Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in extra time to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19, making 65-year-old coach Luis de la Fuente the oldest manager ever to lift the trophy. Substitute Ferran Torres scored the only goal of the match, delivering Spain their second World Cup title after their 2010 triumph.
The 2022 Qatar tournament saw crypto firms like Crypto.com and Algorand serve as official sponsors, despite launching those deals near the peak of a brutal bear market. The 2026 tournament, hosted across the US, Canada, and Mexico, offered an even more strategically valuable audience for Web3 companies trying to crack the US market.
De la Fuente’s historic run and the economics of attention
Luis de la Fuente took over Spain’s national team in December 2022 after their exit from the Qatar World Cup. In roughly three and a half years, he assembled one of the most dominant runs in international football history: the UEFA Nations League title, UEFA Euro 2024, and now the World Cup. That’s an unprecedented treble for a men’s national team coach.
At 65, de la Fuente surpassed the record previously held by Vicente del Bosque, who guided Spain to their first World Cup in 2010.
