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Back and forth—even for longer than 90 minutes if necessary: Marc Cucurella is a passionate tackler, a strong crosser, and a true source of energy
Keystone
Marc Cucurella is one of the reasons Spain made it to the World Cup final—and he’s a remarkable figure. A world-class defender, the father of a sick child, a pariah in Germany—and a fan of his coach.
With his hair blowing in the wind, Marc Cucurella thunders down the left wing. Back and forth. 90 minutes. And if necessary, even longer. The curly-haired player is a passionate tackler, a strong crosser, a true source of energy—and a key to Spain’s success at this World Cup. In Sunday’s final against Argentina (9:00 p.m. Swiss time) in East Rutherford, the 27-year-old hopes to add the next major chapter to his already remarkable story.
In Germany, Cucurella became a major scapegoat due to his unpunished and much-discussed handball in the European Championship quarterfinal two years ago. For France’s attacking stars, led by superstar Kylian Mbappé, he was a living nightmare in Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal in Arlington. “What a damn awesome performance!” the fullback exclaimed as he ran into the locker room after the European champions’ well-deserved 2-0 victory, still buzzing with adrenaline.
Who is this man who has become so indispensable to Spain's national team?
Cucurella doesn’t have the popularity and star power of former great defenders like Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, or Gerard Piqué, who won Spain’s only World Cup title to date 16 years ago. But perhaps that’s exactly what makes him so valuable. The French would have had to face “the best team” in the semifinals, said Spain’s national team coach Luis de la Fuente—and by that he didn’t mean the quality of his players’ game, but rather their team spirit. Cucurella embodies that spirit like almost no one else.
Early in his career, the defender learned that the path to the spotlight isn’t always a straight one—sometimes you have to take less glamorous detours. Trained at FC Barcelona’s famous youth academy, Cucurella was first loaned to Eibar and Getafe, then played for Brighton & Hove Albion before making the move to Chelsea in 2022. After the World Cup, he’s taking an even bigger step: to Real Madrid. He’s fully committed to the move—even as a native Catalan.
Cucurella knows that his move to Real Madrid hasn’t won him only friends back home. He’s aware of all the criticism he’s facing, but he also knows how to put it into perspective. A year after the ball struck his hand during Germany’s elimination in the 2024 European Championship quarterfinals—and referee Anthony Taylor still did not call a penalty—Cucurella returned to Stuttgart and Munich last summer for the Nations League finals. He was mercilessly booed—and didn’t let any of it show.
Anyone who meets Cucurella off the field will find a thoughtful man who knows that life is about more than just soccer. He is the father of an autistic son and speaks openly about it. “It’s difficult,” he once said. “No one teaches you how to be a parent, but in the end, you have to learn. An autistic child doesn’t understand things the same way his siblings do; you have to learn to understand him.” That’s what they do together—Cucurella, his partner Claudia Rodriguez, and their two other children.
Understanding one another is the key to success—even in sports. Cucurella has a particularly close relationship with Spain’s coach, De la Fuente, partly because De la Fuente coached him back in the youth ranks. “He’s a great person and an outstanding coach,” he once said of the 65-year-old. As a national team coach, you have to suddenly bring together players who don’t usually see each other very often for a major tournament and keep them in good spirits for weeks on end, Cucurella explained. And that’s exactly where De la Fuente is “number one.”
His bond with the coach is so strong that, should Spain win the title at this World Cup, Cucurella is even considering getting a small tattoo of De la Fuente’s face. After the 2024 European Championship triumph, he had his hair dyed red—a nod to the Spanish national team’s nickname: La furia roja—“the red fury.” And now this tattoo business. You just have to understand him—the man with the mane.
17.07.2026, 04:31
17.07.2026, 07:49
