Spain arrived in Germany with no huge stars or real expectations. Six weeks later, Luis de la Fuente’s team heads home with a European Championship title to celebrate and reason to believe in a bright future.

The youthful spark of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams combined perfectly with the veteran poise of Rodri and other mainstays who had yet to win a major trophy as Spain completed their superb Euro 2024 with a 2-1 win over England on Sunday.

The key was making Spain a more dynamic and versatile attacking team to end a decade of “tiki-taka” misfires.

Even though Williams later rolled out the platitudes of enjoying the moment and going forward step by step, the Athletic Bilbao winger couldn’t help but look forward to the 2026 World Cup.

“We hope we can shoot for the World Cup,” the 22-year-old said after scoring the opening goal of the final.

“I said before the tournament, nobody can hang with us. We are a great team.”

The euphoria was justified. Spain won all seven games — with none going to penalties — and scored a record 15 goals at a European Championship.

And, those victories came against the top traditional powers on the continent, as Spain downed Croatia and Italy in the group phase before eliminating Germany and France to reach the final.

“We made history,” Rodri said after the game. “We made history beating four world champions in a row, this is the most difficult tournament that our team has faced, without a doubt. We toppled them all.”

The title ends a 12-year wait since a group piloted by Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez dominated world football after sweeping up the 2008 and 2012 Euros and the 2010 World Cup.

“The previous generations showed us the way,” Rodri said. “This is something that is cultivated and nurtured and you work hard for. Today we are champions of Europe and we are not going to stop here.”

The only member of the team who knew what it was like to win a major title was the 38-year-old Jesus Navas, who played at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

While nowhere close to England’s anguishing title drought since the 1966 World Cup, Spain had entered a period of underachieving since their success at Euro 2012.

Their attempts to maintain the “tiki-taka” ball-possession playing style failed. In Germany, Spain deployed some new weapons that left defences scrambling to cover attacks from all angles.

The imprint of those great Spain teams was still there to be seen, of course. Rodri and fellow midfielder Fabian Ruiz could latch onto the ball when required. Yet the strength of Spain shifted to the wings.

Yamal put on a show each game from the right side. The Barcelona forward, who turned 17 a day before the final, scored an instant classic of a goal to help beat France 2-1 in the semi-finals, and he delivered his fourth assist of the tournament to set up Williams’ goal against England.

Williams romped on the other flank, doubling up with Marc Cucurella to make a duo that no defenders could handle.