level of professionalism and responsibility demands that we be even a little bit better. That’s what we intend, to keep improving,” he explained.

“We don’t know what will happen”

Spain could face Argentina, the top seed in Group J, something De la Fuente preferred not to comment on.

“We don’t know what will happen. All we have to think about, solely and exclusively, is trying to win all our matches. Beating Cape Verde, beating Saudi Arabia, beating Uruguay,” he replied.

The match against two-time world champion Uruguay (1930 and 1950), coached by Marcelo Bielsa, will be “extremely difficult,” said De la Fuente. The game promises to be one of the highlights of the first stage of the 2026 World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.