Just past midnight, the cheers erupted from blocks of lit flats in my neighbourhood in central Madrid. Hours later, people of all generations were still out in the streets in the middle of another tropical night, and not only because it was warm, with temperatures hovering close to 30C. In the big pedestrianised square Plaza de Olavide, fans had gathered around screens, some sitting on the ground while children and dogs ran around. A girl played on the swings, her Spanish-flag cape fluttering as she swung back and forth.
Argentinian Lionel Messi jerseys were visible throughout the crowd. Many fans gathered also at a nearby Argentinian bar. Not too surprising when you consider there are more than 400,000 Argentinians living in Spain. Messi, whose life and career are embedded with Barcelona, is a football hero in Spain too.
It was the same across the city and throughout the country. Barcelona had one of the largest public gatherings, with more than 30,000 people watching on a giant screen installed by the city council. Catalonia is the home region of stars including the 19-year-old Lamine Yamal, the national side’s most promising player. There is as much regional variety in Spain’s team as there is in the country. Several come from the Basque Country, once only a reluctant supporter of the national team. One player, Aymeric Laporte, was born in France. Backgrounds are as diverse as the population.
It was hard not to agree with Ferran Torres, who scored the extra-time goal that brought us victory, when he said his achievement belonged to “47 million people, not just me or my teammates”. But it felt as though the success belonged to many more people around the world, from Gaza, where Spain has come to represent solidarity with the Palestinian cause, to Brazil.
The celebratory mood was just as palpable three years ago when we gathered to watch the women’s national team win the World Cup. But the joy was overshadowed by sexual harassment and misogyny after the Jenni Hermoso case.
Sixteen years ago I watched Spain’s first World Cup victory among late-night crowds in Brussels, where I then lived. That night felt joyful, but those were painful times. I was covering the eurozone crisis that was already hitting Spain harder than almost anywhere else, as a burst property bubble and soaring unemployment left many people with a sense of hopelessness.
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This win feels somehow more rounded. The country itself is in a better place despite the deep political polarisation and widespread mood of dissatisfaction that often dominates public debate. Spain’s economy has become one of the strongest performers in the developed world and its cities feel more prosperous, confident and dynamic than many in Europe.
The national team is young, diverse and relentlessly professional. The cheers in Lavapiés, one of Madrid’s most diverse neighbourhoods, felt momentous in a country where more than 10 million people, about 20% of the population, were born abroad.
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Spain’s players also offered an example of maturity under pressure. The clarity with which Yamal responded to former prime minister Mariano Rajoy’s racist comments about the French national team stood out in contrast to the crudeness of a supposedly experienced politician.
The contrast between football’s power to promote integration, which this team seems to fully understand, with the constant partisan battles dominating public life in Spain couldn’t be sharper.
The message repeated most often by the coach, Luis de la Fuente, and his players is simple and powerful: “We are a team. We embrace diversity while working together towards a common goal.” Spain’s greatest strength on the pitch lies not in individual brilliance but in a cohesiveness that becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Ironically, that sense of shared purpose and collective responsibility is perhaps what Spanish public life is missing the most.
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Yet even if the impact of football seems fleeting and insignificant, especially in these challenging times, its extraordinary appeal can inspire a shared spirit. At its best, it fosters solidarity and camaraderie. At its worst, it can fuel violence and disrespect, as Argentina’s team sadly showed before, during and after the match.
Everyone sees what they want to see in the Spanish national team, be it nationalism, diversity or simply great football. Of course, not every message is inclusive, but the variety of fans on the street, regardless of age, origin or gender, is a reminder of the immense power of football to bring together very different people.
I keep thinking these days about the motto of the country that hosted the World Cup final: E pluribus unum – out of many, one. Those words reflected the US founding fathers’ thinking. They believed the Declaration of Independence’s ideals would unite people from very different backgrounds without needing centuries of shared religions, cultures and wars, as in Europe.
Unity in diversity remains a painfully unfulfilled ideal in the US and in much of the world – also in Spain. But at least for a night, amid the chants, klaxons and fireworks, one could hope that somehow it is still possible.
