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Spain's 2010 World Cup squad - Who were Furia Roja heroes and where are they now?

Spain were one of the favourites to lift the World Cup in 2010 heading into the tournament.

They had convincingly won Euro 2008 and more or less the same squad was named by manager Vicente del Bosque for the South Africa finals.

However, in the very first match, they suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Switzerland, with Gelson Fernandes scoring early in the second half to upset the European champions.

In the second match, they steadied the ship with a 2-0 victory over Honduras, courtesy of a brace from David Villa, while they beat Chile 2-1 in the final group-stage game to finish as table-toppers.

In the quarterfinals, Spain clashed with Paraguay and it was Villa once again who came to the rescue as he scored the winner in the 82nd minute.

In the last four, Spain defeated Germany 1-0 with Carles Puyol scoring from a corner to set up a summit clash with Netherlands.

In the final, John Heitinga received his second yellow in extra time which left Netherlands with 10 men on the pitch.

Spain started attacking with more teeth and finally, in the 116th minute, Andres Iniesta latched on to a ball from Cesc Fabregas and found the far corner to score the winner and give Spain their first and only World Cup trophy to date.

Who were part of the squad that made history, though, and what's happened to them since?

  • Iker Casillas Spain England FriendlyGetty

    Iker Casillas - Goalkeeper

    Casillas has made 167 appearances for Spain, the second-most for the national team.

    He kept five clean sheets at the 2010 World Cup and won the Yashin Award for best goalkeeper.

    The Real Madrid legend retired from professional football in August 2020 and returned to his boyhood club as a deputy to the general director of the Real Madrid Foundation.

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  • Arjen Robben Sergio Ramos Spain Netherlands World Cup 12062014Getty Images

    Sergio Ramos - Right-back

    Ramos is the most-capped (180) player in the history of the Spanish national team.

    He was playing as a right back-back back in 2010 and kept a close eye on Dirk Kuyt in the final.  

    The defender ishis country's eighth-highest all-time goalscorer and also holds the record for most international victories for Spain with 131 matches won.

    After ending his association with Real Madrid, Ramos moved to PSG in 2021.

  • Carles Puyol Spain Germany WC 2010Getty Images

    Carles Puyol - Centre-back

    The legendary centre-back has made 100 appearances for Spain and will always be remembered as one of the greatest ever.

    He scored the winner against Germany in the semi-finals and put in another impressive shift in the final.

    Puyol is currently Barcelona's Assistant Sporting Director.

  • Gerard Pique SpainGetty

    Gerard Pique - Centre-back

    Pique made his international debut on February 11, 2009 and has made 102 appearances since then for Spain.

    He was a key member of the World Cup winning squad and retired from the national team after the 2018 edition.

    He recently announced his decision to hang up his boots altogether, having represented Barcelona for almost his entire career.

  • Joan Capdevila

    Joan Capdevila - Left-back

    Capdevila made his debut for Spain in 2002 in a friendly against Paraguay.

    He won 60 caps for Spain and played every minute at the 2010 World Cup.

    He retired from football in 2017 and is currently working as a football expert.

  • Sergio Busquets

    Sergio Busquets - Central defensive midfielder

    Busquets was picked in the team by Del Bosque as a replacement of Marcos Senna.

    He played every minute in the 2010 campaign, barring the last 30 minutes against Switzerland in the group stage.

    The midfielder had the third–highest pass success rate, alongside his teammate Puyol, completing 88% of his passes.

    He is still playing for Barcelona.

  • Xabi Alonso Spain 12072010Getty Images

    Xabi Alonso - Central defensive midfielder

    Alonso was one of the best midfielders of his generation, excelling for clubs such as Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

    He made 114 appearances for Spain and scored 16 goals.

    The midfield general is currently the manager of Bayer Leverkusen, taking charge of the Bundesliga outfit months into the 2022-23 campaign.

  • Xavi

    Xavi - Central midfielder

    Xavi was the midfield linchpin of the squad, who effectively controlled the game with his wide range of passing skills.

    He had 599 accurate passes with an efficiency of 91 per cent at the 2010 tournament.

    In the final he made 57 forward passes and covered more than 15 kilometres.

    He is currently in charge of Barcelona, having replaced fellow club legend Ronald Koeman at the helm.

  • Iniesta World Cup Final

    Andres Iniesta - Right midfield

    A La Masia product, Iniesta made his international debut on May 27, 2006 in a friendly against Russia.

    He had an incredible impact at the 2010 World Cup as he scored the winning goal in the final in the 116th minute, celebrating by removing his jersey to reveal a message for his late friend Dani Jarque.

    He was also the man of the match in the final.

    He is currently plying his trade with Vissel Kobe in Japan.

  • Pedro

    Pedro - Left midfield

    Pedro was given a surprise start ahead of Fernando Torres in the semi-finals and he kept his place in the final as well.

    He played 65 matches for Spain and retired from international football in 2017.

    The versatile attacker currently plays for Lazio in Serie A.

  • David Villa Spain Paraguay WC 2010Getty Images

    David Villa - Forward

    Villa is Spain's top-scorer in World Cups with nine goals to his name.

    Five of them came at the 2010 World Cup and he was awarded for the silver shoe for his efforts.

    Although he played a crucial role in the road to the final, the striker was unable to really trouble Marten Stekelenburg in the showpiece and he was eventually replaced by Fernando Torres.

    Villa is the owner of the DV7 group which manages multiple football academies across the world in countries like United States, Spain, and Japan.

  • Pedro 2010 World Cup SPain

    Jesus Navas - Sub

    Navas made three appearances at the World Cup and played for around 60 minutes in total, including extra time in the final.

    He is currently playing for Sevilla in La Liga.

  • Cesc Fabregas Spain 2010getty Images

    Cesc Fabregas - Sub

    Fabregas provided the assist for the World Cup winning goal.

    He did not start in any of the matches, though, coming on as substitute on four occasions.

    He is currently contracted to Como.

  • Fernando Torres Spain World Cup

    Fernando Torres - Sub

    Torres had a somewhat disappointing World Cup outing in 2010 as he did not score a single goal, nor did he provide an assist in the entire campaign.

    He came on for the last 14 minutes in the final.

    In his international career, he played 110 matches and has scored 38 goals.

    Having retired in 2019, he is currently the assistant manager of Atletico Madrid's Under-19 side.