Luis de la Fuente is not slowing down at 65. Two months after Spain won a second World Cup, the head coach has agreed a contract that keeps him in the job until 2032, a six-year runway few national-team managers ever get.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation board, led by president Rafael Louzán, ratified the extension on Monday at the federation’s Las Rozas training centre. He had been under contract only until Euro 2028; the new deal adds four more years and takes in the 2030 World Cup, which Spain will co-host with Portugal and Morocco, and Euro 2032.
De la Fuente told the room the job is not done.
“We are not satisfied with what we have achieved so far. The best is yet to come,” he said.
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He described the national team as “a family” and singled out reaching the 2030 World Cup and Euro 2032 as what excited him most about the deal.
Louzán: ‘He deserves a long future here’
Louzán framed the extension as a bet on continuity.
“This proposal is based on confidence in Luis de la Fuente and the sporting project he leads, for a multi-year cycle of competitions and major tournaments.”
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The fourteen years cover his time in the federation’s youth setup, where he took charge of the Under-19s in May 2013 before working his way through the Under-21 and Olympic sides. He was named senior head coach in December 2022 after Luis Enrique left in the wake of the last-16 defeat to Morocco at the Qatar World Cup.
38 unbeaten and three trophies
The numbers behind the extension are hard to argue with. Spain have played 49 matches under De la Fuente, winning 37, drawing 10 and losing only two, with 126 goals scored and 35 conceded. The 38-match unbeaten run they are on is the longest active streak among European and South American national sides.
His trophy cabinet is what put him beyond debate: the 2022-23 Nations League, Euro 2024 and, on 19 July 2026, the World Cup, sealed by a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina in the final.
The RFEF, which describes the six-year deal as an unprecedented step, will next put De la Fuente’s side back to work in the Nations League against England, Croatia and the Czech Republic over the coming weeks.
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