"United in difference, we are unstoppable", stated Juan Carlos Rivero at the closing of RTVE's broadcast of the match between France and Spain, considered by many to be the true World Cup final. Beyond the fact that this grandiloquent cliché seemed to be part of the string of responses with which the governmental orbit reacted to Rajoy's few-hours-old sincerity about the French, it is worth asking to what extent this appeal was not only about football but also about politics. In this second scenario — worse things have been seen — and taking for granted the existence of an "us" that allows us to go "united in difference", perhaps we should ask ourselves: to do what? Only to reinforce the sense of belonging? Perhaps it would be better to unite to improve Rodalies, to complete the Mediterranean Corridor or to achieve, once and for all, railway interoperability. Or are we to unite to colonize institutions, protect relatives or raise walls against immigrants, against the right, or against anyone who aspires to a political alternation in Spain? I confess that doubts are piling up.

The White House published a tweet this Tuesday on the social network "X" commenting on one of the most controversial moments of the Spanish team during the World Cup.

We are not used to the deployment of citizens in red shirts and Spanish flags in the streets of Barcelona with the relevant ritual chants. And it is shocking when you find yourself in it, even if it is perfectly predictable: it is the afternoon and evening when Spain wins its second Football World Cup. Sporting hegemonies play an important role in the economy of collective passions and often generate clichés that hide social complexity. The absence of a Catalan national team in international competitions has been capitalized by Barça, attributing to itself the role of the national team of Catalonia. With this logic of good and bad guys, the 'culer' religion has taken hold in such a way that it seems that the city (and the country) is its territory. But here it is that one day the Spanish team is proclaimed world champion and you go out into the street and you find groups of citizens with rojigualda flags and cries of patriotic enthusiasm, and your face shows that you don't know where you are. What is happening? Well, simply that societies – and people – are more complex than we think, that economies of desire are convoluted, volatile, and that just as they lead to confrontation, they can also lead to unexpected complicities.

The Spanish national team footballers will each receive a bonus of approximately 750,000 euros for winning the World Cup, a figure that is three times the 245,000 euros received by the players of the Spanish women's team. world champion in 2023. Thus, the difference between the extraordinary bonus between male and female players for winning the World Cup exceeds half a million euros.

A bird flying over Madrid's Cibeles square at four in the afternoon would have seen a multitude of open umbrellas. They were not to protect themselves from a null threat of rain, but rather they were essential allies for the brave who were preparing to resist for more than six hours to celebrate the Spanish national team's second World Cup from the front row. Throughout the afternoon, even Samur volunteers refreshed them with atomized water dispensers to withstand the suffocating heat. It is a select group of people who were convinced that the occasion was worth it. Just like the almost two million fans who have flooded the streets of Madrid to follow the parade. The players began their parade from the Arc de Triunfo after passing through the Zarzuela to be received by the royal family and through Moncloa to greet Pedro Sánchez. From there, they traveled four kilometers to reach Cibeles.

The 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, which was decided by a 1-0 Spanish victory, left several controversies beyond the result. From refereeing decisions to post-match incidents, including the unexpected prominence of Donald Trump, these are some of the scenes that have generated the most controversy.

