Luis Enrique quits after Spain’s World Cup exit

• Luis Enrique resigns as head coach of the Spanish national team.
• The 52-year-old has been in charge since 2018 and led them to the semifinals.
• Spain lost to Morocco on penalties after a 1-1 draw in their last-16 World Cup tie.

After Spain was eliminated by Morocco from the FIFA World Cup 2022 on Thursday, Luis Enrique resigned from his position as the national team’s head coach.

Since 2018, the 52-year-old has been in command of the team and has led Spain to the semifinals of Euro 2020.

In a press release, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) thanked Enrique for his work and expressed its willingness to launch a new initiative for the national team.

The RFEF issued a statement expressing gratitude to Luis Enrique and his entire coaching staff for leading the absolute national team in recent years.

“A report from the RFEF’s sports management has been forwarded to the president, in which it is determined that a new project should begin for the Spanish team in order to maintain the growth seen in recent years as a result of the efforts of Luis Enrique and his team.

“The decision has been communicated to the coach by both the president, Luis Rubiales, and the sports director, Jose Francisco Molina,” it continued.

Spain lost to Morocco on penalties on Tuesday, ending their championship run in Qatar’s last-16 round. Prior to that, they defeated Costa Rica 7-0 in their opening World Cup group match but were criticised for playing a “boring” possession-based style after drawing 1-1 with Germany and losing 2-1 to Japan.

Luis de la Fuente, the head coach of Spain’s under-21 team, has been suggested for the position of new national head coach, but the board must first ratify the appointment. The board will meet on Monday.

Since 2013, De la Fuente has served as a member of the Spanish coaching staff and has coached their minor squads. At the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, he guided Spain to a silver medal.

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