Fernando Hierro named Spain's manager for FIFA World Cup 2018

Former Real Madrid and Bolton Wanderers centre-back Fernando Hierro will take over as the manager of Spain for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The decision follows the ousting of the team's former manager, Julen Lopetegui, on Wednesday.

Hierro was previously the sporting director for the national team and has also served as the assistant manager at Real Madrid and Malaga's director of football. His only stint as manager of a club came in Spain's Segunda Division in the 2016-17 season, where he failed to achieve promotion and left by mutual consent.

On Tuesday, Real Madrid had announced that Lopetegui was to take over from back-to-back-to-back Champions League winner Zinedine Zidane following the conclusion of the World Cup.

However, the announcement was not well received by Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) officials.

According to media reports, RFEF chief Luis Rubiales was left outraged by the timing of the announcement and the fact that they were not made aware of it earlier.

Spain was one of the top contenders for the World Cup, having not lost a single match in their last 20 under Lopetegui, however, it is yet to be seen how they will cope with the situation when they begin their World Cup campaign on Friday with a blockbuster clash against Euro 2016 champions Portugal.

The team will then face Iran on June 20 and Morocco on June 25 in the group stage.