Spain is once again world champion of football. Here are some fundamental ideas about this second title.I said everywhere that Spain was the favorite against Argentina, because the Spanish team has better players who do what they have to do very well and interpret it with intelligence at every moment. If France in the semifinals and Argentina in the final have seemed like minor teams it is because Spain has subjected them with authority. Argentina, on the other hand, has lived each match with a religious tachycardia, doing its homework at the last minute, all hanging by a thread over the abyss, where God, Maradona, the Falklands and Messi are mixed. Messi alone (and even less so at 39 years old) cannot lift a national team that yesterday only shot at goal once in 120 minutes and could not make three consecutive passes. This is due to Spain's great defensive work, which has only conceded one goal in the entire championship, where Pau Cubarsí has graduated in this World Cup, as has Dani Olmo, with a Lamine who scares opponents but who has not fully exploded yet in this World Cup (although winning one at 19 years old is very similar to exploding). He has already won a European Championship and a World Cup with Spain. Now it's time for the Champions League with Barça. Show Time: Lamentable halftime show, with wasted talents like that of director Gustavo Dudamel, with appearances that caused suffering, like those of Madonna, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. The World Cup song, performed by Shakira, has not hooked at all. A 27-minute break at halftime is not football. Infantino rules, Donald Trump's pawn.International politics: Donald Trump wanted to stay with the players when they were going to lift the championship trophy, because it is known that he always wins. In the box he was surrounded by leaders of countries he has insulted and belittled, such as Canada, Mexico and Spain. Spanish politics: National football teams are the ultimate expression of politics, and that's why the Spanish royal family and Pedro Sánchez and three ministers were there yesterday. With the World Cup victory, Pedro Sánchez ensures he reaches September with some oxygen. Yesterday, a Valencian socialist tweeted provocatively: "The Roja won. We reds won," written on July 19th, 90 years after the start of the Civil War. The World Cup will not ease the judges' pressure on cases affecting Sánchez, but people will be busy with other things until September. And in the autumn is when he can announce the call for elections.Catalonia: Thousands of people took to the streets of our country yesterday to celebrate Spain's victory.Horns and firecrackers were heard. The fact that Spain prohibits Catalonia's participation in international competitions is a very strong blow to the normalization of Catalan popular identity, especially for young people, for whom Spain is what is normal. Imagine the opportunity cost of Lamine Yamal not being able to wear the Catalonia jersey. And yet, national team and Spanish sentiment are not direct communicating vessels. Tell me, if not, how many Catalans do you not know who supported Spain because of the Barça players or, simply, because it is the closest national team.We will eat the red [team] for a few days. A red [team] that cannot be explained without Barça (not as much as in 2010, it's true), but where the style taught at La Masia is that of the national team and where eight Catalan players have gone to offer new glories to Spain. And the offering has been pure gold. Good morning.

Ferran Torres will go down in history as the decisive goalscorer in the second World Cup won by the Spanish national team in its entire history. In extra time, the Valencian from Barça shot down Dibu Martínez, who had made several saves, to unleash a delirium that will last for years. Here are some immediate thoughts.

A new era has begun in world football. Spain sewed the second star as world champion onto their jersey after defeating an Argentina in extra time, who had run out of miracles in the semifinals. The final of a strange and exciting World Cup was always played according to what Spain wanted, turning everything around the ball, attacking with ambition. Glory is theirs after a final in which Messi, very disconnected from the game, ceded the crown to Lamine Yamal. An era ends and a new one begins, personified in the young man from Rocafonda. One man alone cannot win World Cups, but a team can. And Luis de la Fuente's team, a coach until recently unknown, is a block that defends a style. An idea in which the collective rules, even though a lack of accuracy prolonged the agony until extra time. A final decided thanks to an unexpected hero, the Valencian Ferran Torres, who caught a ball inside the area. If in 2010 Spain won their first World Cup with a goal from Iniesta in the 116th minute, on this occasion the goal arrived in the 106th thanks, once again, to a Barça player.

"It's the most coveted jersey of the World Cup, without a doubt," states Karolina, an employee at the Adidas Store on Passeig de Gràcia. As we discuss the phenomenon behind this World Cup's most viral jersey, five people approach the shelf where the last few sizes of the Spanish national team's second kit are hanging, almost at the same time. Only a few large and extra-large sizes remain. "At first, only tourists were buying it, but as the tournament has progressed, many national buyers have also come. People associate it with a winning team," she explains. She adds that almost everyone is looking for the same jersey numbers: "Lamine Yamal, Pedri, and Cucurella."

In the stands of the Dallas stadium, Miquel Olmo continued to bite his lip and wring his hands as if he were praying. Dani Olmo's father suffers greatly every time he sees his son playing an important match live. All the hours they spent together, the games, the advice, and when his son was young and used to go to the fields where he coached, flash through his mind. In Terrassa, Figueres, Sabadell, or Girona. Miquel sat on the benches of some of the most important Catalan football clubs. He left a good human impression wherever he went. Now he no longer coaches and follows Dani, always attentive to everyone. You see him traveling with Barça in the Champions League and now, at the World Cup, watching his son's exhibition against France live.

Mariano Rajoy not only downplayed his racist comment about the French team, backed by the PP, but now he is resisting apologizing. Amid the euphoria over Spain's progress to the World Cup final, the former Spanish president has published a new article in El Debate in which he discusses the controversy surrounding him. A chronicle with little footballing content and a lot of politics, in which he directly attacks the Spanish government: "They don't apologize for anything," he even says.

