Key events
Not quite sure about this, from Ferran Torres, but. How does one squeeze solid gold?
“This isn’t just my goal,” the Barcelona forward said. “It’s for 47 million people. I want to grab the cup and squeeze it. In the end, when you’ve got Messi on the opposing team, you do get a bit nervous, but we always try to play our own game.”
And the Spanish capital really knows about heat.
We might also note that the 2010 final was also a terrible game, and that this it not because Spain made it so, rather their opponents felt it the only way Spain might be beaten. Never has there been a style of football harder to get one over on.
And who takes the Ballon d’Or? Can we really give it to Rodri, who didn’t do much during the season, or Lamine Yamal, who didn’t do loads during the World Cup? If not, does that leave us with Pau Cubarsi?
Team of the tournament time: Unai Simon; Pedro Porro, Saliba, Cubarsi, Cucurella; Rodri, Jordan Henderson, Bellingham; Olise; Messi, Haaland, Mbappé.
Feel free to tell me where I’m wrong.
Tuchel leaving lewis Hall out of his England squad, never mind the first XI, is still grinding my gears’.
Villa meantime, have bought Johan Manzambi, so I guess feel they can spend the Tielemans money on a less creative player – though £38m seems a lot given Wolves went down.
When West Germany beat Hungary in the 1954 final, the moment was termed a “a moment of collective ecstasy”. Should you fancy, you can read more about perhaps the most important match ever played, here.
Something Thomas Tuchel might do well to notice: as ever, Spain were balanced in midfield. They had Rodri, a proper six; Fabián Ruiz, and eight; and Olmo, a 10 able to muck in deeper. That is how you take and sustain control of a game, not by picking three similar players, none of whom you feel able to omit, as Luis de la Fuente did with Pedri.
Lowkey, Dani Olmo was one of my players of the tournament. I love his desire to create mischief – he’s a player defenders can’t take their eyes off – and the clarity of his decision-making. To keep Pedri out of a team, you’ve got to be special, and he is.
But they seem so nice?
I actually felt the UK TV companies made a mess of this. We needed close-ups, different angles, spotlights, arrows, names and analysis.
Thanks Martin – or should that be Martín – and hi again all. The below photo has reminded me that the king of Spain – no not Ashley Giles – along with the Queen and their kids – decided it was for them to insinuate themselves into the squad’s post-match, on-pitch celebrations. No para mí, Claudio.
The Spain squad have posed for a photograph together on the tarmac …
… and with that I will hand you to Daniel Harris. I think this is my last stint on the World Cup news blog until 2030 (the year, not 8.30pm tonight), so until then, take care, thanks for reading, and thanks for all your BTL comments. Adiós!
I guess the trophy went via “carry on” luggage then. I hope Rodri has done his customs paperwork.
Madrid mayor says city is readying to ‘celebrate and greet a team that will live for ever in our memory’
Sam Jones
Sam Jones is in Madrid for the Guardian
Madrid’s mayor, José Luis Martínez Almeida, told Radio Nacional de España that the capital was working to give the team the homecoming they deserved. He also hailed the peaceful and joyous scenes that had greeted Spain’s victory.
“Even though there were thousands and thousands of people on the streets last night, there were practically no incidents in the city,” he said.
“We’re getting everything ready for tonight and the musical events should starts at Cibeles from about 6pm, with the parade scheduled to start at 7pm – but all this is depends on various factors … The thing we’re focusing on is how to celebrate and greet a team that will live for ever in our memory.”
Spain team expected to meet King Felipe after arriving in Madrid
Sam Jones
Sam Jones is in Madrid for the Guardian
The team have a busy afternoon and a long night ahead of them. Their first official stop is expected to be the Zarzuela palace outside Madrid, where they will be greeted by King Felipe and Queen Letizia at about 4.30pm. After that, they’re due to head to the Moncloa palace – the office and residence of the prime minister – for 6pm
The PM, Pedro Sánchez, is presently on a trip to Algeria, but may hotfoot it back to Madrid to welcome the squad. After that, the victory parade kicks off in earnest, and will travel from Moncloa into town at around 7pm. The focus of the festivities will be the Plaza de Cibeles just outside Madrid city hall. Expect music, massive crowds – and another busy few hours for Madrid’s tireless municipal street cleaners.
Judging by the photos dropping from Madrid on the wires it looks like the plane carrying the team got a quick paint/decal job overnight …
Victorious Spain team land in Madrid for heroes’ welcome
Spain’s winning World Cup team has landed in Madrid, with tens of thousands of fans expected to greet them during the course of the day.
