Spanish World Cup final hero Ferran Torres admits he still finds it hard to believe what he has achieved after scoring the extra-time winner in a historic 1-0 victory over Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final.The Barcelona striker, brought in from the bench by coach Luis de la Fuente, etched his name in Spanish football folklore with the decisive 106th-minute goal at MetLife Stadium. An emotional Torres admitted shortly after the final whistle that he had not yet realized the significance of the incident. “Honestly, I can’t believe it. I just wanted to enjoy it but I didn’t know what was happening,” Torres said in an interview with the anchor in a video shared by DAZN Football on X. “I didn’t think too much. I just saw the ball coming towards me and I shot it with all the Spanish power.”The goal allowed Spain to be crowned World Cup champions for the second time after their first victory in 2010, and ended Argentina’s hopes of becoming the first country to successfully defend the World Cup since Brazil in 1962.
“The goal is to serve 47 million people”
Torres then dedicated his winning goal to the Spanish peopleInsisting that victory belongs to the entire country, not just the team.“This goal is for 47 million people; it’s not just mine, it’s not a goal for the 26 players here,” Torres was quoted as saying by FIFA. “I believe today’s result was written by the stars. This is a game we have to win. We are far away from our people, but we try to make them feel as close as possible.”Spain dominated the game from the opening whistle, dominating possession, creating the vast majority of chances and limiting Argentina’s attacks. However, it wasn’t until overtime that La Roja finally made a breakthrough.Only 37 seconds into the second quarter of overtime, Pedro Polo passed a long pass and Nico Williams scored a wonderful header. Torres timed his run perfectly before firing a left-footed shot into the roof of the net behind Emiliano Martinez, whose 12 saves kept Argentina alive for more than 100 minutes.
Facing Messi on the biggest stage
Torres also acknowledged the unique pressure faced by Messi in the Argentina captain’s final World Cup appearance.“All finals are difficult. The tension always creeps in when Messi is on the opposing team,” Torres admitted. “But at the end of the day we always stuck to our guns and played our own brand of football and I think we proved that again today.”Spain put together one of the most dominant World Cup campaigns in recent years with a disciplined performance. Luis de la Fuente’s side finished the tournament unbeaten, conceding just once in eight games while adding the FIFA World Cup title to their Euro 2024 crown.
