Qatar 2022 - World Cup Group E

Spain, Germany, Japan and the Intercontinental Playoff 2 winner will make up World Cup Group E at Qatar 2022.

Confederation: UEFAFIFA ranking: 7Team nickname: La RojaPrevious World Cup appearances: 15Honours: World Cup: 2010 European Championship (3): 1964, 2008, 2012Head coach: Luis EnriqueStar players: Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Pedri (Barcelona), Alvaro Morata (Juventus)

Since winning three consecutive major titles between 2008 and 2012 (two Euros and one World Cup), Spain’s dominance has diminished somewhat – they’ve failed to progress past the World Cup Round of 16 since winning their first title in 2010 – but a strong run to the semi-final at Euro 2020 (where they lost on penalties to Italy) and finishing as runners-ups  at the 2021 Nations League (lost 2-1 to France) have reignited hopes of a resurgence.

Luis Enrique returned to the role as head coach in Nov. 2019, having resigned four months prior due to personal reasons and caused a stir in Spain when selecting his squad for Euro 2020 when he failed to name any Real Madrid players for the first time at a major tournament in the nation’s history and was accused of anti-Blancos bias.

Emerging talent remains key for Spain and names such as Pedri (Barcelona), Gavi (Barcelona) and Yeremi Pino (Villarreal) look well placed to light up the 2022 World Cup.

Kevin Kilbane's take: “Spain were in a little bit of a transition going into the Euro. We watched to see how they would get on and they actually did better than I expected, in all honesty. Pedri is the new superstar in the Spanish side. He played every game at the Euro, he’s been at the Olympics since the Euro and he’s played a majority of games at Barcelona this season. What a player this guy is and what a talent he