This article originally appeared in The Field’s newsletter, Game Points, on July 17, 2024. Sign up here to get the newsletter directly delivered to your inbox every week.

Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas, Xavi, Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas – members of Spain’s Golden Generation. They were the standouts in the Spanish men’s national team that dominated the game from 2008 to 2012.

La Roja or the red, as the team were called, won Spain’s first Fifa Men’s World Cup title in 2010 and became European champions in 2008 and 2012, adding to their continental win from 1964. But what set this squad apart was their unique style of “tiki-taka” football.

It was a brand of play characterised by passing, possession and more passing. But it wasn’t just that. It was the tenacity that saw Spain refusing to allow the oppositions to get even a touch on the ball and frustrating them with the incessant passing, never useless, always with a destination in mind. Winning was the only aim.

It helped that the core of the title-winning squads came from two of Spain’s biggest clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

After that glorious four-year period more than a decade ago, however, Spanish teams were unable to find the same success.

Just when it seemed that Spain had long been overtaken, on July 14, La Nueva Roja (the new red) won the country a record fourth European Championship, beating England in the final to cap off a campaign that saw them win every single match they played.

This was a squad that looked and played entirely different to the one from just over a decade ago. Spain was not considered a favourite at Euro 2024. But under the direction of manager Luis de la Fuente, La Roja turned up in Germany and blew everyone away. The football was not as mesmerising as the game of the Class of 2008. But what remained was the sheer dominance they exerted over their opponents.

Led by Alvaro Morata, Spain moved through the tournament without much fuss – a capable unit that didn’t boast of any big star players. Unlike the golden generation, De la Fuente had selected a Spanish team that came from a number of clubs rather than just the heavyweights from Madrid and Barcelona. Only one player each from the two clubs started in the final.

For instance, Nico Williams Jr, the 22-year-old winger who scored the opening goal in the final, plies his trade for Athletic Bilbao.

The Spanish coach himself has led the country to the men’s Under-19 Euro title in 2015 and Under-21 trophy in 2019, along with an Olympic silver medal for the men’s team in Tokyo 2020.

The 2024 triumph is just yet another trophy in the cabinet that has seen Spanish men’s teams – clubs and country – win in the last 27 finals in which they’ve appeared.

The average age of the Spanish squad indicates that De la Fuente could very well build a second golden generation of men’s footballers for the country. The teams from 2008 to 2012 will live on fondly in memory.

But the Class of 2024 is promising another great era.