De la Fuente: We don't care who we face, we delivered a complete match

Spain's head coach, Luis de la Fuente, praised his players' performance after their narrow 1-0 win over Portugal, securing a spot in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup. He emphasized that the team deserved the victory in what he described as an "early final".

In post-match television comments, De la Fuente said: "It was a fantastic match, like an early final. As expected, we suffered until the last moment, but we delivered a complete performance. The substitutes had the biggest impact."

Regarding the substitutions, particularly Mikel Merino, who scored the winning goal, he explained: "I asked him to play his usual way and support the team in both midfield and attack. We were also thinking about giving some players rhythm in case we went to extra time, but the contributions from the substitutes were exceptional and crucial."

On Spain's potential quarter-final opponent (Belgium or the USA), he stated: "At this stage, we don't care who we face; we are happy to reach the quarter-finals and will fight until the end. We have many qualities that make opponents see us as the team to beat."

De la Fuente concluded his remarks by saying: "We have great confidence in ourselves and believe in our abilities. We will give our best until the last moment, and if any team wants to eliminate us, they will have to beat us on the pitch."