Mariano Rajoy's racist comment about the French team continues to generate reactions. After the criticism that has come from France and the condemnation from Pedro Sánchez's government, it is now Lamine Yamal's turn. "Football, if it serves any purpose, is to integrate society," he stated, following the indignation that has been awakened the chronicle that the former Spanish president published after Spain's victory against Belgium, which qualified Luis de la Fuente's team for the World Cup semi-finals.

The relationship between Spain and France is full of tensions, like so many stories between neighbors. Also in the world of football. The Spanish team won in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Eurocup and in the semifinals of the 2024 Eurocup, but in France they still remember the victory in the only World Cup precedent. It was in the round of 16 of the 2006 edition. The front page of a Madrid newspaper warned with a bold "We are going to retire Zidane", but Luis Aragonés' team had to pack their bags (1-3). The third French goal, to make matters worse, was scored by Zidane, who later went viral in the final against Italy – decided on penalties in favor of the transalpines – for his headbutt to Marco Materazzi. This Tuesday, it will be the second match between Spain and France in the final phase of a World Cup. Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé embody this new rivalry in southern Europe (9 PM, La 1 and DAZN).

The racist comment by Mariano Rajoy about the French team football is still ongoing, but the PP has opted to ignore the criticism and play it down. After France protested the words of the former Spanish president, who said the French team is a team with a lot of "level" but "without Frenchmen", Pedro Sánchez's government has come out in force this Monday to use the controversy against the Popular Party. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has directly demanded that Alberto Núñez Feijóo disavow Rajoy and has asked the media outlet that published his football chronicle, The Debate, who withdraws the article, the sixth by the popular in this World Cup.

The Spanish team is already in the World Cup semi-finals. Suffering, dominating possession but struggling to break down Belgium's defense, Lamine Yamal's team and company eventually defeated the Belgian side (2-1) with an early goal from Fabián and a late one from Mikel Merino just before the end of regulation time. The red team's dream continues despite the team failing to dispel doubts, unable to complete a flawless 90-minute match. The next hurdle is France, with whom they will compete for a place in the final.

With only 11 million inhabitants, Belgium made history in the summer of 2018 by reaching the semifinals of the World Cup in Russia. Despite the defeat against France, its inhabitants received the footballers as if they were true heroes, with a great celebration in Brussels' Grand-Place. One of the most acclaimed was Robert Martínez from Balaguer, their coach. He took office in August 2016, intending to leave after two years. But with the success in the World Cup, which catapulted the country to number 1 in the FIFA rankings, he reconsidered. Aware that the golden generation of players (Courtois, Hazard, Lukaku, De Bruyne, and company) had an expiration date, he became determined to build a legacy that went beyond titles, to prepare Belgian football to sustain its miracle in the future.

Spain, quarter-final team of the World Cup. A goal by Mikel Merino in the last minute places Luis de la Fuente's team among the eight privileged to lift the World Cup this July 19 in New Jersey. The Basque midfielder from Arsenal, a second-half substitute, turned a sensational through ball from Ferran Torres, who also brought magic from the bench, into gold. With this score (0-1), Bob Martínez's Portugal – and Cristiano Ronaldo's – joins the sorrow of Germany, Brazil, or the Netherlands, other teams that have already had to pack their bags. Belgium will be the rivals of the red one in the next round.

Spain has already reached the round of 16 after defeating Austria (3-0) and will face Portugal on Monday, July 6 (9:00 PM). The red one monopolized possession and improved on the feelings left from the group stage, but it is still far from being that fearsome team from the European Championship that was capable of eliminating Germany, France, and England.

The last time the Spanish national team had overcome a World Cup knockout match was in 2010, the year they were proclaimed champions in South Africa. Since then, la roja had either fallen in the group stage or in the first knockout match. Sixteen years later, the Spanish national team broke the curse by defeating Austria (3-0) to reach the round of 16, where they will face Portugal. Oyarzabal around the half-hour mark, and Pedro Porro and – once again – Oyarzabal in the second half tipped the balance in favor of a team that played from less to more but ended up thrashing and dispelling the doubts they had shown at the start of the competition.