Spain Extend Luis de la Fuente Contract Until 2032

Spain have extended Luis de la Fuente’s contract until 2032, keeping their World Cup-winning manager in charge through Euro 2028, the 2030 World Cup and Euro 2032.

The RFEF board unanimously approved the agreement on Monday, less than two months after Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time to win their second World Cup. De la Fuente’s previous deal ran until Euro 2028, but Spain have seen enough to remove that particular decision from the diary for another four years.

You can understand why.

Since replacing Luis Enrique in December 2022, De la Fuente has won the 2023 Nations League, Euro 2024 and the World Cup. Spain also reached the 2025 Nations League final, losing to Portugal on penalties, so every tournament he has entered with the senior side has ended in a final.

The World Cup final was his 50th match as Spain manager and brought his 38th victory. It also took Spain to 38 competitive matches without defeat, the longest unbeaten run in men’s international football, and back to number one in the FIFA rankings.

For most managers, three major trophies would be enough of a story. De la Fuente’s route to them is probably the more useful part of explaining why Spain are prepared to commit until 2032.

He has been working for the Spanish federation since 2013.

De la Fuente began with the Under-19s, won the European Championship with them in 2015, took European Under-21 honours four years later and then led Spain to an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo. Before he had managed a competitive senior international, he had already coached more than 100 matches across Spain’s youth teams.

Some of the names make the connection easier to see.

Unai Simón, Rodri and Mikel Merino were all part of De la Fuente’s European Under-19-winning squad in 2015. Merino was involved again when Spain won the Under-21 Euros in 2019 alongside players including Dani Olmo, Fabián Ruiz and Mikel Oyarzabal.

By the time De la Fuente became senior manager, he wasn't arriving at Las Rozas and learning an entirely new squad. He had already watched several of those players develop, coached them in tournament football and, in some cases, won with them years before they became established internationals.

He had even managed Spain’s senior side once before officially getting the job.

When Sergio Busquets tested positive for Covid-19 shortly before Euro 2020, Luis Enrique’s squad had to isolate and De la Fuente’s Under-21 group were sent out for the friendly against Lithuania instead. Spain won 4-0. It was a strange evening at the time. Looking back now, it reads almost like an accidental trial run.

Eighteen months later, De la Fuente replaced Luis Enrique permanently. Four years after that, he is a world champion with a contract taking him into the next decade.

The 2030 World Cup adds another layer. Spain will co-host it with Portugal and Morocco, meaning the RFEF have already chosen the manager they want leading the national team into a World Cup partly played on Spanish soil rather than allowing another coaching debate to build as the tournament approaches.

If De la Fuente completes the new deal, he will spend around ten years as Spain’s senior manager, behind only Ladislao Kubala among the longest-serving coaches in the national team’s history.

First comes something rather less distant. Spain return to action against England at Wembley on Saturday as the Nations League begins again.

By 2032, plenty about this Spain team will have changed. De la Fuente’s entire career with the federation suggests he’ll probably know the replacements before the rest of us do.