The Spanish Football Federation has announced Luis de la Fuente as the new coach of the Spanish national team on Thursday, shortly after Luis Enrique was sacked following the team’s exit from the World Cup.
The former Barcelona manager, whose contract with Spain was set to end this month, took full responsibility for his team’s earlier-than-expected exit from the tournament.
The Spanish football federation then confirmed the elevation of their under-21s boss two days after the 2010 champions were eliminated at the last-16 stage in Qatar by Morocco.
Spain fell out of the 2022 World Cup after a shocking penalty shootout defeat on Tuesday to Morocco in the round of 16.
De la Fuente, 61, guided Spain’s under-19 side to a European Championship title in 2015 and led the under-21s to the same honour in 2019, while he was in charge of the team that won a silver medal at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
A statement from the Spanish FA reads: “The RFEF would like to thank Luis Enrique and his entire coaching staff at the helm of the absolute national team in recent years.
“The RFEF has chosen Luis de la Fuente as the new national coach. The sporting director, Jose Francisco Molina, has transferred a report to the president, Luis Rubiales, in which he recommends the coach to lead the new chapter that begins after the World Cup in Qatar.
Luis Enrique, 52, guided Spain to the semifinals of Euro 2020 and the final of the Nations League in 2021, and recently steered La Roja to the final four of the 2023 Nations League.
