Euro 2024: Spain's Strengths, Weaknesses, and Key Players

The UEFA Euro 2024 is just a week away, and Spain boss Luis de la Fuente has announced his 26-man squad ahead of the tournament. Spain are in the Group of Death along with Croatia, Italy, and Albania. Therefore, Spain have to be very careful to qualify for the next round from this Group of Death. The 2010 World Cup winner will start their Euro 2024 journey with the match against Croatia on June 15.

In this article, we will talk about the strengths and weaknesses of Spain and find out who is going to be the trump card for Luis de la Fuente during the tournament.

Spain's Squad

Manager Luis de la Fuente cut his preliminary 29-man squad to make a 26-man team for the Euro 2024. Here is the full squad of Spain for this tournament:

Goalkeepers:

• Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao)
• David Raya (Arsenal)
• Alex Remiro (Real Sociedad)

Defenders:

• Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid)
• Jesus Navas (Sevilla)
• Aymeric Laporte (Al Nassr)
• Nacho Fernandez (Real Madrid)
• Robin Le Normand (Real Sociedad)
• Dani Vivian (Athletic Bilbao)
• Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen)
• Marc Cucurella (Chelsea)

Midfielders:

• Rodri (Manchester City)
• Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad)
• Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad)
• Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain)
• Pedri (Barcelona)
• Alex Baena (Villarreal)
• Fermin Lopez (Barcelona)

Forwards:

• Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid)
• Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig)
• Ferran Torres (Barcelona)
• Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
• Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao)
• Joselu (Real Madrid)
• Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad)
• Ayoze Perez (Real Betis)

Strengths&Key Players

Spain have been famous for their TikiTaka football. They like to take control of the midfield with short and close passes, making the opponents tired.

For TikiTaka football to work, teams need quality midfielders like Spain's Xavi and Iniesta. Since these midfield duo retired, Spain had a certain period of time without proper TikiTaka football. Luckily, the 2010 World Cup winner has some quality and energetic midfielders this year who can destroy the opponent's defense at any time. Players like Rodri will give Spain stability in midfield as he can hold the ball and link up with the attackers.

Pedri has already proved himself in Barcelona's shirt. This young midfielder has been a wonder, who can dribble at a good pace.

Apart from the midfield, Spain have an excellent attacking lineup in this tournament. Experience players such as Alvaro Morata will lead the attack with some fantastic young players. Barcelona's Lamine Yamal has been considered a wonder kid, who already got massive appreciation from the football pundits. The Euro 2024 will be his first major international tournament and we expect Lamine Yamal would be a key player for Spain.

Weakness

Spain's defense, despite having strong players like Aymeric Laporte and Dani Carvajal, has lacked teamwork and consistency, making it vulnerable to strong attacking teams. Another issue is the forwards, such as Alvaro Morata and Joselu, who struggle with scoring regularly. This inconsistency can be a problem in close matches where scoring is important. Spain's midfield heavily relies on key players like Rodri and Pedri. If these players are injured or neutralized, it can disrupt Spain's control and style of play.