Flanked by president Florentino Perez at the Santiago Bernabeu, the 51-year-old was unveiled as the new Blancos boss and gave his version of eventsThe whole situation is still surreal. Julen Lopetegui was expected to be speaking to the press on Thursday ahead of Spain's World Cup opener against Portugal in Sochi. Instead, however, he was presented to the media as the new Real Madrid coach. Lo...Full Story »

Captain Sergio Ramos hopes Spain can quickly overcome coach Julen Lopetegui’s shock sacking to make a winning start to the World Cup.The Spanish camp was rocked on Wednesday, just two days before their tournament opener against Portugal in Sochi, as Lopetegui was dismissed in response to his surprise appointment by Real Madrid.Real had announced the previous day Lopetegui would take over a...Full Story »

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz is refusing to be distracted by Spain’s coaching calamities as his team prepare to kick off their 2018 World Cup campaign against Morocco in Saint Petersburg.Spain and Queiroz’s native Portugal make up the rest of Group B but the 65-year-old insisted it would be “disrespectful” to bring up the sudden departure of Julen Lopetegui to Real Madrid.Ir...Full Story »

Cesc Fabregas and his wife are enjoying a summer holiday CESC FABREGAS is getting over his 2018 World Cup Spain snub by holiday with beautiful wife Daniella Semaan. The Chelsea midfielder - who has signed up to be a BBC pundit - is enjoying some down time before the tournament while his national side slips into disarray. Fabregas, 31, and Semaan tied the knot last month and the newlyweds are ...Full Story »

Fernando Hierro has taken over from Julen Lopetegui as Spain coach.Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images The most dramatic and potentially destructive 24 hours in Spanish football history has left the national team reeling ahead of their World Cup opener against Portugal on Friday. Real Madrid confirmed on Tuesday that Julen Lopetegui would join them after guiding Spain at the World Cup in Ru...Full Story »

Iago Aspas' winning goal against Tunisia on Saturday set Spain on their way to the World Cup with the team being the only group to remain undefeated since the end of the European Championship in 2016. Julen Lopetegui has been in charge for 20 successive matches following the disappointment of Euro 2016, and he's guided La Roja through a transitional period. The former Porto coach has achieve...Full Story »

SPAIN and Argentina may speak the same language – but it seems the two football teams have more in common than we thought. The two nations boarded their flights for Russia and posed for eerily similar selfies as they jetted to the World Cup. Argentina were first to pose for their squad photo ahead of their flight to Russia Chelsea and Spain defender Cesar Azpilicueta uploaded this snap ...Full Story »

England’s opening World Cup opponents Tunisia pushed Spain all the way in a warm-up friendly before losing to a late Iago Aspas goal in Krasnador.The Three Lions will be favourites to win their first Group G game in Russia but Tunisia showed they will be no pushover when the pair meet in Volvograd on June 18.Nabil Maaloul’s side looked set to prepare for the tournament with an impres...Full Story »

Spain head coach Julen Lopetegui believes Dani Carvajal will play a part in the World Cup - but the Real Madrid right-back may miss the opening two matches in Group B. Carvajal suffered a hamstring strain during Madrid's 3-1 Champions League final win over Liverpool at the end of last month but joined up with Lopetegui's World Cup squad to continue his rehabilitation. Featuring in Spain's mu...Full Story »

DIEGO COSTA helped the Spain squad crack a smile for their pre-World Cup squad photo. The former Chelsea striker joked around with his Roja team-mates as they beamed for a tournament snap. Diego Costa and Lucas Vazquez share a laugh as they get set for the Spain World Cup squad photo in Madrid Costa, David De Gea and Rodrigo share a quick word Costa goofed around with the likes of Lucas Vazq...Full Story »

SERGIO RAMOS may want to stick to playing football after previewing his own World Cup song. The Spanish captain has taken on extra responsibility ahead of this summer's tournament in Russia. Sergio Ramos is giving it his all in Spain's new World Cup song Ramos uploaded a video to his Instagram page showing a sneak preview of the anthem alongside Spanish singer Demarco Flamenco. In a cringe-w...Full Story »

Alvaro Morata has missed out on a place in Spain's World Cup squad Alvaro Morata has missed out on a place in Spain's squad for the World Cup in Russia, with Cesc Fabregas, Marcos Alonso, Ander Herrera and Hector Bellerin also omitted by Julen Lopetegui. Lopetegui named his 23-man squad for the tournament on Monday, with four Premier League players included - David de Gea, Cesar Azpilicueta, N...Full Story »

Four years ago, UBS predicted Brazil as the winners of the 2014 World Cup and their latest simulations have the South Americans back behind Germany, with Spain the third most likely team to emerge victorious this time around. Taking into account their own 'Elo' rating, which ranks teams on their objective strength, the study ran 10,000 simulations that consider each side's results in recent y...Full Story »