When Spain appointed Luis de la Fuente as head coach in December 2022, few expected him to deliver the Nations League (2023), European Championship (2024) and World Cup (2026) in so short a time frame.

Spain had just been knocked out of the World Cup by Morocco in the last 16 in Qatar and the federation needed a replacement after Luis Enrique left his role.

“They went with this guy [De La Fuente] who understood the style and the system,” added Balague.

“It was a very risky decision – I don’t think anyone thought he would be so successful.”

It appeared risky because De La Fuente took charge of Spain, who have won three of the past five men’s European Championships – (2008, 2012, 2024) – without having managed a big club.

After retiring as a player in 1994, De La Fuente spent 15 years in different roles with a succession of different clubs, including managing in the lower Spanish leagues, youth roles and assistant coach positions – before he took charge of Spain’s youth teams.

“De la Fuente knew most of these players from the academies and they are growing as a team,” former Spain midfielder Juan Mata told BBC Sport.

“This is not only a team for the present, but also a team for the future.”

Since being appointed senior boss after stints in charge of the under-19s, under-21s and at Olympic level, De La Fuente has implemented a culture of respect for their rivals, for the process and preaching patience and calmness.

“Most of you are younger than me and you need to respect experience,” the 65-year-old told journalists at his pre-match news conference in New York on Friday.

“Once we finished the game, there were footballers who said ‘coach, now what else is there to win as we have won everything in all the categories’.

“We came to the conclusion that what remains is the next match in September because this team are relentless.”

The success of the national teams and Spanish coaches has spilled over to club football.

Despite Pep Guardiola’s decision to leave Manchester City after 10 trophy-packed years, at least a quarter of the managers who start the 2026-27 Premier League season are Spanish.

Spain are now unbeaten in their last 38 matches in all competitions, the longest ever run by any European or South American team in history.

When the referee blew the final whistle in the FIFA World Cup 2026 final on Sunday, Spain walked off with the trophy while Argentine football icon Lionel Messi simply walked off in tears. La Roja are back atop the football world for a second time after Ferran Torres’ first goal of this year’s World Cup, unquestionably the goal of his life, gave his country a 1-0 win over now-dethroned champions Argentina in the summit clash at New York New Jersey Stadium, East Rutherford, in the United States.

“It was a goal scored by 47 million people,” Torres said, referring to Spain’s population. Maybe not by them, but certainly for them.

The goal came with Argentina down to 10 men after Enzo Fernandez was sent off late in regulation following a reckless tackle. Tempers flared then, and flared again after the final whistle, with Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni and players from both sides engaging in what appeared to be some pushing and shoving.

In the end, Spain denied Messi a second straight title in what he has indicated was his final World Cup match. Torres, a second-half substitute, pounced on a bouncing ball in the box and used his left foot to bury a shot just under the crossbar in the 106th minute.

From there, the airtight defence that dominated opponents throughout the tournament came through one final time. Spain, which also won the title in 2010, allowed only one goal in eight matches during this World Cup run, setting a record for the fewest goals conceded by a champion.

FIFA World Cup 2026 prize money

The FIFA Council had approved a record-breaking financial contribution of USD 727 million for the mega event last year. Out of this, USD 655 million was allocated as prize money among the 48 participating teams. This marked a 50% increase in prize money compared to the previous edition. Here’s the distribution:

Champions: Spain – USD 50 million

Runners-up: Argentina – USD 33 million

3rd place: England – USD 29 million

4th place: France – USD 27 million

Prize money for rest of the positions

5th-8th place: USD 19 million

9th-16th place: USD 15 million

17th- 32nd place: USD 11 million

33rd-48th place: USD 9 million

List of awardees

Golden Ball: Rodri (Spain)

Silver Ball: Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Bronze Ball: Kylian Mbappe (France)

Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappe (France)

Silver Boot: Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Bronze Boot: Jude Bellingham (England)

Golden Glove: Unai Simon (Spain)

FIFA Young Player Award: Pau Cubarsi (Spain)

FIFA Fair Play Trophy: The Netherlands

(With AP Inputs)

Featured Video Of The Day

Haaland Memes | “It’s A Special & Funny Game”: Haaland Ahead Of Quarterfinals Against England

Patience proved the critical virtue for Spain. They had to wait for a kickoff delayed by — among other things — a Tom Cruise speech. They had to wait twice as long as usual at half time. And they had to wait for 106 minutes of play and their 20th shot before Ferran Torres lashed home the goal that would win them a second men’s World Cup.