Less than 24 hours after lifting the trophy in the New York New Jersey stadium, Spain’s squad are back home. The Iberia aircraft carrying the squad touched down at Madrid-Barajas airport at 14:30 local time under clear blue skies.
Sam Jones has just messaged me to say the Spanish team have landed. This is the most writing I’ve had to do about tracking a flight since the day Priti Patel was flying back to get sacked. 2017, that was. Simpler times.
Sam Jones is in Madrid for the Guardian, and has this round-up of how the nation’s press has reacted to Spain’s World Cup triumph.
The Spanish squad’s plane is currently the most tracked on FlightRadar24.com.
Sam Jones
Sam Jones is in Madrid for the Guardian
It’s fair to say that Madrid – and the rest of Spain – is quite excited by the prospect of the team’s imminent return. La Roja is due to touch down at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport in around 10 minutes.
According to El País, the first of many heroes’ welcomes is already massing at the airport, which sits at the northeastern edge of the capital.
Between 200 and 300 fans are already waiting at Terminal 4 of the airport to welcome the Spanish national team after their World Cup victory. Families with children, groups of friends, and supporters who have traveled from all over the country are lining up in a makeshift corridor, wearing Spanish jerseys, waving flags around their necks, and using their mobile phones, hoping to catch a glimpse of Luis de la Fuente’s team.
I’ve just had of those moments when I wonder if I had enough sleep. I just Googled Marc Cucurella, and a cartoon caricature of him as a cat popped up waving a Spain flag …
… I was doing the search to see what had been written about the incredibly lame attempt by Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez to get the Real Madrid defender sent off during the final for covering his mouth.
The only word needed in the Spanish press today.
“Transfer updates! Get yer transfer updates!”
From the non-football talking points yesterday come these video clips. First the chaos of Argentina agression at the final whistle, in scenes you definitely won’t want to press play on.
And second, the boos when Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino entered the field.
Oops, sorry, wrong video. My bad. I meant this one …
The scenes in Madrid look like it was an incredible experience last night – although Spanish fans don’t seem to have quite mastered the English art of where to stick your flare.
Hello, good afternoon / evening / morning etc. I am not saying that was one of the most boring World Cup finals ever, but by the time it had gone to extra-time in my house we were second-screening it on the laptop so we could continue our own Puzzle Bobble™2X/BUST-A-MOVE™2 world championship.
Anyway, the big football news my way is that tomorrow’s Walthamstow FC match against a celebrity XI in memory of Kaylen Dennis has been postponed because of, and I quote, “fox damage to the Wadham Lodge pitch (genuinely)”.
Martin Belam is primed for his stint. In a bit.
Hearts will face Turkish side Fenerbahce or Gornik Zabrze from Poland in the third qualifying round of the Champions League if they get past Sturm Graz.
The Edinburgh side, under the tutelage of new head coach Wouter Vrancken, will face the Austrians in the first leg of their second qualifier on Tuesday before the second leg at Tynecastle next week.
The draw which was made on Monday revealed that, should Irish side Shamrock Rovers get past Armenian side Ararat-Armenia, they will face Egnatia of Albania or Celje from Slovenia.
If Northern Irish outfit Larne overcome Crvena Zvezda of Serbia, they will take on the winners of Vikingur Reykjavik and Hapoel Beer-Shava in the third qualifying round. PA Media
Shall we all discuss the melee instigated by Nahuel Molina, who aimed a punch at Rodri, then Leandro Paredes had a pop at Eric Garcia? It was all a touch pathetic from Argentina after they were deservedly beaten.
They really enjoyed beating England and fair play to them for that, but they acted with zero grace in New Jersey.
I watched both channels because I was paid to do so. It was a finely balanced thing between the two broadcasters. I think ITV missed a trick by sticking with their main show being hosted from the Brooklyn studio when they could have been at the stadium. Equally, I thought their commentary was more enjoyable amid a pretty dreadful game. BBC’s trio of guests seemed a bit livelier and very happy to be in attendance, while Roy Keane and chums felt less engaged.
Most people select the BBC purely to avoid the adverts and on this occasion, they would have been right to do so. ITV, as is their business model, had ads straight after the half-time whistle which lasted for a while, resulting in the briefest of punditry chats before the awful ‘show’ was played in full.
BBC wins World Cup final ratings war
ITV’s coverage in the build up to the final was widely perceived to be superior to that of the BBC but, inevitably, it was the Beeb who won the figures war.
Data from the Digital-i agency shows, on average, 9.7m people watched the match via the BBC, while 2.4m chose ITV. This means BBC has increased its viewership from four years ago when 9.2m saw the 2022 final with Gary Lineker et al, compared to 2.8m on ITV.
