Guillem Balague on "Spain's biggest weapon" as World Cup campaign gets underway

The first phase of this World Cup will probably tell us very little about Spain's chances of winning it all. There will be rotation, experimentation and players still searching for their best physical condition.

And yet there is a striking calm around this Spain side.

A few years ago, losing players of the calibre of Lamine Yamal or Nico Williams would have generated anxiety. Today, neither are expected to start every game immediately as they continue to build fitness, but nobody is panicking. The team will find solutions.

For those of us who grew up following Spanish football before the golden era, it still feels unusual. My generation was conditioned by disappointments, we carried the feeling that if something could go wrong, eventually it would. Decades of near misses created a mentality of doubt, but this generation is different.

Many of these players have spent years winning. Not only with their clubs but also with Spain's youth teams. They arrive at the senior side expecting success rather than fearing failure. If they lose one game, they assume they will win the next one. That mentality changes everything.

A huge amount of credit belongs to Luis de la Fuente and to the work done by the Spanish federation over many years.

De la Fuente has helped create something that resembles a club more than a national team. International football is usually built around gathering the best players available and hoping they click. Spain works differently.

The first question is not just whether a player is talented enough, it is also whether he can contribute to the group.

De la Fuente values character, generosity, the ability to grow within a collective environment, and that winning mentality I was describing earlier. He wants players who help others, who accept their role and who strengthen the culture that already exists. In that sense, he does not always choose the most fashionable names, instead he chooses players he trusts.

Mikel Oyarzabal (eight goals scored in the last six games with Spain, only Erling Haaland at international level has contributed to more goals than him in the last 16 months) is perhaps the perfect example. De la Fuente has known him for a decade, since the youth national teams. He understands what he brings to a dressing room and why he matters beyond goals or assists. The relationship goes back to the Under-19 and Under-21 sides that won trophies under De la Fuente, creating the foundations of today's success.

The result is a squad full of leaders and, perhaps as important, believers.

Even when stars are unavailable, the alternatives inspire confidence. If Lamine or Nico don't start, Ferran Torres has produced goals and assists in abundance this season and Alex Baena remains one of the most gifted footballers in the squad. Others are ready to step forward because the system and the culture support them.

That is why Spain arrive at this tournament as one of the favourites.

Let me insist on one thing: this doesn't mean the side think they are unbeatable or that Spain will win the World Cup. What I am saying is that they genuinely believe they belong among the best. And in football, that conviction is often the difference between competing and winning.

We are the new Germany or the new Brazil where winning is (or used to be) everything. And if we don't win, we will recover and try again as hardly anybody is better than us

Oops. I am starting to talk like Lamine!