Spain's Cucurella gets De la Fuente's face tattooed on his arm after World Cup promise

Spain defender Marc Cucurella has made good on a pre-tournament pledge by getting the face of national coach Luis de la Fuente tattooed on his left arm, just over a week after La Roja won their second World Cup title.

The promise and the payoff

Cucurella, 28, made the promise during an interview on COPE's El partidazo at the start of the World Cup. If Spain won the tournament, he said, he would have the coach's face permanently inked on his body. Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in the final on 19 July at MetLife Stadium in New York, with Ferran Torres scoring the decisive goal in the 106th minute of extra time. Nine days after lifting the trophy, Cucurella shared images and video of the tattooing session on Instagram with the caption "Promesa cumplida" (promise kept).

The artwork

The tattoo shows De la Fuente, 65, in a suit holding the World Cup trophy. It was designed and executed by Joaquín Ganga, a hyper-realist tattoo artist from El Palmar, Murcia, whose client list includes LeBron James, Carlos Alcaraz, Drake, Ilia Topuria, and Vinícius Júnior. Ganga teased the session hours beforehand on social media, posting "El tatuaje de Cucurella en unas horas..." (Cucurella's tattoo in a few hours...).

Reactions and fellow challengers

Teammate Mikel Merino commented "Histórico" on Cucurella's Instagram post, while tennis star Carlos Alcaraz called the idea "genial." Attacker Álex Baena of Atlético Madrid made the same tattoo promise during the tournament but has not yet shown a result. Borja Iglesias joined the pledge as well, according to reports. Cucurella had even joked during the competition that if Spain won he would phone De la Fuente the next day and announce his retirement from the national team.

Al día siguiente llamo a Luis y le digo que me retiro.

The influencer Ceciarmy accompanied Cucurella for the session, posting "Hoy es un día muy importante para España porque se cumple la promesa" (Today is a very important day for Spain because the promise is being kept). De la Fuente himself had told RTVE days earlier: "Cucurella es un hombre de palabra" (Cucurella is a man of his word).

Cucurella's path

Cucurella joined Real Madrid from Chelsea just before Spain's opening World Cup match, a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde that De la Fuente later described as motivation toward the final victory. He was a late inclusion in De la Fuente's squad for Euro 2024, entering as a presumptive substitute but starting every match and delivering an outstanding tournament. The coach repeated that trust at the World Cup and Cucurella's performance was rated highly again. The World Cup is his second title with the national team after the 2024 European Championship. He also fulfilled a Euro 2024 promise to dye his hair red if Spain won that tournament.

De la Fuente's record

De la Fuente was appointed Spain coach in 2022 to replace Luis Enrique. He has since won the 2023 Nations League, Euro 2024, and now the 2026 World Cup, delivering Spain's second global title after the 2010 triumph in South Africa. The 1-0 win over Argentina was played across venues in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.