The peak audience on BBC was 13.6m vs ITV’s 3.4m.
Brazil international Joao Gomes has joined Aston Villa in a deal reportedly worth £38m.
Midfielder Gomes, 25, who has won 10 caps for his country, ends a three-and-a-half-year spell at Wolves where he made 130 appearances after signing from Flamengo in Brazil.
Wolves technical director Matt Jackson said: “Joao deserves everything he gets from the game. He’s the type of professional that coaches love and players love, so he will go on to be the outstanding player that we know he is.”
Gomes’ arrival at Villa comes following the departure of Youri Tielemans to Manchester United and Morgan Rogers on the brink of making a £117m move to Chelsea. PA Media
The Austria midfielder Xaver Schlager is set to undergo his Nottingham Forest medical this week after agreeing to sign on a free transfer from RB Leipzig on a two-year deal.
Jamie Jackson
Manchester United have signed Tynan Thompson, an 18-year-old winger, from Tottenham for an initial fee of about £4m plus up to £4m in add-ons related to first-team achievement. Spurs have matching rights and a 15% sell-on clause.
Thompson, who has played seven times for England’s under-18s, scored 13 goals and made six assists for Spurs at youth level last term, getting seven goals in seven Uefa Youth League games. The signing of Thompson, who was involved in Tottenham first-team matchday squads, is subject to his registration.
I appreciate the World Cup can be vaguely interesting if you’re into that sort of thing. Personally, West Brom v Bromley playing a friendly in Portugal is what I am all about.
The Baggies won 4-1.
Spanish midfielders Gavi and Fabian Ruiz will receive their weight in tomatoes from their hometown Los Palacios y Villafranca, and will have sports centres named after them.
Spain squad to have parade upon return
The Spain squad are set to land in Madrid at around 2pm local time today. They will be received at the Royal Palace and the Prime Minister’s residence in Madrid, and will have an open top bus parade through the capital.
A 13-year-old died and two people were injured when a fountain partially collapsed in western Spain in the early hours on Monday, marring mass celebrations of the country’s second-ever soccer World Cup victory, emergency services said.
The accident occurred shortly after midnight in Ciudad Rodrigo, a walled medieval city of about 12,000 in Salamanca province, near the border with Portugal.
Hundreds of residents had gathered at the Arbol Gordo fountain in the city’s centre when the upper part of the monument broke loose and struck several people, regional emergency services said.
In a statement, Ciudad Rodrigo’s town hall expressed condolences for the victim. “The entire city feels this loss and accompanies the minor’s friends and family in their grief … What should have been a celebration of the Spanish national team’s World Cup victory has turned into a tragedy,” it said. Reuters
The blatherer’s blatherer indeed. Strap yourselves in for me desperately avoiding discussion of what happened at half time.
Anyroad up, on that note I shall take my leave of you for now. Here’s Will Unwin to blather with you through the next bit.
I’m hoping that because things have become so bad, they must necessarily now become better – Trump’s intervention in the actual sport is, I think, a low watermark that makes reform essential and actually possible.
Leandro Paredes, in particular, performed like Richie Aprile with a hangover; I wonder if he was ticking having been curiously omitted from the starting XI. It’s not the first headloss we’ve seen from him but it may well be the most complete, and it didn’t begin at full time, rather almost as soon as he came on. I guess if you play on the precipice and, to be competitive, maybe Argentina had to, it’s not always easy to avoid falling off and when you do, almost impossible to clamber back on.
So what did we make of the post-match scenes which can only be described as EVERYTHING that NO ONE wants to see?
First of all, that their soundtracking by Rosalía was perfection – please, if ever you get the chance to see her live, I implore you so to do – but otherwise, I’m torn. On the one hand, it’s what Argentina do, and part of the richness of intensity they bring to proceedings but, on the other, dearie me, what a show of themselves they made.
“Had England reached the final I assume Bieber would have been bumped from the pony half time show to squeeze in a few words from Anthony Barry?” suggests Darrien Bold.
After a terrific debut record against Croatia, like the rest of the England camp, he struggled to scale the same heights thereafter. Burt I’ver high hopes for him in the future.
And of course this is part of the same vandalism.
Allow Instagram content?
This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.
It’s a rum do, isn’t it? Trump and Infantino, the bitter Chuckle Brothers, to me, to you-ing the trophy because neither wants to let the other hold it alone, then Trump sticking in the Spain photo while not actually watching the trophy-lift, concerned only about his infiltration of it.
