How Spain's World Cup Title Channeled The 'Power' Of Its People

NEW YORK NEW JERSEY STADIUM — After Spain’s support staff had laid out the game plan, explained the tactics, told the players how they would best position themselves to make this Sunday one they’d never want to forget as opposed to one they’d never be able to, coach Luis de la Fuente addressed his team. "Gentlemen, we have an appointment with history," the 65-year-old manager told his players before extra time began. "We want to be there first, and then in the extra time, I just said, ‘Look, we are doing a great job. The match is controlled, but this is a final, and we are up against Argentina. So, if we are not careful, we might concede a goal. And we kept our focus up until the last minute.’" As a result, Spain is the World Cup champion. For 120 minutes under the midday sun, La Roja were the better team. In some ways, they were the only team, holding Argentina — the 2022 winners — without an attempt at goal for all of regular time and extra time, and then scoring on their 20th shot, when Ferran Torres finally beat Albiceleste keeper Emiliano Martínez. Yet heading into the additional half-hour following a scoreless tie, and with the possibility of penalties looming, the game was still anyone’s to win. And the other side still had Lionel Messi, the architect of Argentina’s late two-goal comeback victory over England in last week’s semis. "The first idea was to keep Messi at bay, but also the other players," de la Fuente said. "We wanted to keep them away from our goal." Did they ever. But they still had to finish the job. They needed a hero to do it. On a team full of bigger names — teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, former Ballon d’Or winner Rodri — Torres stepped up and became immortal, joining 2010 icon Andrés Iniesta in Spanish lore as a World Cup-winning goalscorer. "I didn't think too much," Torres said afterward. "I saw the ball coming to me, and I shot it with the power of all the Spanish people." "I’m so happy for him to have scored this goal," de la Fuente added. "He will make it into history. He has already made history, and he deserves it." The breakout game many suspected Yamal might have in this final never materialized. The Barcelona ace, who turned 19 during the tournament, had a quiet World Cup, though he came close to scoring on a late free kick on Sunday, only for Martínez to snare it. No matter. Yamal is still a world champion in his first appearance on soccer’s grandest stage. And while his efforts only resulted in one goal over La Roja’s eight games en route to glory, his contributions didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates. "I would like to express my sincere gratitude for his play," the coach said of Yamal. "This [World Cup] will help him to mature and be even better in the future. He's really sacrificed for the greater good, and this is very important in our sport." So is winning — especially at this level. De la Fuente, who began his post-game press conference by thanking God for Spain’s triumph, never wavered from his belief that his players would come out on top. "Today, we were convinced that this was our final," he said. "I think it was a very complete game. If it wasn't for the keeper, maybe we would have had a larger margin, a larger win." He’ll take it. All of Spain will. It’s just the second World Cup title for the country despite its dominance of Europe at club level, though La Roja has been doing lots of celebrating since de la Fuente took charge in 2022. They’ve now claimed three titles since then, winning the UEFA Nations League in 2023 and the European Championship two years ago. Now they’ve capped it with the biggest prize of all. "We've won everything, in all the categories, and we came to the conclusion [today]," de la Fuente said. "Once we finished the game, one of the players who’s been here the longest, said, ‘Coach, now what else is there to win?’"

The greatest rivalry soccer has ever witnessed may have reached its end on the international stage. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the books, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo now face uncertain futures with their national teams after building legacies that will be debated for generations. FOX Sports soccer analyst Alexi Lalas shared on his "State of the Union Podcast" that Messi’s career was shaped in part by his rivalry with Ronaldo. The constant competition between the two pushed Messi to become the best version of himself, as they elevated each other. "Ronaldo’s existence, as much as some might not like it, has made Messi better and made him what he is," Lalas said. "The competition. The volley. The back and forth. The challenge. Obviously, the ego in completely different ways, but they are both fueled by being the best." Even without ever meeting on the World Cup stage, Messi and Ronaldo were constantly chasing one another through individual accomplishments. Ronaldo holds the edge in career goals, but Messi achieved the one milestone that had eluded his rival. That was ultimately winning a World Cup. Messi accomplished that with Argentina in 2022, completing a legacy-defining milestone that many once questioned whether he could achieve. The constant competition may also have fueled his fire and determination, pushing him to keep pushing himself toward greatness. "I truly believe that the Messi we have is shaped and formed by not just the experiences that he has, but the relationships he has," Lalas said. "I think we have a better Messi and we have the best version of Messi because of Cristiano Ronaldo." Lalas believes that regardless of what people say about Ronaldo, there is one thing that can never be taken away from him: he pushed Messi to become the best version of himself, helping fuel the journey that turned Messi into one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen. "You can boo him all you want, and many people do," Lalas said. "I don’t think we have the same Messi if Cristiano Ronaldo is not part of his era and of his time and challenges him."

