Spain’s World Cup final hero Ferran Torres admitted he still struggled to believe what he had achieved after scoring the extra-time winner that sealed a historic 1-0 victory over Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final.The Barcelona forward, introduced from the bench by coach Luis de la Fuente, etched his name in Spanish football folklore with the decisive strike in the 106th minute at the MetLife Stadium. Moments after the final whistle, an emotional Torres admitted the scale of the occasion had yet to hit. “Honestly, I can’t believe it. I’m just trying to enjoy it, but I don’t know what’s going on,” Torres said in an interview with the broadcaster, in a video shared by DAZN Football on X. “I didn’t think too much. I saw the ball coming to me and I shot it with the power of all the Spanish people.”The goal crowned Spain world champions for only the second time after their first triumph in 2010 and ended Argentina’s hopes of becoming the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the FIFA World Cup.
“The goal was for 47 million people”
Torres later dedicated his winning strike to the people of Spaininsisting that the triumph belongs to the whole country rather than just the team.“The goal was for 47 million people; it wasn’t just mine, or the 26 players there,” Torres said, as quoted by FIFA. “I believe that today’s result was written in the stars. The game was there for us to win. We were far from our people, but we did our best to make them feel as close as possible.”Spain had dominated the contest from the opening whistle, controlling possession, creating most of the chances and restricting Argentina to almost nothing in attack. However, it took until extra time for La Roja to finally break through.Just 37 seconds into the second period of extra time, Pedro Porro floated in a deep cross that Nico Williams brilliantly put back into the goal. Torres timed his run perfectly before smashing a left-footed finish into the roof of the net beyond Emiliano Martinez, whose 12 saves had kept Argentina alive for more than 100 minutes.
He faces Messi on the biggest stage
Torres also acknowledged the unique pressure of facing Lionel Messi in what is expected to be the Argentina captain’s final World Cup appearance.“All the finals are difficult. When Messi is on the opposition team, the nervousness is always creeping in,” Torres admitted. “But in the end, we always stuck to our guns, to play our own brand of football, and I think today we showed that once again.”Spain’s disciplined display completed one of the most dominant World Cup campaigns in recent memory. Luis de la Fuente’s side finished the tournament unbeaten, conceding just one goal in eight games as they added the FIFA World Cup title to the UEFA Euro 2024 crown.