Sports
Education, Barcelona & Basque culture – why Spain are dominating football
If Barcelona and Catalonia represents the artistry of Spanish football, the Basque Country represents its character.
Five players in the 2026 World Cup squad were from the region and came through at either Athletic Bilbao or Real Sociedad – clubs where eight players were playing at the time Spain won Euro 2024.
Then there is Mikel Merino, who scored a quarter-final winner against Germany at Euro 2024, before going on to score six goals in six games in World Cup qualifying, and late winners against Portugal and Belgium over the summer.
Although not Basque, Merino is from Pamplona in the autonomous community of Navarre – a region that has a significant influence of both Spanish and Basque culture.
Just five kilometres away from Pamplona is Zizur Mayor – the town 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 culture of working hard, of not giving up or being resilient, not very flashy.
“Normally, people want to display this culture of fight, being tough – like English football – more duels, more physical, less technical.
“But also in terms of tactical approach, more compact, great knowledge of knowing where to go, and with the ball keep it simple and try to go forward as quick as possible.”
The five Basque players from the 2026 squad have formed an important part of Spain’s recent success and are an embodiment of what Cruyff thought of players from that region.
Cruyff once said: “The first thing I did as a coach, was to sign four players from the Basque region. They are not afraid of anything.”
For current Spain boss De la Fuente in 2026, Unai Simon played in goal, with former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte a key cornerstone of a defence that conceded just one goal in eight matches all 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, while Mikel Oyarzabal has scored 18 goals in his past 20 Spain appearances.
This influence stretches beyond the pitch 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.
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The Republic of Ireland have delayed the pre-match news conference planned for Sunday’s Uefa Nations League game against Israel in Hungary – a fixture campaigners have called on them to boycott.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s team are scheduled to meet in Debrecen at 19:45 BST, with the return fixture in Backa Topola, Serbia on 4 October.
They have faced calls to withdraw from the games because of the ongoing Israel-Gaza war with a “Stop The Game” campaign – organised by the pressure group Irish Sport for Palestine – gathering pace.
Former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr and ex-international James McClean are among those to have backed calls for a boycott.
However, there are also Irish supporters, perhaps less vocal, who have always believed that the match should be played with supporters in attendance.
Hallgrimsson and a player were scheduled to meet the media at 09:15 BST (10.15 local time), before training, but the conference was delayed shortly beforehand.
A Uefa official entered the room to inform waiting media teams that the press conference was postponed until after training, which would have been about 11:30 BST (12.30 local time).
But shortly afterwards, the Uefa official returned to the media room to announce that the Republic of Ireland’s training session had also been postponed, with no time given for when it might take place. There is also no confirmed time for the news conference.
The fixture has been embroiled in controversy since the two teams were drawn to play each other in Group B3.
A team meeting took place on Friday for players to air their views on Sunday’s game and the return fixture in Serbia.
The players were expected to release a statement at Saturday’s news conference, but the delay has added further uncertainty, with some reports of at least one player wishing to withdraw from the squad.
It has since emerged the news conference, scheduled to take place at the stadium, is now set to be staged at the team hotel, with Uefa unable to provide information regarding the delay.
The armed Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
In response, Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza, during which more than 73,000 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations UN.
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