Who Is Ferran Torres? The Super-Sub Who Scored Spain's World Cup-Winning Goal

Ferran Torres came off the bench to become Spain's World Cup hero. The Barcelona forward scored the only goal of the final, a 106th-minute strike that beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time.

Torres was born on February 29, 2000, in Foios, a small town near Valencia. He came through Valencia's academy before a big-money move to Manchester City, and later joined Barcelona, where he now plays. He was named Man of the Match for his winning goal in the final.

His route to that moment wasn't smooth. Torres has spoken openly about a difficult stretch at Barcelona when he lost form and struggled with confidence, describing it as feeling like "a bottomless pit." He began seeing a psychologist to work through it, and credits that process with turning his career around. He came back to score 11 goals in 2023-24, then 19 the following season, form that helped him force his way back into the Spain squad.

At this World Cup, Torres started the final on the bench behind Mikel Oyarzabal. Manager Luis de la Fuente brought him on in the 61st minute, with the game still goalless. Spain and Argentina remained level deep into extra time before Torres finally broke through, arriving at the far post to turn home the winner and send the Spanish bench into celebration.

It was Torres's first goal of the tournament, but his third at World Cup level, adding to two he scored back in Qatar in 2022. He now has a Euro 2024 winner's medal and a World Cup winner's medal from Spain's golden run under de la Fuente.