Louzán: “There is confidence in the players, but prudence must guide us”

The president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Rafael Louzán, has assured that there is “confidence” in the players for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico and recognizes Spain’s role as one of the favorites, but has asked for “prudence” within the “hopes and excitement” they have for the World Cup event.

“It is said that Spain is the favorite and it seems that there is confidence in the players for that. But we are going to go game by game, because any excess of confidence is not the best. Prudence should lead us to see how the team’s evolution is going. Right now there is a sign of confidence, and that stability and that confidence are transmitted to the people who make up the RFEF,” he told the media from the Santiago-Rosalía de Castro airport, from where the Spanish expedition left this Friday for America.

On the other hand, he confessed that in the group there is “a lot of desire” for the competition to start. “As the coach said, the important thing is that the ball starts rolling as soon as possible and that we start competing now. These games are good, but what the players and the coach are wanting is for us to start now,” he said. “There is a lot of hope, a lot of hope. They are going to try not to disappoint that hope. We are going to that margin of confidence, they are very excited and eager to obtain victories for the Spanish team. We are going to go step by step,” he added.

Louzán also highlighted that it is “the first time” that the Spanish team is heading to a World Cup from Galicia, a place with “a lot of connection with America”, where “thousands of Galicians emigrated.” “I hope we have the opportunity to bring a world champion title,” he hoped.

Regarding the players affected, he explained that they will be “available” in the tournament, although he does not know “if in the first game.” “We still have some time to recover and we will see next Monday in Puebla how that friendly match goes. We hope that in Chattanooga, where the base camp of the Spanish team is, everything goes normally,” he explained.

“I hope that we will make a true family between the team itself, the players, the staff, the entire team of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the colleagues from the media and the families of the players, who will be with us during each and every one of the matches and trips both in the United States and in Mexico,” he continued.

The Galician president also spoke about the climate that the players will find when they land. “There is a lot of rain, as expected. We are going towards an area with a lot of rain at this time, with pleasant temperatures. Spain is a plural country, with many climatic differences, and we are sure to adapt very well. It is a circumstance that, in principle, should not worry,” he concluded.

In a few hours, the Spanish expedition will land in the United States to settle at its base camp in Chattanooga, in the state of Tennessee. There, at the Baylor School facilities, he will carry out a double training session on Saturday and another on Sunday morning, before heading to Mexico for the last friendly.

On Sunday afternoon, Luis de la Fuente’s team will fly to Puebla, where in the early hours of Monday to Tuesday (4:00 am Spanish peninsular time) they will play their second and last friendly against Peru at the Cuauhtémoc Stadium. After the match, he will return to Chattanooga and continue preparing for his World Cup debut, on Monday the 15th against Cape Verde at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.