16 World Cup competitions, winning the championship was 14 years ago. Can Yamal lead the team to win? Spain is worth looking forward to

As a traditional European strong team, Spain was once the team with the most championships in European Cup history. They won the European Cup championship four times and were outstanding. In the history of the World Cup, Spain's record is not as good as Germany and France. The first time the Bullfighter Army won the World Cup was in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Iniesta's final goal in that World Cup left a deep impression. As the 2026 World Cup approaches, European champion Spain has once again become a favorite to win the championship, and Spain led by talented young player Yamal is worthy of fans' expectations. Let's review today the previous 16 World Cup trips in Spain.

1. Participated intermittently, and the record was not stable. Spain did not participate in the first World Cup in 1930. It was not until the 1934 World Cup that Spain made its first appearance in the World Cup. Their first victory in the World Cup was that they defeated Brazil 3-1 and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Although they lost to Italy later, Spain's first World Cup was excellent enough. Spain was absent from the 1938 World Cup, and Spain was in the same group as Uruguay, Brazil and Sweden in the 1950 World Cup. As a result, it was difficult for the group to win and be eliminated at the bottom. Spain missed the 1954 World Cup and the 1958 World Cup. Spain returned to the World Cup in 1962, but the team was in the same group as defending champion Brazil, and was eventually eliminated at the bottom and missed the knockout round. Spain won third place in the group in the 1966 World Cup and was eliminated from the group again. Spain was absent again in the 1970 World Cup and the 1974 World Cup.

2. Participated in the World Cup steadily but failed to achieve a breakthrough

After missing the World Cup in 1974, Spain returned to the World Cup in 1978 and has not missed the World Cup since then. In the 1978 World Cup, Spain was in the same group as Austria, Brazil and Sweden in the first stage. Spain won 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in three groups. In the end, they ranked third in the group in the first stage and missed the second stage. In the 1982 World Cup, Spain advanced to the second stage of the group in the first stage, but in the second stage, the team missed the final four. In the 1986 World Cup, Spain teamed up with Brazil, Northern Ireland and Algeria in the group, and achieved 2 wins and 1 loss in three matches, successfully advancing to the knockout round. In the first round of the knockout round, Spain defeated the opponent 5-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals. However, Spain lost to Belgium in the quarterfinals, and stopped in the quarterfinals. Spain, Belgium, Uruguay and South Korea were in the E Group in 1990 World Cup, and Spain successfully qualified for the top 16. Facing the European team Yugoslavia's quarterfinals, Spain lost 1-2 to the opponent and missed the opportunity to go further.

3. Iniesta defeated his throat with one sword, Spain finally won the World Cup

in the 1994 World Cup, Spain qualified unbeaten in the group. In the first round of the knockout round, Spain defeated his opponent 3-0 and easily advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. However, facing Italy's quarter-finals, Spain was somewhat inferior to others. The team lost 1-2 and stopped in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Spain, which had 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in the 1998 World Cup, ranked third in the group and missed the knockout round. In the 2002 World Cup, Spain successfully qualified for three wins in the group. Spain eliminated Ireland in the penalty shootout in the quarterfinals. Then, facing one of the hosts, South Korea, Spain lost the penalty kick and ended in the quarterfinals. In the 2006 World Cup, Spain won all three games again to advance to the knockout stage, but facing France in the first round of the knockout stage, Spain was eliminated 3-1 by its opponent and stopped in the round of 16. Spain finally won the championship in the 2010 World Cup. Although Spain lost unexpectedly in the first round of the group stage, the team finally completed the qualifying without any danger. In the quarterfinals, Spain successfully eliminated Portugal and then eliminated Paraguay 1-0 and successfully advanced to the semi-finals of the World Cup. In the semi-finals, Spain faced Germany, Puyol's goal helped Spain defeat his opponent and reached the World Cup final for the first time. In the World Cup final against the Netherlands, the two teams fought to overtime, and Iniesta's final goal helped Spain win successfully, winning the World Cup for the first time in history, creating Spanish history.

4. After winning the championship, they fell into a trough, hoping to win the second championship, 2014 World Cup defending champion Spain encountered the championship curse. They were in the same group as the Netherlands, Chile and Australia, but the defending champion only achieved 1 win and 2 losses, and finally only won the third place in the group and was unfortunately eliminated. In the 2018 World Cup, Spain, Portugal, Iran and Morocco, in the same group, Spain won 1 win and 2 draws, and advanced to the knockout stage. However, facing host Russia in the first round of the knockout stage, Spain finally lost the penalty kick and stopped in the top 16 of the World Cup. Spain beat Germany in the 2022 World Cup to qualify, but in the quarterfinals, Spain stopped again. They lost to Morocco in the penalty shootout and missed the World Cup quarterfinals. The new golden generation of Spain, led by Yamal and Pedro in the 2026 World Cup, will compete in the US, Canada and Mexico World Cup with the title of European champion. At that time, whether the talented young player can lead the team to win the second championship is worth everyone's expectations.