Spain

Spain come into this World Cup as many people's favourites and it's not hard to see why. Not only did they glide their way through the 2024 European Championships on their way to a win, they boast one of the most functional, cohesive squads in the international game. Of course, their Euros win was bolstered by a breakout international tournament for Lamine Yamal who is currently recovering from a hamstring injury picked up towards the end of the domestic season. Despite this, though, they are a team who can meld together the slow football of possession control with the fast football of direct attacking. This tactical flexibility makes them a dangerous prospect regardless of whether Yamal is available or not.

There are some curious factors around the Spain selection. Despite David Raya's impressive season with Arsenal, Unai Simón will likely start because he is a favourite of Luis de la Fuente, the Spain coach. On top of this, Nico Williams, another starter at the Euros, has struggled with injury for much of the season, so expect to see Ferran Torres or Dani Olmo in his place if he has to miss any time. The rest of the selection is relatively uncontroversial (it's really hard to go wrong here). For Spain, this is very much a case of get through the group stages, then manage Yamal through the knockouts. Fortunately, they have a squad and a half capable of doing so.