Spain at the 2010 World Cup

Will Spain be able to carry on from where they left at Euro 2008 and lift football’s most prestigious title in South Africa this July? La Furia Roja certainly have the talent to do it, and should they be able to, they will become the first nation since France in 2000 to hold both European and World titles together.

Spain’s group at the World Cup looks straight forward- Honduras and Switzerland, with all due respect to them, should not pose major problems for Vicente del Bosque’s side. Chile could be a tricky proposition given how they played in South American qualifying, but one has to back Spain to top the group with ease.

The first major test for Spain comes at the Round of 16 stage- where they could either meet Iberian neighbours Portugal or even worse, five time champions Brazil. It is at this stage that they stumbled four years ago against France.

Should they progress to the last eight, they’ll probably meet Italy (going by form and rankings here for the results of the other fixtures), with a potential semifinal against either Argentina or Germany in Durban.

The main problem for coach Del Bosque are the injuries being carried by the likes of Iniesta, Xavi and Fernando Torres. Should Spain have a fully fit starting XI, few will bet against them going all the way this summer.