Luis de la Fuente criticizes Argentina players' intolerable behavior after World Cup final

Luis de la Fuente should have been talking only about glory. About a second star on Spain’s shirt, a night of history at New York New Jersey Stadium, a World Cup final won and a generation confirmed.

Instead, part of his post-match debrief was spent addressing chaos on the pitch.

Spain’s head coach strongly criticised the conduct of several Argentina players in the moments immediately after Sunday’s final, describing their behaviour as “intolerable, unacceptable” as tempers flared during Spain’s celebrations.

At the centre of it all were Nahuel Molina and Leandro Paredes. As Spain’s players began to revel in their triumph, Molina clashed with Rodri, while Paredes confronted Eric García and later went for Gavi as emotions boiled over on the turf where the title had just been decided.

De la Fuente admitted he did not see the incidents live. He was somewhere else entirely – lost in the chaos of victory.

“At the time, I didn’t realise it. I was celebrating, hugging teammates,” he told Spanish television. The images that followed, though, left him furious.

“In any case, it is intolerable, unacceptable, it cannot be allowed,” he said. Players of that level, he stressed, should know better. De la Fuente pointed out that he had publicly praised Argentina and their squad in the build-up, and insisted that respect should run both ways, especially on a stage as big as a World Cup final.

“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,” he added.

The coach’s anger was matched by a clear pride. He highlighted the way his own squad handled what he called “acts of aggression” and “provocations”, insisting that Spain’s players refused to be dragged into a wider confrontation at a moment when tensions could easily have exploded into something far more serious.

On a night that should be remembered purely for footballing excellence, De la Fuente drew a hard line: the World Cup final may be football’s most emotional arena, but for Spain’s coach, there are limits that cannot be crossed – even in defeat, even in despair, and especially under the world’s gaze.