Lionel Messi and Argentina might have been doomed before the kickoff of the 2026 World Cup final. Canadian rap icon Drake revealed a staggering $1.5 million bet on the South American giants to secure victory within 90 minutes. Drake has an infamous history of placing wagers on losing sides or making large-sum bets that don't hit. That streak continued on Sunday when Argentina fell 1-0 to Spain. Drake missed out on a roughly $5.1 million payout, while Argentina missed out on the World Cup trophy. The superstition, widely known as the "Drake Curse", suggests that any athlete or team that receives public support from the rapper is destined for a disappointing result. When Argentina fans saw Drake had made that bet, concern amplified because of Drake’s recent string of betting disasters. Earlier this year, he reportedly suffered a $1 million loss after the New England Patriots fell to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX in February. Furthermore, he lost another $300,000 after backing Jannik Sinner to overcome Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open. Beyond football, the rapper's betting history is littered with expensive failures across various disciplines. According to reports from There was hope for Lionel Scaloni's side as Drake notoriously won a $1 million bet on Argentina during the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, accurately predicting its triumph over France — with penalties required in order to determine a winner. But in 2026, he wasn't as foretelling newsbetting.club

Hunter Goodman went deep three times Sunday to not only break out of a mini-homer slump but break into an exclusive Colorado Rockies club in which he's now the founder. The All-Star catcher became the lone player in franchise history to turn in a pair of three-homer games in the same season. Hall of Famers Todd Helton and Larry Walker never accomplished this particular feat. Neither did any of the famed "Blake Street Bombers." "Definitely cool knowing all the guys, the great players that have played here, the Hall of Famers that have played here," Goodman said after the Rockies lost 9-6 to the Cincinnati Reds to drop two of three in the series. "It’s a pretty cool accomplishment." Goodman’s big day included two homers off Hunter Greene — a solo shot in the first and a two-run liner in the sixth — along with another two-run shot off reliever Sam Moll in the eighth. Those were homers No. 28, 29 and 30 of the season for Goodman. This after not going deep since July 1. This after not being picked for the Home Run Derby. This after a day off from the hitting. Goodman wasn't in the lineup Saturday and decided to not swing a bat in an effort to rest up. "I feel like some of those off days you just take the full day and kind of just reset a little bit," explained Goodman, who also had a three-homer game at Minnesota on June 27. "It’s not always the swing. It’s not always different stuff like that. Sometimes you've just got to keep going." And going and going and going — his three homers were a combined estimated total distance of 1,302 feet. Turns out, it was just a good day to be a catcher in this game. Goodman's counterpart, Tyler Stephenson, had two of Cincinnati's four homers. Give some credit to a hot summer day and this being Coors Field. "The ball ball tends to fly on those days," Goodman said. "And then I got some good pitches to hit." More specifically, a slider and fastball (98.6 mph) from Greene and a sinker from Moll. Goodman became the fourth player in franchise history with at least a pair of three-homer games in their careers, joining the company of Walker, Helton and Carlos González. His just so happened to occur all in the span of a few weeks. Here's more history for Goodman: He's the fourth-fastest Rockies player to reach 30 homers in a season (101 team games). The only ones ahead of him are Vinny Castilla (97 in 1998), Andrés Galarraga (99 in 1994) and Walker (100 in 1999), according to Rockies research. "He looks dangerous. He just looks in sync," manager Warren Schaeffer said of Goodman. "He was really good. You can see the confidence kind of seep out." Reporting by the Associated Press.