After a disappointing campaign in Russia four years ago, Spain are back on the World Cup stage and commence their efforts to lift the famous trophy for a second time when they face Costa Rica at the Al Thumama Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Football's greatest tournament has not witnessed a Spanish victory in the knockout stages since that final success against the Netherlands 12 years ago, with Luis Enrique's young crop of talent now tasked with writing their own history after lacklustre showings in the previous two World Cups.
La Roja find themselves in Group E with another European powerhouse in Hansi Flick's Germany, but face off against the lowest-ranked side in the section in their first match, with Costa Rica looking to replicate their remarkable showing at the 2014 World Cup in which they topped a group which included England, Italy and Uruguay.
Here, Sports Mole looks at some reasons why Spain should be confident of kicking off their tournament with maximum points.
Unbeaten against Los Ticos
Like many of the sides facing off in the group stage of this World Cup, meetings between Spain and Costa Rica have been rare over the years, with the Spaniards being unbeaten in all three of their previous matches ahead of this clash in Qatar.
All three of the sides' previous matchups have occurred as friendly matches played in the last decade, with most recently a brace from David Silva helping Spain to an emphatic 5-0 win over Costa Rica in November 2017.
The two other clashes between the sides were a lot more evenly-contested - ex-Manchester City man Silva was on the scoresheet in 2011 along with David Villa but Costa Rica were able to hold the then World Cup champions to a 2-2 draw at Estadio Nacional, and in 2015 Spain only narrowly beat their North American counterparts courtesy of a first-half winner from Cesc Fabregas.
History suggests that Spain should be on for at least a point in their opener but as Argentina brutally found out on Tuesday against Saudi Arabia, unbeaten records count for very little if you do not show up in the big moments.
Underrated consistency
Spain are clearly not the same team that collected three major trophies over a special four-year period between 2008 and 2012, but the success of that legendary team of the past should not be used to belittle the current squad who have the ability to compete with any team in this year's tournament.
As a neatly-presented Excel spreadsheet from head coach Enrique displayed in September, Spain are the only European team to reach the final four of the last two editions of the UEFA Nations League and last summer's Euro 2020, with the 52-year-old's statistical approach of responding to criticism portraying his side's consistency in progressing to the latter stages of competitions over the past two years.
It is a lazy conclusion to dismiss Spain's chances in this World Cup simply because the current team does not compare to the side that won in South Africa 12 years ago, with Enrique's men having shown the ability to earn results against the top nations ahead of this year's tournament.
Low-scoring opponents
Costa Rica will always have a special place in the hearts of football fans after a remarkable run to the quarter-finals in 2014 and for that reason are often touted as a dangerous underdog to face for the bigger sides in the World Cup.
However, Los Ticos are winless in their last six World Cup matches and have failed to score in four of those games, a record that may be difficult to improve against a Spain side who will look to dominate possession and are likely to limit their opponents to very few chances on Wednesday.
That being said, Costa Rica do seem to have a notable aerial threat on the World Cup stage, with 37% of their goals at the tournament being scored via headed efforts, meaning Ivory Coast are the only nation that have played more than 10 games in the competition to have netted a greater percentage in such a manner in the competition's history.
Read more on Spain vs Costa Rica
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- How Spain could line up against Costa Rica
- How Costa Rica could line up against Spain
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