The conversations in the hours after a victory like Sunday's in Oslo, those that follow reaching the final phase, are always the same. When is the draw? The draw is on December 2 at 6:00 p.m.. Where is Spain going to concentrate? Of all the options that UEFA has chosen, Spain already has its eye on some, but there will be no decision for a few weeks. The base camp in Spain must meet the ideal conditions for the players (good fields, a good hotel or residence), but it must also meet other more mundane requirements: have a town nearby where you can go out for lunch or dinner on days off, which the The families' accommodation is not far away and they can come and go with some comfort…

Spain has experience in this type of setup, because it has passed the last 16 qualifying phases. He has not missed a tournament since the 1992 Euro Cup. Germany is the only one that has also been in those 16 events, but twice as organizer (World Cup 2006 and Euro 2024). In USA'94 she was the winner of the 1990 edition. There is no one, therefore, more reliable than Spain, which in this cycle has won two European Championships and a World Cup.. In the last Euro Cup they made the semi-finals, and only Italy, the eventual champion, kicked them out on penalties.

In the Eurocup, from June 14 to July 14, there will be 24 teams. Although not all of them are known, far from it, in betting houses you can now play money to see who will win.. In one of the best known in the world, on Sunday, at the conclusion of the match, only England (5 to 1), France (5.5 to 1) and Germany (7 to 1) surpassed Spain as favorites to lift the title ( 8 to 1). Behind, Portugal (11 to 1) and Italy (13 to 1), and the latter is not classified yet. Luis de la Fuente's is one of the seven classified teams. Along with Germany as the host, only France, Belgium and Portugal have taken less time than her. Scotland, in the same group, and Türkiye, achieved it on Sunday.

And so, where is Spain in the European panorama? De la Fuente, who has learned not to make mistakes, does not get wet. “We always look up. We have a very good foundation, a lot of present and, most importantly, a lot of future. “This is not the time to compare ourselves with others, it will be the competition that makes us or takes us away,” he expressed on Sunday night in the Ullevaal press room.

Reliable block

From the outset, of those already classified, one can sense a step above in France and Portugal. In the case of the Gauls, due to the individualities, with Mbappé at the helm, but also with Griezmann, Tchouameni, Camavinga, Dembélé, Coman…. World champion in 2018 and runner-up in 2022, the setback against Switzerland in the last Euro Cup in the round of 16 speaks of a team that is not invincible. In the case of the Portuguese, because of those same individuals (Cristiano, who is still there, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Félix, etc…) and also because Roberto Martínez has given strength to a team that, however, since who was champion in 2016, has signed two eighths (Russia'18 and Euro'20) and a few quarterfinals in the last precedent, the World Cup in Qatar (fell to Morocco). England is the other team that, due to names (Bellingham, Kane, etc…), is above Spain, although a good part of its chances of qualifying without problems will be played on Tuesday with Italy..

Speaking of individualities, Spain can hardly boast of players in the top 5 in the world in their positions. Rodrigo, of course, but little else. Of course, in a very short time, De la Fuente has built a block that feels reliable, capable of shining in wins (1-7 against Georgia and 6-0 against Cyprus) and of winning with more skill than brilliance against Scotland and Norway.. Everything is needed in a big tournament like the one that is coming.

And until there. Of the rest of the teams that are fighting, and that will do so during this week, during the month of November and, those chosen, in the March playoff, there is no unapproachable selection. Not at all. Greece or Netherlands in the France group. Wales, Croatia or Türkiye are playing for two places. Austria and Sweden, another. Albania, Czech Republic, Moldova and Poland, two other places. Hungary, Serbia, Denmark, Slovenia… “When we arrive, we will see where we are, but because of what we are seeing, because of what this team currently offers us, because of the expectations it generates, I am tremendously optimistic. We will fight, as always, for to be at the top,” says the coach, who has two games left in November and two friendlies in March (one against Brazil at the Bernabéu) to reach that appointment with the team in tune.