Spain may be the World Cup champions, but they may be just getting started
NEW YORK – Absolute dominance. In defeating Argentina, Spain became the first team not to concede a goal in 90 minutes in the World Cup final, winning 1-0 after the match. Ferran Torres goal, but this group is just getting started. If I told you that Spain won the World Cup by going undefeated and scoring in all but one game, I’m sure you’d think Lamine Yamal He has been involved in many goals.
While that’s a safe expectation for someone who announced his brilliance at just 17 with a goal and four assists as Spain won Euro 2024, the team achieved this feat with Yamal scoring just once – in play Saudi Arabia – shows how balanced they are. The depth of the team was important Nico Williams getting hurt, Peter and Fabian Ruiz rotating, and even Pedro Porro won the starting job at right back Marcos Llorente during the tournament.
In what could be Lionel Messi’s last World Cup, the torch of the current star may go to Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, but Yamal’s power is limitless, so that he can challenge them for the throne soon in what is just another good episode that is loaded, the yonug team has, boasting an age of 26.2 years.
“I think Lamine [Yamal] he is an unbelievable player,” said Porro, highlighting his teammates. “He is a small boy, but I think the most important thing for him now is to congratulate him because he is still a small boy and won the World Cup today. I think the best moment in my life, in his life. I think it’s mine, [he’s an] amazing player.”
And he wasn’t even the best teenager on his team in the tournament. Let that sink in. Spain is also set with a defensive anchor Pau Cubarsiwho won the tournament’s Best Young Player at the age of 19 and a defensive unit led by Unai Simon and protected Rodri. During the World Cup, they not only conceded one goal, a career record defense, but they did it while playing more games than any World Cup winner with the addition of the round of 32. The previous record of two goals conceded by a World Cup winner was jointly held by Spain in 2010. France in 1998, and in Italy in 2006, but they only played seven games compared to Spain’s eight this campaign.
That adaptability is amazing, but they also completely dominate games from start to finish. The highest xG Spain allowed in the game was 0.67 to In Portugaland their lowest was a miniscule .08 to Saudi Arabia. Lionel Messi had 54 touches, but only took one shot and couldn’t do much, even before Enzo Fernández was sent off for a challenge on Cubarsi.
Luis de la Fuente deserves all the praise for the way he set this squad up and prepared for everything that came their way. He mentioned that winning the European Championship is something that showed the team what it can achieve and made his squad focus on this game until press time which he did not follow for a single minute during the World Cup.
He finished international football three years ago, winning the UEFA Nations League, the European Championship, and now he has capped it off with his most special yet, the World Cup. While there may not be much left for de la Fuente to achieve, his players are not giving up on their ambitions as Simon looks ahead to 2030, which will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco and games that take place in Argentina, Paraguayagain Uruguay. Looking to land a third star at home would be an incredible achievement, and there’s no reason why Spain can’t do it.
“Winning the World Cup, there is nothing else at the level of sports. It cannot be compared to the Euro Cup, which is historic; it cannot be compared to the United Nations, which is also amazing,” said Simon. “But winning the World Cup is unique. As I told you, we had to wait 16 years. I think we only have to wait four to find another star, but for now, I think we should enjoy it and realize what we have done.”
Soaking in the moment is important, and although Leandro Paredes tried to interrupt the moment Spain almost choked Eric Garcia following the game, the joy was visible on the faces of each of the players, down to Porro who wanted to call his grandfather immediately.
“Since you are still young, you go in search of a dream, the truth is that today I fulfilled the words that my grandfather said to me a few days ago: ‘Bring it home, son.’ I don’t even know what to say now; I’m looking forward to getting out here and calling him, because I’m sure he’s going to be very happy, very sensitive, and so am I,” Porro said.
That happiness is something they will be chasing again, and they will have the support of their home fans to push for it in 2030. They will have Yamal who will be 23 years old at the time, ready to enter his first tournament. With one tournament as the best player in Spain under his belt, it is scary to think of the level he will be at in that time. Things will change, but the core of this squad, apart from the injured, will return, and they will have some good World Cup performances under their belts. The world football community will need to watch because while France is also set to push for 2030, the new kings of world football will be hard to dislodge.
