SPAIN'S FOOTBALL DOMINANCE: EDUCATION, BARCELONA & BASQUE CULTURE

World champions. European champions. Olympic champions. Undefeated in two and a half years. Spain are the dominant force in men's world football.

Of the past 10 major international tournaments, they have won five.

Going into Saturday's Nations League meeting with England at Wembley (19:45 BST), they are on an international record 38-match unbeaten run. They have not lost since a 1-0 defeat by Colombia in a 2024 friendly.

And the success does not stop with the senior men's team. During that time, Spain have also won:

At club level, Spanish teams have won half of all available Champions League and Europa League titles since 2009.

Spain football expert Guillem Balague told BBC Radio 5 Live there are "three pillars" that explain Spain's coaching culture and its unprecedented success.

"The first one was university, and in particular something called the National Institute of Physical Education," he said. "University entered physical education in Spain a long time ago, in the 1990s, and they created physical coaches and football coaches with a deep understanding of learning and training processes.

"Some of those fitness coaches became really big managers, like Rafa Benitez or Marcelino Garcia Toral. They came from learning and studying what football was about ahead of anybody else.

"The second pillar is the Basque culture. The Basque Country represents historically a special reference within Spanish football because they relate to work ethic, massive work ethic, daily effort.

"And the third pillar is what everybody knows: the Barcelona influence, Johan Cruyff and the tactical revolution that followed through him."

- Author: Dane Massey, BBC

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