Four Amazing Years
La Liga has always been considered one of the best soccer tournaments in the world. However, Spain’s national team never reached the World Cup final between 1934 and 2006. Fortunately for them, that changed in the 2010 edition, in which they established themselves as one of the best teams in history. Besides winning the World Cup, which is what concerns us in this article, they also won the EURO championship in 2008 and 2012.
From the team that made it to the promised land through South Africa, only Sergio Busquets and Sergio Ramos have chances to be in Qatar 2022. La Roja is now led by several players who are under 20 years old, including Pedri, Spain’s top player. Even so, they’re among the favorites to dethrone France.
Let’s check out the latest World Cup odds & lines. We’ve got plenty of strategies for you to consider before selecting your picks from our odds to win the World Cup list.
On the Wrong Foot
After winning the 2008 EURO, Spain was the betting online favorite to win the 2010 WC, but they started the tournament on the wrong foot. Thanks to Gelson Fernandes, who scored at the beginning of the second half, Switzerland pulled off the stunner by defeating La Roja 1-0. Curiously enough, the Swiss didn’t make it to the Round of 16.
Five days later, Spain suffered a bit more than expected but still defeated Honduras 2-0. David Villa was named Man of the Match after scoring both goals. Finally, with Group H first place on the line, they faced Chile. La Roja scored two goals in the first half, which ended up being enough to defeat Chile 2-1. Villa and Andres Iniesta were the scorers. Make sure to remember those names.
The suffering wouldn’t go away because La Roja won all knockout stage games by 1-0 scores. First, they eliminated Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal. Later, they defeated Roque Santa Cruz and Paraguay. In the semifinals, they beat Thomas Muller and Germany. Keep in mind that Muller ended up winning the Golden Boot.
Villa scored against Portugal and Paraguay while Carles Puyol saved the day against Germany. Villa finished the tourney with five goals.
Championship Game
The gods of sport wanted Spain to face Netherlands in the championship game. If you’re a soccer betting enthusiast, you’ll know that Netherlands is the best team that has never won the title. If you aren’t, now you know.
It was a close match, so much so that neither could score in regular time. That’s right, we had 30 more minutes of action, in which La Roja rewrote history thanks to Iniesta. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas also deserves a lot of credit since he won a one-on-one against Arjen Robben that could have changed everything.
Back to Iniesta, who scored the winning goal in the 116th minute. After a cross from Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas took the ball and assisted Iniesta in great fashion. Iniesta controlled the ball inside the box and made a cross-shot. Goalkeeper Martin Stekelenburg never stood a chance.
That’s how Spain became the eighth team overall and fifth from Europe to win the World Cup.
Spain in Qatar 2022
As mentioned before, pretty much all players from that team are gone, but that doesn’t change the fact that Spain is a great team. La Roja is in Group E with Germany, Japan, and Costa Rica. Tough, but they shouldn’t have too much trouble advancing, especially because they’re in control of the Las Vegas odds to win the group at -120. As expected, they’re followed by Germany at +110, Japan at +1400 and Costa Rica at +5000.
Their first game will be against Los Ticos, meaning they could send a strong message by crushing them. Don’t get me wrong, Costa Rica is a good defensive team, but Spain has the talent to spare.
Individually, Pedri and Alvaro Morata are among the candidates to win the Golden Boot. Both are offering a +5000 price.
