Defeated Despite 1000 Penalty Kick Practices... Spain Coach Dismissed

Spain, 4th Penalty Shootout Loss Only in World Cup
Bitter Defeat Against Korea in 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup Quarterfinals

Luis Enrique, Head Coach of the Spain National Football Team

Spain's Luis Enrique (52, Spain), who was eliminated in the round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup, has been dismissed as head coach.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation announced on the 8th (local time) that "Luis de la Fuente (61, Spain), the head coach of the under-21 national team, has been appointed as the successor head coach of the senior national team."

De la Fuente will take charge of the Spanish senior national team once approved by the Spanish Football Federation's board next week.

The Spanish Football Federation expressed gratitude for Enrique's efforts with the national team.

Enrique, who took over as head coach of the Spanish national team in July 2018, had a contract running through this year.

◆The team with the most penalty shootout experiences (5 times) in the World Cup... and also the most losses (4 times)

Spain crushed Costa Rica 7-0 in the first group stage match of the Qatar World Cup but then drew 1-1 with Germany and lost 1-2 to Japan.

In the round of 16 against Morocco, the match ended 0-0, but Spain was eliminated after losing 0-3 in the penalty shootout.

This resulted in Spain becoming the first team in World Cup history to lose four times solely in penalty shootouts, a dishonor.

Enrique revealed, "We practiced penalty shootouts 1,000 times," but failed to score a single goal in the shootout on the World Cup stage.

Spain has experienced the most penalty shootouts (5 times) in World Cup history and has suffered the most losses (4 times) in shootouts.

The only victory was in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup round of 16, where Spain drew 1-1 with Ireland and won 3-2 in the penalty shootout.

In that tournament, Spain also faced a penalty shootout against South Korea in the quarterfinals but ultimately tasted defeat.

Meanwhile, Enrique posted a message on his social media expressing gratitude to the Spanish Football Federation, fans, and players, and asked for much support for the new head coach.

The appointed successor, De la Fuente, led the under-21 team to victory in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and coached the under-23 team to a silver medal at last year's Tokyo Olympics.