Spain Wins World Cup: A Historic Victory with Trump’s Praise

The 2026 World Cup ended with a familiar colour on the podium and a very unfamiliar vantage point on the pitch.

Spain, fresh from their Euro 2024 triumph, beat Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the final on July 19 to reclaim the biggest prize in football, their first World Cup since 2010. The scoreline was tight, the story anything but.

Ferran Torres delivered the decisive moment, steering home the only goal of the game and etching his name alongside Spain’s golden generation of a decade and a half ago. One strike, one star added.

On the grass, amid the noise and the pressure, referee Slavko Vincic carried an extra layer of scrutiny. He wore a camera throughout the final, capturing his point of view as he navigated 90 minutes with Messi, a world title on the line and a global audience watching.

The footage, shared by The Athletic, revealed more than just angles and replays. It picked up Vincic’s exchanges with players, including a moment where he told Messi to “control” a teammate as tensions flickered in the heat of the contest. The game never boiled over. The referee’s voice, firm and close-up, showed part of the reason why.

When the final whistle went, the chaos gave way to ceremony.

Like the players, the match officials climbed the steps to the podium, where FIFA president Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump waited with medals. One by one, the referees moved along the line.

Trump greeted Vincic with a broad endorsement, telling him he had done a “great job” — twice — as he placed the medal around the Slovenian’s neck. The moment was brief, but it underlined how deeply the World Cup final pulls in power, politics and prestige alongside pure sport.

Trump stayed on the podium after the medal presentations, lingering as the celebrations built. When the time came for Spain to lift the trophy, he was ushered aside so the new world champions could take centre stage.

Down on the pitch and in the streets, the party had already started.

Torres, the match-winner, was later seen during Spain’s celebrations wearing a red cap emblazoned with the slogan “Make Spain Great Again” — an unmistakable riff on Trump’s own “Make America Great Again” branding. The image travelled fast.

Trump did not let it pass without comment. Speaking afterwards about the World Cup hero “essentially” wearing a MAGA cap during the parade, he said: “He is a great player. He was wearing essentially a Make America Great Again cap, so it was a nice tribute. And I think he meant that very nicely; we appreciate it.

“We have, we’ve made America great. We’re the greatest country in the world now. I will say this, we, a year and a half ago, two years ago, this country was in deep trouble.”

On a night meant to crown the best in world football, Spain took the trophy, Torres took the headlines, and even the referee’s camera found its way into the story. The World Cup final once again proved it never belongs solely to the 22 players on the pitch.