Real Madrid's new starting left back Marc Cucurella has been one of the standout players of the 2026 World Cup tournament thus far, and he is a major reason why Spain are in the World Cup Final for the first time in 16 years since winning it all in South Africa over the Netherlands during their last golden era.
Spain have a new golden era on their hands, and Cucurella is a bigger part of it than many had wanted to admit, which is making Real Madrid's decision to sign him for 60 million euros from Chelsea earlier this summer transfer window look even better.
Cucurella is hyped for this game and planning on retiring if Spain add a World Cup to a European Championship like they did 16 years ago, and he spoke a bit about the tactical plan La Roja have to making sure they stop Argentina from repeating as champions.
Marc Cucurella wants Spain to dominate
The former Barcelona and Getafe left back told reporters ahead of the World Cup Final, via the Madrid Zone, “How to stop Argentina? We will have to make sure Argentina don’t get the ball. We have to keep the ball away from them.”
It seems simple enough, but that is very telling and a core tenant of the Pep Guardiola style of play from the 2000s that heavily influenced how Spain have played as a national team since. For Spain, the best defense is keeping the ball, because the other team cannot score if you have the ball.
Both Spain and Argentina have similarities. They defend with grit, they try to control the ball in the middle of the park, they have technically strong players, and they have an attacking superstar (Lionel Messi or Lamine Yamal) surrounded by potential X-Factors to supplement them.
Spain's plan in the World Cup Final against Argentina is going to be to control. They are not going to shy away from playing their game, controlling the pitch, and making sure that they dominate possession so that Argentina can't hoard the ball and manufacture chances for Messi, which is exactly how they have come back and won all the other games despite being outplayed by underdogs.
Cucurella's message for how Spain are going to play is not surprising, but it is telling that he is coming right out and saying it. Spain are not hiding their intentions of how they want to play this final.
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