“I’m very moved. Looking back and thinking about them, we’ve won everything, absolutely everything, with this generation of players,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente. “The match should have been decided much earlier … but this is a World Cup final and you have to dig deep even against ten men, and we’re prepared for anything.”

Spain’s captain and player of the tournament, Rodri, lifted the trophy. But not before Donald Trump made his presence known. The US president was booed when he entered the pitch with FIFA president, Gianni Infantino and appeared keen to stay for the trophy lift, just as he had in the Club World Cup final last year. Rodri appeared to subtly attempt to usher Trump off the stage before Infantino jogged over to join Trump on the sidelines of the celebrations.

Messi on the margins

For much of Sunday’s final, that moment had felt purely a matter of time, as the European champions thoroughly outclassed their South American counterparts.

Just as they did in their impressive semifinal display against France, Spain dominated the ball early and their teenage superstar, Lamine Yamal, came close to opening the scoring in the fifth minute. Seconds later, at the other end of the pitch and the age scale, Lionel Messi was beaten to a through ball by Spanish keeper Unai Simon. It was as close as Messi, 39, got to a significant impact on the game, which may well be his last at a World Cup.

“They were better, to be honest,” Messi said postmatch. “We lost the game, and we accept that. That doesn’t mean that we will forget everything we’ve done so far, so I’d like to thank my people, my players and the country.”

As the first half wore on in the New York New Jersey stadium, Spain dominated the ball but Argentina held firm, with a smart Emi Martinez save from Spanish striker, Mikel Oyarzabal, as close as either side came before the elongated interval.

Half-time show keeps players waiting

For the first time in World Cup history, a Superbowl style half time show was on the cards. Performers including Madonna, Justin Bieber and BTS took to the pitch with the break extended — contrary to both football convention and FIFA laws — to almost double the standard 15 minutes.

It wasn’t enough to change the pattern of the game. Spain continued to pass, Argentina continued to scrap, hassle and rely on Martinez to keep Spanish shots at bay.

A red card for midfielder Enzo Fernandez in injury time made Argentina’s task even tougher as the final headed into extra time, as it now has in five of the last six finals. Argentina tired but somehow clung on, with Spain repeatedly wasteful.

Spain keep composure

Surely the South Americans, who had failed to take a single shot in the entire game, couldn’t somehow win this?

But Spain have already proved they won’t panic, with late winners in two of their knockout matches. Indeed, the final bore some resemblance to their tournament opener —  a 0-0 draw with Cape Verde. After that, Spain slipped somewhat under the radar for a time, with a lack of cutting edge thought to count them out.

But as the tournament  progressed, Luis de la Fuente’s team have delivered a masterclass in control while sharpening their attacking weapons to win a first World Cup since 2010. Spain’s women are also reigning world champions, winning the tournament in 2023.

“I think that in the end, the goal belonged to 47 million people, not to me or the 26 players here,” said the goalscorer, Torres. “I believe that today destiny was written, it was meant for us to win, far from our fans, but we tried to make them feel as close ‌as possible.”

World Cup overshadowed by Iran war, Balogun controversy

The final ended a tournament that has offered much from a sporting perspective: the heroics of Cape Verde, the race between Messi and Kylian Mbappe for the tournament — and overall World Cup — top scorer and shocks such as Germany’s exit to Paraguay and Norway toppling Brazil.

But politics has also proved impossible to ignore.

The barring of Somali referee Omar Artan from entering the US added to the sense this was not a World Cup for the whole world. Iran’s treatment, being forced to fly in and out of games and given less preparation time as a result, was a reminder of the conflict between the US and Iran. 

Donald Trump’s intervention in the suspension of a red card ban for US striker Folarin Balogun also  amplified already loud questions about FIFA corruption.

