Spain’s men will be looking to build on their outstanding recent run at the EuroHockey Championship next week which saw them finish fourth at the Olympic Games and then back that up with a third place at the FIH Pro League.

It was a run which saw them win away in India and Australia with further wins over every opponent except the Dutch, showing how competitive they will be.

That concluded with a dramatic 2-0 win over Germany which earned them a 2026 World Cup ticket and raises their expectations of finishing far above their sixth place Euro finish in 2023.

To that end, they have five players in line to make their EuroHockey Championship debuts: goalkeeper Rafa Revila, Pol Cabré-Verdiell, Nicolas Alvarez, Bruno Font and Marc Vizcaino.

Alvarez has been a revelation in the past year, scoring 11 times in 19 international matches, giving them extra fire power to go with experienced forwards Alvaro Iglesias (with 94 international goals), Jose Basterra and captain and corner threat Marc Miralles.

In general, it is a side which has spent quite a bit of time together, drawing a large influence from the 2019 Under-21 Euros of which seven players are now lining out together on the senior stage.

They will be looking to land a first medal since their 2019 silver medal; previously, they won gold in 1974 and 2005, silver in 2007 and bronze in 1970.

Spain men: Luis Calzado (GK, Real Club de Polo), Alenjandro Alonso (RS Tenis), Marc Vizcaino (HC Den Bosch), Alvaro Iglesias (Club de Campo de Madrid), Rafa Revila (GK, Club de Campo de Madrid), Pepe Cunill (Atlètic Terrassa), Bruno Font (Junior FC), Borja Lacalle (Oranje Rood), Marc Recasens (HC Rotterdam), Jose Basterra (Royal Léopold), Gerard Clapes (Oranje Rood), Joaquin Menini (HC Rotterdam), Nicolas Alvarez (RS Tenis), Marc Miralles (HC Bloemendaal), Marc Reyné (Braxgata), Xavi Gispert (Canberra Chill), Pol Cabré-Verdiell (Atlètic Terrassa), Jordi Bonastre (Atlètic Terrassa)