2026 World Cup Final: How Spain Manager Luis de la Fuente Plans to Stop Lionel Messi

The Spanish manager gave a look into his tactical plans for the 2026 World Cup final.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente will have his hands full with Lionel Messi. | Elsa/Getty Images

Spain is suiting up to battle Argentina on Sunday in the 2026 World Cup final. The European powerhouse may be the current favorite to hoist the hardware at MetLife Stadium, but the South American side won’t go down easy. It will be relentless in its pursuit of a second consecutive World Cup crown, a feat no nation has achieved in over 60 years (Brazil, 1962).

The biggest obstacle standing in Spain’s way, though, is most certainly the one and only Lionel Messi. The 39-year-old soccer legend, although supposedly in the “twilight” of his seasoned career, is having his best World Cup at the sixth attempt. He has scored eight goals and notched four assists to nearly single-handedly keep Argentina alive in the last four nail-biting stages. His late-stage heroics have almost certainly sealed up the Golden Ball award, if he doesn’t also walk away with the Golden Boot.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente is simply excited for the hearty competition and the chance for Spain to compete for its first World Cup since 2010. Still, he is keeping Messi at the core of his tactical plans.

“Just being in a final is a privilege. Id sign up to reach a world championship final every year and lose,” de la Fuente told reporters on Friday. “We want to fight to win it. We’re going to enjoy this moment. They’re a great rival with a spectacular track record.”

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What Is Spain’s Plan for Messi?

Lionel Messi has been unstoppable this summer. | Erick W. Rasco/ Sports Illustrated

“We won’t man-mark [Messi], but we’ll be vigilant,” De la Fuente said. “[Argentina manager Lionel] Scaloni and I are two great competitors who admire each other a lot. It’s a privilege to face him.”

With the cancellation of the Finalissima between the two nations scheduled for March, De la Fuente missed out on a critical opportunity to experiment tactically against Messi. Nevertheless, the Spanish boss does have prior experience facing the soccer star, back when Messi was just 16 years old.

It was May 2004. Messi was coming up through Barcelona’s youth ranks, and De la Fuente was coaching the U-19 side at Sevilla. The two teams went head-to-head in a cup clash at the Miniestadi. Interestingly enough, removing Messi’s man-mark in that match is exactly what burned De la Fuente in the end.

“They had spoken very well about a boy called Messi,” De la Fuente recalled. “So, we put a man-marker on him. In the 70th minute, it was 0–0. When they gave a yellow card to the player who was marking him, I took him off. And in 15 minutes, Messi scored four goals.”

Just sayin'...
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De la Fuente doesn’t believe his side will suffer a similar fate on Sunday, even without man-marking Messi.

“Does that mean we are going to man-mark him? No,” De la Fuente added. “Does it mean we will pay close attention to him? Yes, but in exactly the same way that they are going to have to pay attention to our players.”

Spain touts the likes of attacking threats Lamine Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal, among others that Argentina must account for. Additionally, the defending European champion will be confident in its defensive capabilities, having conceded only one goal all tournament.

Nevertheless, Spain will need to be vigilant in the last 15 minutes of the match specifically. That is when Argentina, and Messi in particular, completely light up, as if addicted to the procrastination of winning. It is a heart attack-inducing strategy, but has nonetheless proven effective for the squad thus far. Of its 19 total goals this summer, Argentina has scored 12 of them in the 75th minute or later. Of those 12, Messi scored four and assisted three others.

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