Spain’s world cup hopes have been dealt a serious blow. This comes after the team’s coach Julen Lopetegui was sacked by the Spain national team two days before the team’s first world cup game against Portugal.

Lopetegui’s sacking comes barely 24 hours after another shocking announcement by Real Madrid that the Spanish coach had signed a three-year contract with the UEFA Champions league defending champions, taking over the reins from former manager Zinedine Zidane.

The shocking announcement was delivered by the President of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales. The President was quoted saying "there is a way that you must act, Julen has worked in a great way with the team, but we cannot accept how he has acted in this case."

The former FC Porto manager joined the Spanish team as manager after the 2016 Euros, replacing much-revered coach Vicente Del Bosque. The 51-year old leaves the national team with a rather impressive record. During his 20 games in charge, he won 14 and drew 6 matches with no losses in the process. Previously, he had led both Spain under 19 and under 21 teams to European titles.

Meanwhile, Director of football Fernando Hierro has been tasked with leading La Furia Roja during the world cup as a permanent replacement is being suited. The timing of Lopetegui’s sacking could not come at a more critical time for Spain, who are considered to be amongst the favorites to claim football’s most prized title and such changes might throw the team’s chances into disarray. Will Spain remain a united front after Lopetegui’s sacking, or will they fall short once again?