Spain are world champions. Ferran Torres struck deep in extra time to see off Argentina 1-0 in Sunday's final, sealing an unbeaten tournament and a second title for La Roja.

The confetti has barely settled, but if you're already eyeing the outright market for the next World Cup, you're in the right place.

The next edition lands in Spain, Portugal and Morocco in June 2030, with centenary matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay kicking things off.

Four years is a long time in football, so consider this an early lay of the land rather than a final verdict. Plenty will change. Some things, we suspect, will not.

Spain Are the Early Favourites

Let's start with the obvious. Spain just went through an entire tournament unbeaten, conceded a single goal across seven matches, and stretched their overall unbeaten run to 38 games. That is total dominance, and the scary part is the age profile.

Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi will still be in their early twenties when the next tournament rolls around, while the likes of Nico Williams and Ferran Torres remain in their prime years. This is not a champion side facing a rebuild. It's a champion side that gets better by standing still.

Then there's the geography. Spain co-host the 2030 edition alongside Portugal and Morocco, so they qualify automatically and get to defend their crown largely on home soil.

No side has retained the trophy since Brazil in 1962, but no recent champion has entered the next cycle with this combination of youth, form and home advantage. They'll be at the shortest odds in the market, and honestly, they should be.

The question for punters is whether there's any value left at those prices, which brings us to the sides best placed to spoil the party.

The Chasing Pack Have Big Questions

France remain the biggest threat on talent alone. Kylian Mbappe just claimed the Golden Boot with ten goals, and he'll be 31 at the next tournament, still squarely in his window.

The intrigue is on the bench, because Didier Deschamps has departed after 14 years and Zinedine Zidane is expected to be confirmed as his successor any day now.

A national icon inheriting a stacked squad sounds irresistible, but Zidane hasn't managed since 2021 and international football is a different beast.

France will be prominent in the market. Whether the new era clicks immediately is the gamble.

England came agonisingly close again. A fourth semi-final appearance, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane sharing six goals apiece, and a young core that keeps maturing under Thomas Tuchel.

Bellingham will be 27 in 2030 and entering his absolute peak, so we expect England to be shorter in this market than their trophy cabinet suggests they deserve.

At some point the door they keep knocking on gives way. Backing them to be there at the business end feels safer than backing them to finish the job.

And then there's Argentina, runners-up and a genuine puzzle.

Lionel Messi is 39 and has all but confirmed this was his last dance, which means the next cycle is about proving the machine runs without its greatest part.

The supporting cast is deep and tournament-hardened, but every side that loses a talisman of that magnitude drifts in the market, and rightly so.

The contenders above are largely known quantities. The more interesting outright plays might be the sides tearing everything up and starting again.

New Managers Will Reshape the Market

Germany's appointment is the boldest of the lot. A round of 32 exit to Paraguay on penalties finished Julian Nagelsmann, and the federation has agreed the key points of a deal to hand Jurgen Klopp the job, pending his release from Red Bull.

Klopp with four years, sweeping powers and a generation led by Florian Wirtz is a genuinely intriguing proposition. Germany have underperformed at four straight tournaments, so their odds will be longer than their pedigree, and that gap is where early value lives.

Brazil are running the opposite experiment: keeping the manager after a disaster.

The loss to Norway was their earliest exit since 1990, yet the confederation is standing by Carlo Ancelotti through the next cycle. He's been clear the squad needs young midfielders to emerge, so expect heavy rotation and a very different side by 2030.

Brazil at a longer price than usual is rare, and history says fading them for too long is unwise.

Italy , as usual, is completely unpredictable as they still need to decide what they are going to do with their national team.

Three straight tournaments missed, the coach and federation president both gone, and Paolo Maldini installed as technical director while the hunt for a new manager drags on, with Roberto Mancini , Andrea Pirlo, and Antonio Conte the names in the frame.

Until they appoint someone and actually qualify, they're untouchable in this market, whatever the price.

Beyond the traditional powers, this tournament produced two storylines that should shape the longshot end of the book.

Norway and Morocco Lead the Longshots

Norway were the story of the tournament. First appearance in 28 years, a famous knockout win over Brazil, and a quarter-final exit to England that went to extra time.

Erling Haaland finished with seven goals and will be 29 at the next tournament, right at his peak, with Martin Odegaard, Antonio Nusa and Andreas Schjelderup around him.

his squad was built to peak around 2030, and the market hasn't fully caught up to that yet. Of all the longshots, they're the one we'd want on side early.

Morocco carry the flag for the outsiders with home advantage. Quarter-finalists this time, semi-finalists in 2022, and co-hosts of the next edition, they've turned deep tournament runs into a habit rather than a fairytale.

An African champion remains the great unwritten story of this competition, and there has never been a better setup for it than Morocco in 2030.

The wider field is worth a glance too. The tournament is currently set for 48 teams, with a proposal to expand to 64 under review, and either way the path for emerging nations keeps widening.

Japan and the leading Asian sides continue to close the gap, so a deep run from that region is trending from shock towards expectation.

For outright purposes, though, the podium still looks European and South American for now, with Spain the side everyone else has to solve.