Luis de la Fuente set to extend Spain contract to 2030

Luis de la Fuente is close to a new contract as Spain head coach running to 2030, extending his stay in the role to eight years in total.

His current deal was due to expire at the end of the 2028 European Championship. The 65-year-old's stock has risen sharply enough since then to justify tearing it up early: this summer he won the World Cup, beating Argentina after extra time at the MetLife Stadium.

That result made Spain the first country to hold the men's and women's World Cups at the same time, and the men also arrive at any extension as European champions. Since taking over in December 2022, De la Fuente has won the Nations League in 2023, the Euros in 2024 — Spain beat England 2-1 in that final — and now the World Cup itself. Three major trophies in under four years is the case for keeping him on.

The date on the new contract is not incidental. Spain co-host the 2030 World Cup with Morocco and Portugal, and De la Fuente would defend the title on home soil at the end of it. Before he took the senior job he spent nine years in the Spanish federation's youth set-up, winning a European Under-19 title in 2015, a European Under-21 title in 2019 and an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo in 2021.

Spain's next match comes against England in the Nations League group stage on 26 September — a repeat of the sides that met in that 2024 final.