Luis de la Fuente Condemns Argentina Players' Behaviour After World Cup Final

Luis de la Fuente did not bother to sugar-coat it.

Spain’s head coach condemned what he called the “intolerable, unacceptable” behaviour of several Argentina players in the chaotic moments that followed Sunday’s World Cup final at New York New Jersey Stadium, a night when his team were supposed to be basking in history.

Spain had just secured a second world title. Red shirts were scattered across the pitch, players embracing, staff in tears. Then the mood turned.

At the centre of the flashpoint were Nahuel Molina and Leandro Paredes. Molina clashed with Rodri, while Paredes went for Eric García and also confronted Gavi amid Spain’s celebrations, turning a coronation into a confrontation.

De la Fuente, speaking later to Spanish television, admitted he had not seen the incidents in real time.

“At the time, I didn’t realise it. I was celebrating, hugging teammates,” he said. The joy of the moment had shielded him from the uglier scenes unfolding a few metres away.

Once he had watched the footage, his stance was blunt.

“It is intolerable, unacceptable, it cannot be allowed,” he said. “Players of that stature, whom I praised in the days leading up to the match and continue to praise, who are great players with a tremendous coach, surely they must have felt just as bad as we did seeing those reactions.”

The clash cut sharply against the image of mutual respect both teams had projected before kick-off. De la Fuente had gone out of his way to highlight Argentina’s quality and competitive edge. On the pitch, that edge spilled over.

The Spain coach instead turned the spotlight on his own squad, lauding what he called their exemplary response in the face of “acts of aggression” and “provocations” that, in his view, carried the potential to spiral into something far worse.

His players chose not to retaliate. On a night already etched into Spanish football history, they walked away with the trophy, the medals, and, in their coach’s eyes, the moral high ground.

The World Cup is over. The images from those frantic post-match seconds are not going away anytime soon.