But, ultimately, the tournament was decided in the same way it always has been. And, on Sunday in New Jersey it was settled, once again, in favor of Spain.   

Edited by: Wesley Dockery

Lionel Messi lost it all in a single match. As Argentina took on Spain in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Messi failed to add another goal to his tournament tally of eight. This meant he ended the campaign second in the race for the Golden Boot, which France captain Kylian Mbappe claimed. His failure to inspire Argentina in the final also saw him miss out on the Golden Ball, which went to Spain skipper Rodri. Furthermore, Messi’s inability to score against Spain in the showpiece event saw him lose out to his eternal rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, at least in one specific aspect of the debate.

While Messi has arguably taken a clear lead in the overall comparison between the two, there is one particular area where he has fallen short of the Portugal star. Messi’s inability to put the ball past Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon meant that the 39-year-old failed to score a single goal in competitive matches against Spain.

In international football history, Messi has featured against Spain a total of four times, though three of those games were friendlies. Across these four appearances, Messi has only scored against La Roja once, during Spain’s 2-1 win in a 2009 friendly match. When it comes to competitive matches, however, Messi is yet to open his scoring account against Spain.

In comparison, Ronaldo has featured against Spain a total of 11 times. Of these encounters, there have been two matches in which he managed to find the back of the net, scoring a total of four goals. Ronaldo scored against Spain for the first time at the 2018 World Cup, when his stunning hat-trick inspired Portugal to a 3-3 draw.

Ronaldo also scored against Spain in the 2025 Nations League final, where Portugal eventually secured victory in a penalty shootout after the game ended level at 2-2.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United man also featured against Spain in competitive tournaments like Euro 2004, the 2010 World Cup, Euro 2012, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16, but failed to score in those specific outings.

On the grandest stage of the World Cup, Spain remains an unsolved puzzle for Lionel Messi, and a scoring frontier only Cristiano Ronaldo has conquered.

Featured Video Of The Day

FIFA World Cup 2026 | ‘I Don’t See A World Cup Trophy…’: Mbappe Says France’s Job Isn’t Done

A former WWE superstar who recently parted ways with TNA is interested in wrestling for one of Tony Khan‘s promotions. The talent in question, Steve Maclin, has been actively performing on the indies as of late.

The 39-year-old star’s five-year-long stint in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling came to an end this past June, when it was announced that Maclin had been granted his release from the company, accompanying rumors of his creative frustrations with the Nashville-based promotion. The “Bulletproof” grappler continued to wrestle on the independents after competing in his final TNA match against Mike Santana for his World Championship in May.

On the latest edition of the Boots to Boots podcast, the former TNA International Champion was asked by a fan if he would consider performing in Ring of Honor, a company currently owned by Tony Khan and serving as a sister-promotion to AEW. Maclin replied affirmatively, and recalled facing Jonathan Gresham for the ROH World Title before ROH had been acquired by AEW. He further voiced his interest in competing in Ring of Honor to carve his place in the decorated promotion’s history, and to check off a major box on his professional bucket list.

“Yes, I would love that. I got to wrestle Gresham a few times for the Pure Title when he was at TNA. At that time they were using ROH before ROH was bought by AEW. It was kind of cool to stick my toes into that water a little bit and kind of dabble into Pure Rules. It was fun because it just opens up the playbook. But to go there and have the Code of Honor and then just the history to be a part of that too. Then again, it’s another check off a bucket list of working for almost every major company.” [H/T- Fightful]

Maclin had worked for WWE for around seven years prior to his TNA run beginning in 2021.

Steve Maclin’s wife is a champion in Tony Khan’s ROH

Steve Maclin had tied the knot with his real-life partner Deonna Purrazzo back in November of 2022. The Virtuosa has been signed with AEW since 2024, although as of late she has been wrestling primarily in Tony Khan’s other promotion, Ring of Honor. She made history at ROH Final Battle last year when she won a tournament to become the first ever ROH Women’s Pure Champion, a belt she has already defended several times since then.

It remains to be seen whether Tony Khan will offer Maclin the opportunity to compete in the same brand as his spouse.