Arguably Spain’s greatest ever team arrive at Wembley on September, 26, 2026, holding the World Cup, the European Championship and the longest unbeaten run in the history of men’s international football. England get the first crack at ending it, in a sold-out UEFA Nations League opener that rematches the Euro 2024 final, and the England vs Spain betting market is already open.
However, it also reopens an argument Spanish football has been having since Berlin. Two separate squads won almost everything in the trophy cabinet, but which is Spain’s greatest ever team?
The 2008-12 Team: Three-In-A-Row
No men’s national team had ever won three consecutive major tournaments before Luis Aragonés and Vicente del Bosque’s side did it, and none has since. Euro 2008 was won without defeat, with all three group games taken.
The 2010 World Cup was won in the ugliest way imaginable: Spain lost their opener to Switzerland, scored just eight goals in seven matches, the lowest total by any World Cup winner, and won every knockout tie 1-0, with Andres Iniesta’s 116th-minute strike against the Netherlands still the latest winning goal in a final.
Euro 2012 was the emphatic bookend, with 12 scored and one conceded across six games, and a 4-0 dismantling of Italy in Kyiv that remains the biggest winning margin in a European Championship or World Cup final.
That team also changed how football was played. Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets made possession itself a defensive weapon, and the tiki-taka template was copied everywhere from academy pitches upwards.
The 2024-26 team: The Raw Numbers Are Better
Luis de la Fuente’s side has been more ruthless. Spain won Euro 2024 with seven wins from seven, the first team to win every match at a European Championship, and scored 15 goals, more than any side at a single Euros.
Two years later, they took the 2026 World Cup, beating Argentina 1-0 in extra time at MetLife Stadium through Ferran Torres, having conceded a single goal in eight matches. That is the meanest defensive record of any World Cup winner, and their seven clean sheets set a tournament record. Argentina became the first team to fail to register a shot on target in 90 minutes of a final.
The individual honours followed: Rodri took the Golden Ball, Unai Simon the Golden Glove, and Pau Cubarsi best Young Player. Lamine Yamal became the first teenager to win both a European Championship and a World Cup, and at 65 years and 29 days, De la Fuente is the oldest World Cup-winning manager.
Then there is the streak. Spain went 38 matches unbeaten, with 29 wins and nine draws from their last defeat to Colombia on March, 22, 2024, to the final in New Jersey, overtaking Italy’s 37-game record set between 2018 and 2021.
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Where The Old Guard Still Win
The current side lost the 2025 UEFA Nations League final to Portugal on penalties, recorded as a draw, which is how the unbeaten run survived, but a trophy missed all the same. That leaves them on two majors from three attempts, against three from three for the old guard. The 2008-12 group also faced a deeper Europe: a Germany side rebuilding towards its own World Cup, Netherlands finalists, and Italy twice in finals.
Spain’s Greatest Ever Team: The Verdict
On results, 2024-26 has the better statistical case: more goals, fewer conceded, a record unbeaten run and a World Cup won without a defensive wobble. On achievement, three consecutive titles remain the harder thing to do, and the 2008-12 side altered the sport rather than simply winning within it.
The honest answer is that 2008-12 is still Spain’s greatest ever team, narrowly, and that one more trophy flips it. Spain’s next assignment: UEFA Nations League and 2028 European Championship qualification. Odds and offers on those fixtures sit alongside Betfair’s bet promotions.
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