. Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente says he will not give a single player a special responsibility to stop Argentina captain Lionel Messi in the final of the 2026 World Cup.
At a press conference ahead of Sunday’
s title clash with Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New York, De La Fuente said the “man-marking” strategy against Messi has failed in the past.
The Spanish coach recalled the first time he saw Messi playing as a youngster.
He recalled that his team had a special plan to stop Messi in the Copa del Rey match between Sevilla and Barcelona years ago.
“I met Lionel Messi when I was playing youth football. It was a Copa del Rey match between Sevilla and Barcelona. We’ve heard a lot about Messi,” De La Fuente said. “Initially, we decided to mark him as a man. The match ended in a goalless draw until the 70th minute. When the player who was stopping him got a card, I changed him. Messi scored four goals in the next 15 minutes. “
De La Fuente said the World Cup final will be a big focus on Messi, but the plan is not to stop it with just one player. “Are we going to man-mark him? Nope. But will we pay more attention to him? Yes. But they’re going to pay the same attention to our players,” he said.
The Spanish coach praised Argentina and coach Lionel Scaloni and said he had his respect for them.
“Praise, praise and even more praise,” he said of Argentina. He said Scaloni was a good friend of his.
De La Fuente urged Spain’s young star Lamin Yamal not to be compared to Messi and said Yamal should be allowed to develop in his own style.
“Lamin, Yamal, Yamal. Messi is an unbelievable talent and an example for all young players. But Lamin has to make his own identity,” he said.
Spain is in excellent form at the 2026 World Cup.
The team has conceded just one goal in the tournament so far and became the first team in the history of the men’s World Cup to have 6 clean sheets in a single World Cup. Spain beat Austria, Portugal, Belgium and France to reach the World Cup final for the first time since 2010.
Spain are unbeaten in 37 games in a row and beat Argentina on Sunday to set a new record for the European men’s national team’s longest unbeaten streak. Argentina are looking for their second successive World Cup title.
Argentina defeated England 2-1 in the semi-finals to win their last 14 matches in a row. The team set a new record by scoring eight goals in the 85th minute.
The latest head-to-head history between Argentina and Spain is drawn. Both teams have won 6-6 and two matches have been drawn. Therefore, the World Cup final between European champions Spain and Copa America champions Argentina is expected to be very exciting. ANI
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