{"id":57863,"date":"2026-07-20T02:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/57863\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T02:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:25:10","slug":"how-ferran-torres-scored-world-cup-winning-goal-for-spain-to-beat-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/57863\/","title":{"rendered":"How Ferran Torres scored World Cup-winning goal for Spain to beat Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) \u2014 Ferran Torres delivered Spain the winning goal<\/a> at the World Cup<\/a> with a play made possible by two of the team\u2019s best players and two who substituted into the final against Argentina on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Until that point, Spain put 11 shots on net and could not crack opposing goalkeeper Emiliano \u201cDibu\u201d Mart\u00ednez.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had many chances,\u201d Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. \u201cBut Dibu was nothing short of exceptional.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teams had played 105 minutes, and Spain looked to get a big advantage when Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez was sent off in regulation stoppage time with his second yellow card.<\/p>\n

Still, playing 11 men against 10, Spain was unable to capitalize on any chances through the first half of extra time, including a disallowed goal when the referee ruled that Mikel Merino stepped on one of Argentina defender Nicol\u00e1s Otamendi\u2019s feet prior to Nico Williams putting the ball into the net.<\/p>\n

The buildup to the goal<\/p>\n

With the score 0-0 coming out of the midway point of extra time, Spain got the ball at midfield. Argentina, playing shorthanded, put up very little resistance. <\/p>\n

Pau Cubars\u00ed passed the ball up the field to Marc Cucurella, then Eric Garc\u00eda and then up to Mart\u00edn Zubimendi, who found Yamal on the right. Yamal put a shot on net very early in the game and also had another earlier scoring chance, earning the praise of teammates and his coach for being one of the best on the field at 19 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s played great football, a football that will help him to mature and be even a greater footballer than what he is,\u201d de la Fuente said. \u201cHe\u2019s really sacrificed for the collective good, and this is very important in our squad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yamal got the ball to Pedro Porro, who touched the ball almost as much as anyone else in the final.<\/p>\n

Porro gets the ball deep for Nico Williams<\/p>\n

This was the most important of Porro\u2019s 130 touches, and he made it count. His right-footed cross into the box almost went out of play past the far post.<\/p>\n

Instead of going past the goal line and out of play, Williams, who entered in the 75th minute, headed the ball back toward Torres.<\/p>\n

It was at that moment that de la Fuente flashed back to the goal Andr\u00e9s Iniesta scored in extra time to help Spain win the 2010 World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat picture, that image is very vividly on my mind,\u201d de la Fuente said. <\/p>\n

Torres, who came on just past the hour mark, connected perfectly with his left foot. The shot, Spain\u2019s 20th of the match to none for Argentina at the time, sailed past a couple of defenders and Mart\u00ednez to give Spain a 1-0 lead in the 106th minute.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think at the end of the day, it was a goal scored by 47 million people,\u201d Torres said. \u201cI feel very happy. I was heavily criticized during the World Cup, but I think it was written in destiny and things. But I always have that chance, that option to continue, and God gives it to those who believe it, who deserve it most.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Barcelona star kicked down the corner flag as he was mobbed by teammates and fans celebrated around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy for him to have scored this goal,\u201d de la Fuente said. \u201cHe will make it into history. He has already made history and he deserves it.\u201d<\/p>\n

De la Fuente said Spain\u2019s players and coaches tried to keep their cool knowing the match was not over. <\/p>\n

Torres nearly scored again but was offside, and Spain survived corner opportunities by Argentina to knock off the defending champions and win its second World Cup title.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) \u2014 Ferran Torres delivered Spain the winning goal at the World Cup with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23728,4027,23304,4628,23727,23501,3469,934,3358,154,7980,14768,368,10818,3482,10759,9191,23729,7842,1743,1760,17,6551,396],"class_list":["post-57863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-andrs-iniesta","tag-argentina","tag-argentina-national-soccer-team","tag-central-america","tag-emiliano-martnez","tag-enzo-fernndez","tag-eric-garca","tag-ferran-torres","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-latin-america","tag-marc-cucurella","tag-martn-zubimendi","tag-mikel-merino","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nicholas-williams","tag-nicols-otamendi","tag-pedro-porro","tag-soccer","tag-south-america","tag-spain","tag-spain-national-soccer-team","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}