Winning once was good, Germany had to do it one more time. An efficient German side edged Spain 1-0 in a cagey final to claim a second successive men’s World Cup title on Sunday.
It was by no means a classic here at the Belfius Arena. The finalists, Germany and Spain, had derailed co-host Belgium’s journey to a home world championship decider and they both boasted the meanest tournament defense. It was reflected in a tightly-fought encounter, making it a hard watch for the supporters, dominated by neutrals.
Not that Germany would have minded one bit.
As when it mattered, late in the third quarter, Michel Struthoff kept his calm, rounding off the Spain ‘keeper Luis Calzado to pass the ball into the net for the decisive goal following an assist by Paul-Philipp Kaufmann. It was a massive achievement for head coach Andre Henning, who oversaw a significant transition with only nine returnees from the 2023 group.
Germany looked dangerous on the counter, breaking forward from deeper areas, using the wings. Thies Prinz, Christopher Ruhr and Kaufmann combined their fleet-footed running and nifty stickwork to put Spain under pressure early on, earning Germany a Penalty Corner in the opening 90 seconds.
Benedikt Schwarzhaupt’s dragflick was kicked out by Calzado, but it wasn’t any indication of things to come. Spain’s defense, led by Jordi Bonastre, defended its circle, not allowing Germany to get into shot-taking positions.
Spain, meanwhile, chasing its first world title, struggled to find its rhythm early on the ball, and needed until the second quarter for its midfielders to find the link with its forwards, through the middle.
Spain didn’t test German goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg as much as it would have liked. In the second quarter, Borja Lacalle fired a tomahawk from the edge of the circle, which Danneberg punched away.
Spain had three short corners in the third quarter but Pepe Cunill and skipper Marc Miralles fired wide of the post. Defender Teo Hinrichs was immense with his first rush, foiling the duo, even taking a hard strike on his shin.
In the third quarter, even though Spain had the best of the exchanges, Germany remained dangerous on the counter. But a rare defensive lapse proved costly for the Iberian nation.
Germany again worked the ball through the wings to penetrate the Spanish circle. Struthoff, who had ghosted to the byline, did the rest with a little over a quarter left on the clock to give Germany the crucial advantage.
Chasing the equaliser, Spain took off Calzado with less than four minutes to go, but couldn’t break down a resolute German defense. For the crestfallen Spanish players, the wait continued, the latest setback adding to the nation’s heartbreaks from 1971 and 1998.
For the defending champion, despite its transitional state, the record-tying fourth crown further reiterated Henning’s process. Despite a mixed bag of results coming into the World Cup, it once again showed that when the stakes are high, the Honamas go big.
Published on Aug 30, 2026
