What a difference a day makes for the Spanish national side as the world champions can now look forward to defending their world title in Brazil in the summer of 2014 without too many further worries.

Spain's 1-0 win away to France on Tuesday returns them to the top of their qualifying group with a one-point lead over the French.

The Spanish had kicked off knowing that a defeat would have left them five points off the pace and even a draw would have left them needing the French to slip up and drop points in order to win the group.

Now the Spanish can look forward to home games against Georgia and Belarus, sides they have already beaten away from home, and a trip to Finland knowing that three wins will see them an automatic qualification.

Even though the Spanish failed to beat the Finns, drawing 1-1 in Gijon last Friday, it is hard to imagine a repeat of the errors that we saw in that game and which led to a mini crisis of confidence among Spanish fans.

Against the Finns we saw Spain fall into the trap which caused Barcelona so many problems around a month ago: something that is hardly surprising given that the backbone of the squad comes from the Barca team.

Spain dominated control of the ball, but it was a sterile possession which led to few chances being created and with a slender one goal lead, all it needed was one defensive lapse to see two points escape. That may have been against the run of play, but rivals are likely to create at least one chance in a game and the Finns took theirs.

Against France, Xavi Hernandez and Xabi Alonso returned to the side and although Hernandez looked off the pace due to a hamstring problem, Alonso injected more energy and slightly more directness into Spain's football, as well as adding steel to the midfield holding role he shared with Sergio Busquets.

As a result Spain looked more comfortable and more likely to score. Meanwhile left back Nacho Montreal looked sharper than Jordi Alba had against the Finns and helped set up Pedro for the only goal of the game.

"We ratified our ideas and our convictions," said Del Bosque afterwards in reply to those who had criticized the sterile control against Finland and wondered if the Spanish should be more direct in their play.

However, Del Bosque should not be lured into a feeling of false security: it looks certain Spain will be able to defend their world title in Brazil without too many problems, but to defend it well he may still need do make some changes.

Xavi Hernandez, for so long the architect of Spanish football is now 33 years old, he will be 34 in the summer of 2014 and will clearly not be able to play every minute of every game.

Del Bosque needs to find someone to take the weight off Xavi's shoulders and hope that FC Barcelona can do the same in the run in to the World Cup.

In this context it was surprising Del Bosque left Benat Etxebarria out of this squad as Benat looks the most likely direct replacement for Xavi, along with Malaga's Isco, who was an unused substitute in these last two matches.

Likewise Carles Puyol might not make the 2014 World Cup finals, that was not a problem in the 2012 European Championship, but again Del Bosque seems reluctant to try replacements, sticking with the pairing of Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique and relying on Raul Albiol, who rarely plays at Real Madrid, as a replacement.

Someone such as Bayern Munich's Javi Martinez deserves a chance and would being pace, aggression and ability to bring the ball out from the back into the side.

Meanwhile Alvaro Arbeloa has shown himself to be a good stopper at right back, but he is limited going forward and that is a problem against sides who close up in defense.

And Del Bosque has one more problem: Spain lack outstanding strikers. David Villa is Spain's all-time top goalscorer, but has not had a great season for Barcelona, while Fernando Torres's dreadful form at Chelsea has seen him drop out of the picture, while Fernando Llorente has hardly played for Athletic Club Bilbao and will move to Juventus in the summer.

Del Bosque has relied on Villa as a loan striker, but ended Tuesday's win without an out and out forward on the pitch. He needs Llorente to rediscover his form or Torres to come good again, or else he has to show some faith in players such as winger, Jesus Navas, or Sevilla's powerful Alvaro Negredo, who may be not quite good enough.

Unless Spain can get their striking boots back on there is a risk that in Brazil they may see what happened against Finland last Friday repeat itself and that could cost them their crown.