Education, Barcelona & Basque culture - why Spain are dominating football

If Barcelona and Catalonia embody the artistry of Spanish football, the Basque Country supplies its character. Five players who made the 2026 World Cup squad originated from that region, having come through either Athletic Bilbao or Real Sociedad—clubs that fielded eight players when Spain won Euro 2024. Mikel Merino, although not Basque, hails from Pamplona in the autonomous community of Navarre, an area where Spanish and Basque traditions intersect. Just five kilometres from Pamplona lies Zizur Mayor, the municipality where former Chelsea captain and Spain international Cesar Azpilicueta grew up. When asked to describe Basque culture, Azpilicueta told BBC Radio 5 Live: "The discipline, the civilization of moving hard, of not giving up oregon being resilient, not precise flashy." "Normally, radical privation to show this civilization of fight, being pugnacious - similar English shot - much duels, much physical, little technical." "But besides successful presumption of tactical approach, much compact, large cognition of knowing wherever to go, and with the shot support it elemental and effort to spell guardant arsenic speedy arsenic possible." The five Basque players from the 2026 squad have formed an important part of Spain's recent success and embody what Johan Cruyff thought of players from that region. Cruyff once said: "The archetypal happening I did as a coach, was to motion 4 players from the Basque region. They are not acrophobic of anything." For the current Spain side under De la Fuente in 2026, Unai Simon played in goal, with former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte serving as a cornerstone of a defence that conceded just one goal in eight matches per tournament. Nico Williams assisted the winning goal for Ferran Torres in the final against Argentina, Martin Zubimendi made a positive impact from the bench in both the Euro 2024 and World Cup finals, and Mikel Oyarzabal has scored 18 goals in his past 20 Spain appearances. This influence extends beyond the players, as Basque coaches are in charge at four of England's biggest clubs: Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, Unai Emery at Aston Villa, Xabi Alonso at Chelsea, and Andoni Iraola at Liverpool.