Ultimate Performance - World Cup Final 2026 | SIFC

Welcome everybody, this is Sports Illustrated Football Club. I'm Alessandro Emiti and finally we have a world champion. Spain are on top of the world and today with me, as always, Dan Valdemolen and Gino Connello. Dan, let me start with you. How are we, first of all? Really good. I mean, it wasn't the best final that we could have hoped for, but I think we had very worthy winners in the end and what a tournament it's been. Really enjoyed it. Gino, did you enjoy that? Yeah, I mean, the tournament in general was obviously very amazing, like Dan said. Wish we had a better final. Argentina just kind of ran out of gas at the end there, but Spain deserving winners. It's who I had at the very beginning, so I'm pretty happy too. Guys, we know the drill. It's time to pick the player of the round and I'm gonna start with you, Dan. I mean, there are a few options here. Now, I won't go with Emi Martínez, but I think he deserves a notable mention because he was keeping Argentina in that final and I know people are saying that it was a bit of a negative way of playing. They didn't have any shots on target, but if you, you know, we all love to see that flowing football that Spain were playing, but there are other ways to win football matches and I think Argentina gave it a really good go throughout the tournament. So, a notable mention for Emi Martínez, but for me, it is Rodri. Rodri, once again, dominated that midfield. He's had a wonderful tournament and he encapsulated that in the final. Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, the best player of the tournament. What a choice for Dan, Gino. Yeah, I mean, I think Dan made a lot of really good points. Obviously, you could pick anybody in that Spain defense, but I'm actually going to go on the attacking side. I think when Nico Williams came on, he was terrific for them today. Changed the game, obviously had the goal disallowed, and then had the assist on the final game winning goal. I thought he was awesome considering he hasn't played all tournament, basically. Really top performance from him. Yeah, also an assist for Nico Williams. I'm gonna say another player coming off the bench and I'm gonna say you, Pedri. Controlling that midfield, the use of the body. We finally saw the real Pedri. Now, I mean, it's obvious. Do we want to pick the team of the round to win? I'm gonna go with Spain. Oh, what a choice. What a wise choice, Dan. I think that's a good option. It was a tough one, but that's the one I'm gonna go with. Yeah, Argentina, unfortunately, registered zero shots in goal during the game. Never happened before in the World Cup final. Spain were the best team of the tournament and they deserve to win this World Cup. Thanks, Dan. Thanks, Gino. And see you soon.