Spain won the 2026 World Cup while conceding just one goal across the entire tournament, a first for any champion, with a squad that included (for the first time ever) zero Real Madrid players. So let's talk fútbol! Football. Soccer. In Spain, it's big. In this episode, Spain Explained talks about the machinery behind that win: the canteras, literally quarries, where clubs like Barcelona and Athletic train children from age seven, the web of more than 21,000 registered clubs and town-hall leagues that feeds them, and the fútbol sala courts credited with forging Spanish ball control.
Learn about the 100,000 dues-paying members that own Barcelona outright. Or why Athletic Club has fielded only Basque players for over a century without ever being relegated. And how a league with no playoff stays tense until the final matchday. Plus the rituals around the game: four daily print sports newspapers, radio marathons on air since 1954, and la quiniela at the tobacco shop.
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