La Roja already have a young core of players who are likely to be mainstays of the team going forward, but who are the new faces who could join them?
For the third successive World Cup, Spain's tournament ended in a disappointingly early exit, with La Roja's last-16 penalty shootout loss to Morocco the latest in an increasingly long line of questionable performances on the biggest stage.
Not since they lifted the trophy for the first time in 2010 have Spain won a knockout match at the World Cup, and it remains to be seen if manager Luis Enrique chooses to stick around given this relative failure.
The good news for whomever coaches the team going forward is that Spain had one of the youngest squads in Qatar, one that was not too different from the group that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020 just 18 months ago.
And while the next job is perform well at the next European Championship in 2024, there will be some who are already looking towards the next World Cup in the summer of 2026.
But how will Spain line up in the United States, Canada and Mexico, presuming they qualify of course? GOAL has looked into our crystal ball to try and figure that out…
Getty ImagesGK: Unai Simon
Spain's No.1 at the last two major tournaments, Unai Simon seems to have established himself as La Roja's first-choice goalkeeper for the foreseeable future.
The Athletic Club shot-stopper will turn 29 during the opening week of the 2026 World Cup, and so should be entering his prime years at that point, meaning he is likely to retain the gloves for the next global tournament.
Meanwhile, his back-ups in Qatar, Robert Sanchez and David Raya, will be 28 and 30, respectively, when the next World Cup kicks-off and so could also be in contention again, while Kepa Arrizabalaga will hope that his current career resurgence is not a short-term thing and he can force himself back into the reckoning, with the Chelsea man set to be 31 in the summer of 2026.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesRB: Jose Angel Carmona
With Cesar Azpilicueta currently 33 and Dani Carvajal approaching his 31st birthday, it's clear that Spain's search for a long-term solution is right-back is on.
Carmona, who will turn 21 in January, projects as a genuine option having impressed upon breaking into the Sevilla first team over the course of the season.
He is not the only option, however. Sporting C.P. star Pedro Porro has already been capped at international level and will be 26 when the next World Cup rolls around, while Girona teenager Arnau Martinez has earned admiring glances from Barcelona after an eye-catching first half-season in La Liga.
Keep an eye out, too, for the development of 17-year-old Alejandro Jimenez, who has previously been linked with Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
Getty ImagesCB: Pau Torres
Torres was surprisingly left out of Luis Enrique's first-choice line up in Qatar, but at just 25, the Villarreal centre-back still has plenty of time to make an impact on the World Cup.
It would be a surprise if he is not playing his football for one of Europe's truly elite clubs by the time we get to 2026, which should put him in good stead to be a starter in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
There are younger alternatives who were also part of the 2022 Spain squad in the shape of Valencia's Hugo Guillamon (22) and Barcelona's Eric Garcia (21), but both have more to prove than Torres over the next three-and-a-half years to usurp as the 2026 starter.
Getty ImagesCB: Aymeric Laporte
Laporte's decision to represent Spain over France has certainly bore fruit in terms of the Manchester City man building an international career, even if the trophies are yet to appear.
He is likely to be the elder statesman of the defence in 2026 as he will turn 32 shortly before the next World Cup begins, but he profiles as the kind of calming presence La Roja will need at the tournament.
If you want to look out for a couple of relatively-unknown youngsters who could push Laporte, then Valencia's teenage duo of Cristhian Mosquera and Yacek Gasiorowski are both highly thought of, while there are high hopes at Barcelona for 18-year-old Arnau Casas.