Spanyol Raih Juara Piala Dunia 2026 Setelah Kalahkan Argentina

Tim nasional Spanyol berhasil menjadi juara Piala Dunia untuk kedua kalinya setelah mengalahkan Argentina dengan skor 1-0 melalui babak perpanjangan waktu dalam laga final di New Jersey pada Minggu, 19 Juli 2026.

Pemain pengganti Ferran Torres menjadi penentu kemenangan La Roja lewat gol yang dicetaknya pada menit ke-106. Keberhasilan ini membuat Spanyol mendominasi penghargaan individu yang dirilis oleh FIFA setelah pertandingan berakhir.

Gelar pemain terbaik atau Golden Ball resmi diberikan kepada kapten Spanyol, Rodri, yang tampil impresif memimpin lini tengah sepanjang turnamen. Selain itu, penjaga gawang Spanyol Unai Simon menyabet penghargaan Golden Glove setelah mencatatkan tujuh clean sheet dari delapan laga dan hanya kebobolan satu gol.

Bek muda Barcelona berusia 19 tahun, Pau Cubarsi, juga dinobatkan sebagai Pemain Muda Terbaik setelah tampil kokoh mengawal pertahanan Spanyol. Sementara itu, gelar top skor atau Golden Boot diraih oleh penyerang Prancis, Kylian Mbappe, yang mengoleksi 10 gol dan empat assist.

Kesuksesan Rodri memimpin Spanyol memicu nostalgia dari masa lalunya saat mengikuti perkemahan musim panas di Incarnation Camp, Connecticut, Amerika Serikat, pada Piala Dunia 2010. Direktur unit anak laki-laki di kamp tersebut mengenang antusiasme luar biasa Rodri remaja terhadap sepak bola.

"The energy's been great," kata Jimmy Christensen, boys' unit director at Incarnation Camp's Pioneer Village. "We've got a lot of Latin American staff. We've got English staff.

We've got staff from South Africa. So it's a fun thing to have happen while we're here at camp."

Christensen menceritakan bagaimana Rodri yang saat itu baru berusia 14 tahun sangat terobsesi dengan setiap pertandingan yang dilalui timnas Spanyol.

"The biggest memory was him always asking, 'What was the score last night? What was the score last night?'" kenang Jimmy Christensen, boys' unit director at Incarnation Camp's Pioneer Village.

Pihak pengelola kamp sampai harus membeli televisi besar demi memfasilitasi Rodri dan anak-anak lainnya menonton laga final kala itu.

"We went out and bought this big-screen, $3,000 TV from Walmart, got a cable subscription, ran cable from the cabin all the way to the rec hall just for the final match," kata Jimmy Christensen, boys' unit director at Incarnation Camp's Pioneer Village.

Rodri pun merayakan kemenangan Spanyol tahun 2010 secara emosional di area perkemahan tersebut.

"He was going bonkers," cetus Jimmy Christensen sambil tertawa, "Then we returned the TV and canceled the subscription the next day."

Selain aktivitas sepak bola, Rodri juga tetap mengikuti berbagai kegiatan perkemahan lainnya yang telah dijadwalkan.

"We'd do classes of whatever the campers wanted," tutur Jimmy Christensen, boys' unit director at Incarnation Camp's Pioneer Village. "It was soccer, soccer, football, football. We want soccer from Rodri all the time."

Christensen menambahkan bahwa kehadiran Rodri di masa lalu memberikan arti tersendiri bagi para peserta kamp musim panas tahun ini.

"He played a lot of soccer while he was at camp, but he also got exposed to a bunch of other things too." imbuh Jimmy Christensen, boys' unit director at Incarnation Camp's Pioneer Village.

Teknologi di perkemahan kini sudah jauh berkembang dibandingkan tahun 2010 sehingga para peserta bisa lebih mudah menyaksikan pertandingan.

"We got projectors now," kata Jimmy Christensen, boys' unit director at Incarnation Camp's Pioneer Village. "It's definitely more than ever before."

Kebanggaan besar dirasakan oleh seluruh komunitas kamp karena salah satu alumni mereka kini bertanding di laga puncak dunia.

