Luis Enrique has stepped down as Spain manager following their shock early exit at the 2022 World Cup.
Enrique claimed his side had practised 1,000 penalties before the tournament, but they failed to convert a single one as they missed out on the quarter-finals in Qatar.
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Spain also lost to Japan as they finished second in Group E – and were briefly staring at an even earlier exit when Costa Rica took a shock lead in their final group game before Germany hit back.
The Spanish football federation, the RFEF, said that a “new project” would begin soon.
“The RFEF would like to thank Luis Enrique and his entire coaching staff at the helm of the national team in recent years,” read a statement.
The Spanish produced the biggest statement in the opening round of fixtures with a 7-0 win over Costa Rica, following it up with a 1-1 draw with Germany that put them on course to top the group.
But the surprise 2-1 defeat to Japan pushed them into a knockout tie with Morocco, who had conceded just one goal – a freak own goal – in their opening three fixtures.
Morocco frustrated their more fancied opponents to force a shootout, with Achraf Hakimi clipping a gutsy penalty down the middle to win the match for the north Africans and send Spain home.
Enrique took over as Spain boss in July 2018 after the World Cup in Russia, left the following June amid “personal issues”, then returned in November 2019. He guided them to the semi-finals at Euro 2020, also losing on penalties to eventual champions Italy.
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