Spain’s journey in the brand‑new Challenger Division of the Nations Cup was anything but straightforward, yet it ended with a well‑deserved and hard‑fought title.

This division, introduced as a major innovation in the tournament format, offers a secondary trophy without medals and without counting individual stats toward the season awards. However, it comes with a huge incentive: the winner earns a place in the end‑of‑year Champions Tournament, reserved only for teams that reached at least a semifinal during the natural year. Spain grabbed that golden ticket.

Their start was chaotic. Half the squad was missing 10 minutes before their first match, and their centre‑back never showed up. The team is still jokingly wondering whether he’s alive (we hope he is). To make matters worse, one player suffered a terrible knee injury early on due to the rain. But despite the setbacks, Spain regrouped. With a mix of fresh faces and a couple of Nations Cup veterans, they slowly found their rhythm.

It took them two and a half matches to truly click, but once they did, they became unstoppable. They closed the final phase with three straight wins: against Uruguay, against South Africa in a dramatic penalty shootout, and finally against Mexico.

The curse of Lander, with many tournaments played and no wins, was finally broken. He delivered a brilliant final, scoring the calming 2–0 in what was Spain’s best performance of the entire tournament.