For the biggest names in international football, it pays to make sure heroes do not become deities. Just ask vanquished Euro 2024 finalists England.

By the time the 2026 World Cup rolls around, the Three Lions’ “years of hurt” will have stretched to 60, double the amount of time since that phrase entered the popular lexicon at Euro ’96.

A semifinal penalty shootout loss to Germany on home soil in that tournament became another example of the heartbreak that has littered the decades since England’s men won their solitary major tournament at the 1966 World Cup.

Gareth Southgate has brought them closer than any coach; three semifinals in six years, back-to-back European Championship finals. But the stumble from Cole Palmer’s brilliant equaliser to Mikel Oyarzabal’s winner in Berlin marked another chapter of glorious failure for the global game’s heavyweight nearly men.

Every time England fall short, the heroes of ’66 become yet more titanic. It’s best to nip these stories of icons that can become complexes in the bud quickly. That’s exactly what Spain’s freshly minted European champions have done.

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Luis Aragones and then Vicente del Bosque oversaw arguably the greatest international team of all time as Spain sandwiched lifting the 2010 World Cup with victories at Euro 2008 and 2012.

As the disappointments of recent years racked up — consecutive penalty shootout exits in 2018, 2021 and 2022 — and the heroes of the previous decade retired, Spain’s latter-day successes could have become a burden.

Now, inspired by flying wingers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, they have soared to the top of European football again. Xavi, Andres Iniesta and the rest can now simply be revered rather than being a stick with which to beat their successors. Spain have a new band of swashbuckling heroes.

Tournament football can be about moments and riding your luck. Southgate’s England were a clear embodiment of this, wading into difficult waters and riding every wave. They were five minutes from extra time and, if Dani Olmo hadn’t cleared Declan Rice’s late header off the line, who knows?

But the best team won Euro 2024. Spain became only the second team in history — after Brazil at the 2002 World Cup — to win all their games at a seven-match international tournament. 

How good is the Spain national football team?

The joy of Luis de la Fuente’s side, in an era when national team coaches have scant time with their best players in prime form and fitness, is how complete they are.

Spain can hurt you in numerous ways. England defended Lamine Yamal and Williams well enough before halftime at the Olympiastadion, but they get you in the end. It happened two minutes into the second period when the Barcelona teenager found his partner in crime from Athletic Club to drive past Jordan Pickford.

It’s not all about wingers playing like millionaires. Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament Rodri is performing at a level worthy of comparison to Sergio Busquets in his peak years and the midfield balance of the Manchester City totem, Fabian Ruiz and Olmo was sumptuous. De la Fuente’s team being more front foot than Del Bosque’s world champions does not mean you’re much less likely to spend the game chasing forlornly after a zipping ball and deep red shirts. Again, just ask England.

This pattern of play only became more punishing after the break, when Southgate’s men should have been boosted by Rodri’s injury withdrawal. Instead, Martin Zubimendi slotted in as the metronome and looked like he was born to play on this stage. Just imagine what these midfield riches will tally when Pedri and Gavi are back to fitness.

The cupboard is not so well-stocked in defence, but Dani Carvajal showed his warrior-like qualities again and Marc Cucurella built upon his Chelsea renaissance by being Euro 2024’s outstanding left-back. At centre-back, De la Fuente’s French-born odd couple of Aymeric Laporte and Robin Le Normand put their bodies on the line for Spain when it mattered.

De la Fuente has been the man for this moment, building on his years of success with Spain’s age group teams, knowing the fruits of the system and how they can best be harvested. In one particular respect, this tournament win is more impressive than Del Bosque’s.

Which Real Madrid and Barcelona players play for Spain?

In 2010 and 2012, Spain were pulling many of their players from an era-defining Barcelona and their eternal enemies, Real Madrid. El Clasico was the centre of the football world. When David Silva opened the scoring in the Euro 2012 final, he was the only member of Spain’s starting 11 who didn’t play for Madrid or Barca.

Those two giants still have their prints on this Spain team, but the evergreen Carvajal to the electrifying Lamine Yamal were their only starters on Sunday. The Clasico clubs do not dominate football financially as they once did, meaning the talent has scattered. Spain’s starting midfield against England call the Premier League, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga their homes. 

Zubimendi and match-winner Oyarzabal each hail from Real Sociedad, the bitter Basque rivals to Le Normand and Wiliams’ Athletic Club. This is the football hotbed that imbued De La Fuente’s Roja with much of its fire.

Like any team winning a tournament two years out from a World Cup, Spain’s future looks bright. When you consider Argentina are coming towards the end of Lionel Messi’s decorated victory lap and Brazil are in rolling state of flux, they appear very well-placed for 2026.

This new Spain’s World Cup assault will be fuelled by the possibility of becoming immortals, with the weight of history having been cast aside in Berlin.