Football

Doha, Qatar: Whenever the wife of Spain right-back Pedro Porro asks their nearly one-year-old son how his father celebrates his goals, little ‘Pedrito’ plops down on the floor and raises his very small fist. Unfortunately, a small fever prevented Pedrito from being at Tuesday’s FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final against France, with Porro’s mother staying behind to take care of the infant. But that was not about to stop Porro from having a special father-son moment after he scored the second goal in La Roja’s 2-0 victory over Les Bleus. Imitating little Pedrito, Porro sat down on the pristine Dallas Stadium grass and raised his hand skyward. “[My mother] didn’t come because my little one had a fever,” said Porro about the celebration. “It’s normal – it could be teething, growing pains, or any number of things. But I decided he should stay at the hotel. Everything’s fine, though. I gave him a little wave, and hopefully he’ll be feeling a bit better tomorrow.” It was the highlight of a magical day for Porro, who just 24 hours earlier commented to assembled reporters that he hoped Tuesday would “be Lamine Yamal’s day”. As it turns out, much of the final four encounter belonged to Porro himself, who scored his second goal at these global finals when he polished off a slick one-two combination with Dani Olmo. His two goals puts him in rarefied air, with the Tottenham man equalling the legendary Fernando Hierro for most World Cup goals by a Spain defender with two. “I’m very happy about that statistic, but I think the victory belongs to the team,” said Porro. “The victory belongs to the 26 of us, to the coaching staff, to everyone supporting us back home, to everyone here cheering us on. I’d like to dedicate it to all of them – it’s not easy for all the families who’ve come all the way here.” (FIFA)

Football

Doha, Qatar: Spain arrived in North America carrying the weight of expectation. As the reigning UEFA European champions and blessed with one of the most gifted generations in world football, La Roja were widely tipped to go all the way. Yet the road to Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final has featured its share of challenges. An opening goalless draw against World Cup debutants Cape Verde briefly cast doubt over their credentials. Spain fired 27 attempts but could not beat goalkeeper Vozinha, raising early questions over whether the favourites would live up to expectations. Those questions have long disappeared. Since that frustrating afternoon, Luis de la Fuente’s men have responded like champions, combining patience, control and defensive discipline to put together one of the tournament’s most complete campaigns. They have conceded just one goal in six matches while finding different ways to win against every challenge placed before them. Their semi-final victory over France showed why Spain now stand one win away from lifting a second World Cup trophy after their triumph in 2010. France entered the last four as many experts’ favourites after scoring 16 goals and sweeping aside strong oppositions with one of the tournament’s most feared attacks. Instead, they ran into a Spanish side that controlled possession, dictated the tempo and denied Kylian Mbappe and company any meaningful rhythm. Mikel Oyarzabal converted a first-half penalty before Pedro Porro added the second after the break, while Lamine Yamal even had a goal ruled out in a performance that rarely allowed France a route back into the contest. “We started almost four years ago with an idea and we’ve been faithful to that idea and it’s brought us here,” De la Fuente said after the victory. “The message was that we were up against one of the best teams in the world, but that they were up against the best team in the world.” The coach’s confidence has been matched by the performances of his players. Spain recovered from the Cape Verde setback by thrashing Saudi Arabia 4-0 before edging Uruguay to top their group. The knockout rounds brought increasingly difficult tests, but they answered every one of them. Austria were swept aside 3-0 before Spain survived a tense battle against Portugal thanks to substitute Mikel Merino’s stoppage-time winner. Merino again came off the bench to score the decisive goal against Belgium in the quarter-finals. Equally impressive has been the back line. Goalkeeper Unai Simon and his defence built a remarkable sequence of clean sheets before Belgium finally ended their long run without conceding. Even then, Spain quickly regained control and continued to look the tournament’s most balanced side. For De la Fuente, the achievements go beyond tactics. “These players deserve everything,” he said. “Day after day they’ve shown their commitment, their solidarity, their generosity, their talent. They make the difficult look easy.” The coach believes the unity inside the squad has been the foundation of Spain’s success. “We’ve recaptured the spirit of 2010,” he said. “This team never ceases to amaze me. The scope for improvement is endless.”

Football

Atlanta: Lautaro Martinez scored a 92nd minute winner as Lionel Messi inspired World Cup holders Argentina to a stunning comeback to beat England 2-1 on Wednesday and set up a final with European champions Spain. England had been on course to reach their first World Cup final since 1966 after Anthony Gordon fired them into the lead 10 minutes after half-time in the semi-final in front of 68,239 fans in Atlanta. But the great rivalry between these nations has produced several memorable contests on the World Cup stage down the years and this will be remembered as the stuff of legends in Argentina as the South Americans denied England with two late sucker punches. Messi set up Enzo Fernandez to fire in an 85th-minute equaliser and then, with extra time looming, crossed for substitute Lautaro Martinez to head in the winner in the second minute of stoppage time. It was maybe not quite up there with Diego Maradona's legendary display in putting England to the sword in 1986, but the goals this time brought Argentina back from the dead and kept alive their hopes of winning back-to-back World Cups. No team has retained the trophy since Brazil in 1962, and now Messi will become just the second player after Brazilian great Cafu to appear in three World Cup finals. The game will take place at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday in New Jersey, as the first 48-team World Cup boils down to a controntation between the reigning champions of Europe and South America. Messi had waited until the age of 39 to get the chance to play against England, and now he will face Spain for the first time in a competitive game. His career appeared to be complete when he dragged Argentina to glory in 2022 in Qatar, but he is clearly not done yet. England, though, will have huge regrets as they head to Miami to play France in Saturday's third-place play-off, a game neither team will want to contest. The prospect of a first World Cup final appearance since their sole triumph 60 years ago was a momentous one, and they were so close, but will live to regret sitting back after Gordon's opener. The key men for Thomas Tuchel's side during this campaign have been Jude Bellingham and captain Harry Kane, yet they failed to deliver on this occasion, and England's players slumped to the turf at full time. Lautaro winner Given the deep-rooted rivalry between these nations, this was always likely to be a game with an edge and there was a tangible feeling of tension in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Argentina's players were clearly fired up, partly by a determination to hold onto their World Cup crown but also by a sense of what this fixture means. That translated into a niggly contest pockmarked by fouls in the first half, including Elliot Anderson being booked for scything down Messi. There were no real chances to speak of in the first half, but England struck in the 55th minute. Kane was involved in the build-up as the ball eventually came to Morgan Rogers on the right, and he whipped in a low cross towards the back post where Gordon stole in front of Nahuel Molina to score. But this was the stadium where Argentina produced a stunning comeback from 2-0 down to beat Egypt in the last 16, and they were not done. They threw everything at their opponents, as Jordan Pickford made a great save from a Nico Gonzalez header, and Alexis Mac Allister was then denied by the post in the 76th minute. Fernandez was denied from range by Pickford, but moments later he equalised, controlling a Messi pass on the edge of the area and letting fly past the goalkeeper. Argentina smelled blood, and Mac Allister again hit the post before England failed to clear and Lautaro Martinez headed in the winner from an exquisite Messi cross to spark chaotic scenes of celebration and leave England completely deflated.