{"id":549872,"date":"2026-07-20T02:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/549872\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T02:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:42:18","slug":"we-had-a-date-with-destiny-de-la-fuente-lauds-spain-players-after-world-cup-victory-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/549872\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We had a date with destiny\u2019: De la Fuente lauds Spain players after World Cup victory | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spain\u2019s manager, Luis de la Fuente, hailed his players for fulfilling what he described as \u201ctheir destiny\u201d by winning a second World Cup final<\/a> against 10-man Argentina.<\/p>\n

The reigning champions were second best throughout but it took until the second period of extra time for Spain to find the breakthrough<\/a> from the substitute, Ferran Torres. Nico Williams saw his goal disallowed in the first half of extra time, while Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez became the sixth player \u2013 and third from Argentina \u2013 to be sent off in a World Cup final after the Chelsea midfielder was shown a second yellow card in the 93rd minute.<\/p>\n

Argentina had chances to equalise after Torres put Spain ahead but having come to their rescue so many times at this tournament Lionel Messi could not inspire them<\/a> to become the first team to retain their title since Brazil in 1962. His failure to add to his tally of eight goals in what is expected to be the 39-year-old\u2019s last World Cup means that Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 won a second Golden Boot of his career having finished with 10 goals.<\/p>\n

But it was Spain\u2019s miserly defence that proved decisive<\/a> in the end, with De la Fuente\u2019s side only conceding one goal in their eight matches as Unai Sim\u00f3n won the best goalkeeper award and teenage defender Pau Cubars\u00ed was named as young player of the tournament. The Manchester City midfielder, Rodri, was awarded the Golden Ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was written, and we deserve it,\u201d said a delighted De la Fuente, who has led Spain<\/a> to European titles at under-19, under-21 and senior level before this triumph. \u201cThis team and this wonderful fanbase deserve everything. We had a date with destiny and we wanted to make it count.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players have asked me what we have left to win. Together we\u2019ve figured out that it\u2019s the next match in September [against England in the Nations League] because this team is tireless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferran Torres and Spain celebrate scoring in extra time. Photograph: Alex Pantling\/FIFA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

But while \u00c1lex Baena and Marc Cucurella are set to follow through on their promise to have tattoos to celebrate Spain\u2019s triumph, the 65-year-old De la Fuente, who became the oldest manager to win the World Cup<\/a>, insisted he had no such plans. \u201cI\u2019m too old for tattoos,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Torres, who emulated Andr\u00e9s Iniesta\u2019s winner in extra time of the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa against the Netherlands when Spain won their first title under Vicente del Bosque, found it hard to come to terms with what he had just done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just my goal,\u201d the Barcelona forward said. \u201cIt\u2019s for 47 million people. I want to grab the cup and squeeze it. In the end, when you\u2019ve got Messi on the opposing team, you do get a bit nervous, but we always try to play our own game.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were ugly scenes after the full-time whistle when Leandro Paredes pushed Eric Garc\u00eda and then appeared to aim punches at Gavi while he was on the floor, with the Slovenian referee showing him a red card. Argentina\u2019s players then kept their backs turned when Rodri was presented with the trophy by US president Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Argentina<\/a> manager, Lionel Scaloni, who was in charge when they beat France in the 2022 final, broke down in tears in his post-match press conference and would not confirm if he will continue after his contract expires at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurts my soul. I\u2019m sorry,\u201d he said. \u201cI have to be honest and say that I have to take time and think about the future, because I\u2019m not sure this kind of group can be assembled again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether Messi is planning on retiring soon, he added: \u201cAt 39 years old, it\u2019s an incredible thing. He is going to play as long as he wants. He\u2019s the best player to ever set foot on a field. What he did in this World Cup is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s manager, Luis de la Fuente, hailed his players for fulfilling what he described as \u201ctheir destiny\u201d by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-549872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}