Either side of that epic success came European Championship glory during a period that was, for many, a golden age for Spanish football.
Around that time Pep Guardiola's Barcelona were also in their pomp, and with the likes of Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, David Villa, Pedro, Andres Iniesta and Xavi all at their peak and contributing to La Roja's successes, Barca's influence on the national team was self evident.
Indeed, all seven players started in the final against the Netherlands, although Villa had yet to play a competitive game for the Blaugranes at that point.
By their 2012 European Championship success against Italy, Cesc Fabregas had joined the club he enjoyed incredible success with as a youth whilst Jordi Alba, on the scoresheet in a brilliant 4-0 win, would join Barca directly after the tournament.
Rarely can one club team have had so much influence for a footballing country considered to be amongst the elite in the world game.
Fast forward to the present day, and there are suggestions that Barcelona's resurgence under Hansi Flick might well have the Spanish management team taking a keener interest in how well the Catalan giants are doing.
Spain will shortly again play the Netherlands, this time in a two-legged quarter-final in the UEFA Nations League, as they attempt to retain a trophy they won back in 2023.
Barcelona could've had seven players in the current Spain squad
"Undoubtedly, Barcelona are becoming the base of the Spanish national team again, as in the golden period of 2008 to 2012," Flashscore's Miguel Baeza noted.
"One of the keys is the emergence of young talents such as Lamine Yamal (the best Spanish player), Pau Cubarsi and Gavi. The incorporation of Dani Olmo has given Barca a leap in quality and Spain is grateful that they all play for the same club.
"Clearly, the great architect of all this is Hansi Flick, who has taught his boys to be competitive at the highest level. Xavi never managed to get the best out of them."
It's a line of thought shared by Flashscore's David Olivares. "Barcelona have five players in this squad: Cubarsi, Pedri (perhaps in the best form of his career), Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo.
"The squad could have been even larger. Inigo Martinez was left out after suffering internal parameniscitis in his right knee, and Marc Casado has a partial tear of the lateral ligament in his right knee.
"Gavi is very much liked by De la Fuente and, in fact, was with his teammates at the recent European Championship final in Berlin despite being injured. He is slowly getting back into the swing of things and another player performing at a high level who could return to the national team is Alejandro Balde, a sure bet at left-back."
17-year-old defensive midfielder Marc Bernal, who started the 2024/25 season at Barca in fine form before a knee injury ended his season prematurely, will also surely be looking to trouble the national team selectors in due course.
Beyond the visual delights that Barca's players have evidently provided this season, do the numbers reflect a second coming in the national team for the Blaugranes?
From a goalscoring perspective at present, absolutely not. So far in the current Nations League only Ferran Torres has found the net, his solitary strike one of 12 that La Roja have scored in the tournament to date.
Barca players fare slightly better with regards to assists as Torres, Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal have all contributed in that regard - one each as part of a total of seven.
In terms of passing accuracy, something which has always underwritten the Catalan club's way of playing, only Ferran can be disappointed in this regard. His 64.3% success rate is by far the worst in the entire Spanish set-up, with every other Barca player scoring at least 80% in this regard, and 18-year-old Pau Cubarsi posting an impressive 97.6% - the highest in the squad.
One of the most surprising statistics to emerge is with regards to Lamine Yamal's crossing ability, as the data shows his success rate is at a less-than-satisfactory 21.4%.
As opponents start to double up on him - as they're already doing in LaLiga - the youngster won't just need his entire box of tricks to help him be as influential for country as for club. A higher quality of movement from his teammates to potentially allow Lamine to move inside and divert the angle of attack could be just the ticket to further success.
He is, after all, the one player who would appear to scare opposition defences witless, even at his young age.
Lamine's influence can more readily be seen when we look at how many duels he has had to undertake in this season's competition. 40 is the most of any Spanish player, though he could also improve upon his 60% success rate.
Though clubmate Marc Casado has competed in less than half of Lamine's 40 duels (17 in total), he has won 82.3% of them (14), the highest ratio amongst his contemporaries. His loss to the squad through injury will therefore come as a bitter blow.
Ball recoveries is another area where the Barca men excel.
Barca's imprint on the national team not quite as prevalent today
Lamine's 15 and Pedri's 13 are amongst Spain's best, but even Olmo's seven and the six from both Cubarsi and Casado aren't bad in the context of the whole squad. Only Ferran's single recovery would require an immediate improvement at this stage.
What's also interesting to note is that no Barca player has played more than Lamine's 224 minutes in this season's Nations League.
Casado's 110 minutes makes his output in certain aspects even more impressive, with Pedri and Dani Olmo playing 218 and 152 minutes respectively. Pau Cubarsi's 98 minutes and Ferran's 53-minute cameo in the competition pale in comparison when you consider that the likes of Aymeric Laporte (450 minutes), Fabian Ruiz (447) and Martin Zubimendi (371) have all played significantly more.
Although Barca's imprint on the current Spain squad isn't therefore quite as marked yet as it was 15 years ago, no other club has more players representing the national team at this point so there is very definitely a leaning towards the Catalans in terms of playing staff.
Time will tell if La Roja can triumph in the Nations League and again reach the rarified air of becoming World Cup winners... and also whether the Barcelona influence will be key in them doing so.