"Just knowing that camp alumni is in it, it's amazing," pungkas Jimmy Christensen, boys' unit director at Incarnation Camp's Pioneer Village.

Dalam tulisan yang diunggah di The Players' Tribune pada tahun 2024, Rodri sempat membagikan pengalamannya yang kesulitan melacak informasi pertandingan karena keterbatasan akses internet di perkemahan.

"I actually arrived there during the start of the 2010 World Cup. I couldn't even check the internet, so I was in pain. But there was a little computer in the office of the main cabin, and every single day, I would ask the camp counselors to tell me who won the games." tulis Rodri, Kapten Timnas Spanyol.

Rodri bahkan sempat mengira para pembina perkemahan sedang bercanda saat mengabarkan kekalahan Spanyol dari Swiss di laga pembuka.

"Spain lost the first match to Switzerland, if you remember. I thought they were messing with me. 'Switzerland? Really?

You sure you googled it right?' Anyway, time is going by, and Spain start playing better. Knockouts — they keep winning." lanjut Rodri, Kapten Timnas Spanyol.

Kecemasan Rodri berlanjut ketika timnya bertanding di babak perempat final tanpa adanya koneksi Wi-Fi selama perjalanan mendayung.

"Then the semifinal against Germany — I'm dying. I'm on a canoeing trip, I think. I keep asking the main counselor, 'Please, please, can you just find out the score?' Finally, we get back to the cabins, and somebody tells me: 'Spain are in the final.'" tambah Rodri, Kapten Timnas Spanyol.

Menjelang laga final 2010, Rodri memohon untuk diizinkan menonton pertandingan melalui laptop berukuran kecil milik pembina.

"I never felt so far from home, but also close to home, if you understand what I mean. For the final, I begged the main counselor to let me watch on his computer. He said OK, sure.

Then he brings out this computer, and it's like a 10-inch screen. You remember those mini laptop PCs? It was one of those.

Tiny." jelas Rodri, Kapten Timnas Spanyol.

Meskipun layarnya sangat kecil dan berada di tengah hutan, Rodri tetap bersyukur bisa menyaksikan momen bersejarah tersebut.

"I'm thinking: It's beautiful. I don't care. Just let me watch. I don't know how we did it, because we were in the middle of the woods, but I must have found a stream that was not exactly legal, and I watched the final, surrounded by Americans who didn't care about what was happening." papar Rodri, Kapten Timnas Spanyol.

Ketika Andres Iniesta mencetak gol kemenangan, Rodri langsung berlari keluar ruangan sambil berteriak kegirangan hingga membuat orang-orang Amerika di sekitarnya kebingungan.

"When Iniesta scored, I literally started screaming, and I ran outside and sprinted around the lake… The Americans thought I was crazy. They were shaking their heads." kenang Rodri, Kapten Timnas Spanyol.

Reaksi histeris tersebut dianggap aneh oleh rekan-rekan perkemahannya yang saat itu belum akrab dengan kultur sepak bola.

"They were looking at me like, 'Wait, is the Spanish guy crying? Over the sawker?' They couldn't understand what it meant to me.

They thought I was crazy. And maybe I am crazy." ungkap Rodri, Kapten Timnas Spanyol.

Mantan direktur kamp lainnya, Chris Garrecht-Williams, mengingat kematangan bermain Rodri sejak usia muda saat sering berlatih juggling kepala bersama di waktu istirahat makan siang.

"I knew that he was a really amazing soccer player, he had a really great vision, and I knew he was really mature," ujar Chris Garrecht-Williams, Mantan Direktur Kamp tahun 2010.

Garrecht-Williams juga tidak menyangka bahwa anak remaja yang dahulu bermain bersamanya kini bertransformasi menjadi salah satu pemain terbaik di dunia.

"It never occurred to me that this is where he would end up, but that he has doesn't surprise me. He had that positive and driven mentality." tutup Chris Garrecht-Williams, Mantan Direktur Kamp tahun 2010.

Kini, 16 tahun setelah momen perkemahan tersebut, Rodri sukses melengkapi deretan penghargaannya dengan membawa pulang trofi Piala Dunia 2026 ke Spanyol setelah sebelumnya juga meraih gelar Ballon d'Or 2024 dan Euro 2024.