According to AS, Spain coach de la Fuente looked back at the World Cup final. He said he understood Argentina's tactical arrangements, especially given that they posed almost no threat for the entire match.
Holding the World Cup trophy, the new world champion Spain continued to give media interviews this week. On Thursday, coach de la Fuente visited the AS editorial office to review the tournament. He also mentioned that when Ferran Torres scored, he "felt an almost pure joy", and took the opportunity to talk about Spain's 1-0 victory over Argentina in the final.
"I felt we were clearly stronger"
De la Fuente said: "I don't need to rewatch that final, but I felt we were clearly stronger. ... I completely understand why they wanted to drag the game into a penalty shootout, especially after Enzo Fernández was sent off in the 90th minute. We knew we had to play our own game. That's the message I conveyed to the players: 'Play our style, because they are more familiar with their own style, and we cannot let them do that.'"
Argentina played an almost lackluster game last Sunday, and the statistics were also quite low: they only had their first shot in the 117th minute of extra time, committed as many as 25 fouls - the highest in a World Cup final since 26 against France in 2022 - and Messi didn't even touch the ball once in the opponent's penalty area... Argentina's dream of a third star was shattered, while Spain had the last laugh.
De la Fuente also said: "Four years ago, I didn't expect to go this far in this 2026 tournament, but the road is walked one step at a time. With the conditions we had at the time, we would fight to the end."
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