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Opinion: Marc Cucurella justifies Real Madrid’s €55 million splurge with exceptional World Cup
From criticising the team for not having any representatives in the Spanish national team to celebrating La Roja’s crowning moment with a player in the team of the tournament, Real Madrid and their fanbase enjoyed a rather unexpected journey over the past month.
One move changed it all – the masterstroke of Marc Cucurella’s signing from Chelsea days before Spain’s curtain-raiser at the event.
The club’s decision to sign Cucurella was not motivated by the aim of having a representative in Luis de La Fuente’s side, but that was how the transfer was perceived externally.
Cucurella’s performances at the World Cup, however, have silenced all critics and transformed all lingering skepticism into unanimous acclaim. At this point, Real Madrid seem to have hit the jackpot with his recruitment.
A campaign to be remembered
Cucurella was not just a part of De la Fuente’s plans at the World Cup but an indispensable member of the starting lineup who barely ever left the field.
The left-back played a staggering 750 minutes for Spain in the tournament, meaning he averaged over ninety minutes in each of the team’s eight games. He was not taken off the field for a single minute by the manager.
Alongside Pau Cubarsi and Argentina’s Alexis Mac Allister, that is the highest number of minutes played by any outfield player at the World Cup.
What is astounding is how the player kept up his level for such a long event and complete games without showing even the slightest dip in quality or lapse in concentration. His remarkable physical stamina and tactical durability were headline-worthy.
Jose Mourinho, needless to say, will be pleased with the work rate of the left-back for it is exactly what Real Madrid were lacking in their dynamics last season. A fit and relentless profile like Cucurella can transform this Real Madrid side.
Ice cool under pressure
Spain’s path to the trophy was filled with elite opponents all along the road, right from the dark horses Cape Verde and Uruguay in the group stages to Austria, Portugal, Belgium, France and Argentina in the knockout stages.
Starting as the left-back and going up against the star wingers of all of Spain’s opponents, Cucurella did not have it easy at any stage in the event. The challenges only got harder as the games progressed, but the player blossomed under the pressure.
The former Chelsea star’s positioning effectively neutralised the threat from Pedro Neto and Joao Cancelo against Portugal, Leandro Trossard and Timothy Castagne against Belgium, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and co. vs France and Lionel Messi against Argentina.
While keeping the winger assigned to him in his pocket throughout games, the defender also managed to create regular attacking threats of his own and racked up two assists at the event.
If anything, Cucurella’s performance at the World Cup only exemplifies why he is one of the best in the world in his department and a well-balanced full-back with an excellent defensive and offensive profile.
Numbers to remember
Keeping his physical resilience and on-field impact aside, Cucurella also completed the campaign with numbers to back him, proving that he is not just a player whose quality passes the eye-test but one whose numbers speak for him as well.
📊 Marc Cucurella for Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup 🇪🇸🏆
— Pksports (@Pksportshq) July 20, 2026
🎯 2 Assists
🛡️ 27 Defensive Contributions
👟 7 Clean Sheets in 8 Games
🔄 25 Recoveries
🚫 9 Clearances
💪 19 Duels Won
⬆️ 3 Aerial Duels Won
😳 5 Chances Created
📏 6 Accurate Long Balls
👟 3 Successful Dribbles
🏆… pic.twitter.com/D15860AtWL
Defensively, the 27-year-old was part of the stingiest defensive line in the tournament, and one of the best defensive units of all time in World Cup history. With just one goal conceded all tournament, Cucurella was instrumental in Spain’s defence.
Cucurella produced close to 0.9 interceptions, one tackle, 1.1 clearances, and won 2.4 duels per game. In addition, he had 3.1 ball recoveries per game and blocked 0.4 shots every ninety minutes.
Offensively, he created three big chances, averaged 0.8 key passes per game, and racked up two assists from an xA of 1.18. He also completed 91% of his passes and 60% of his dribbles.
He also stands out as the player to cover the second-highest distance through the course of the tournament (84 km).
Takeaway
Real Madrid shelled out a sum of €55 million for Cucurella earlier this summer, and a lot was understandably said about the decision given that the squad already had three left-backs.
His performances, however, have seen most of that criticism redacted and it is now clear that he will be Mourinho’s starting left-back for the upcoming season by some margin.
With every passing day, the player’s price tag seems increasingly to be a bargain, and Los Blancos can be certain that they are receiving the services of a match-winner.
The only question, however, is how he will adapt to the Merengues’ system and whether he can thrive in the on-field environment. After all, playing under the pressure at Real Madrid is not for everyone.
Not many saw the result that unfolded at the Estadio de La Cartuja last night coming, as Real Madrid slipped to a shocking 1-0 defeat to Real Betis.
Jose Mourinho made a couple of changes to his team on the night but fielded one of his strongest possible XIs, acknowledging the difficulty of the challenge Los Verdiblancos posed.
The first half ended scoreless, with the visitors completely dominating the flow of the game but failing to convert their chances. After the break, they only upped the ante and pressed higher to break the deadlock.
Almost against the flow of the game, however, Troy Parrott fired from very close range to put his side ahead through a set-piece, and Real Madrid had just ten minutes to find two goals.
A hard-fought ten minutes, a disallowed goal and a missed penalty later, however, the full-time whistle blew with Real Madrid staring at defeat.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Betis 1-0 Real Madrid.
A first loss under Mourinho
Real Madrid’s lacunae were visible in the team’s first away clash of the new season when they took home a last-gasp win over Espanyol.
They looked comfortable at home, but it has always been clear that they are not invincible.
A first defeat of the season, in that sense, was always just a matter of time as the team continued to develop under Jose Mourinho, and that setback appeared early in the campaign last night.
The defeat to Real Betis at the Estadio de La Cartuja continued Real Madrid’s trend of struggling away from home and exposed the team’s lacunae to the world once more.
A lot can be said about the refereeing and how the result was harsh on Los Blancos, but the fact of the matter remains that a team with the talent that Real Madrid possesses simply has no excuses to look so blunt in attack.
Jose Mourinho’s men created chances in abundance on the night, but none of the team’s star forwards could effectively finish a single chance.
Kylian Mbappe had a rare off-night and even Jude Bellingham did not score from any of his three shots. Vinicius Jr., Arda Guler, Yan Diomande and Carlos Espi all had their chances, but all failed to bury even a single chance.
In the end, it can be called misfortune, but for Real Madrid to have made nothing of an xG of 3.46 and to miss a penalty in the same game has to be dug into. The players did not play poorly, but the lack of a lethal finish came back to bite them.
Mbappe’s controversial penalty
Real Madrid had a massive chance to salvage something from the frustrating night in the 94th minute when the referee awarded the visitors a penalty that would see them return to level terms.
Kylian Mbappe stepped up, and it was taken for granted that the Frenchman would score as usual. Astonishingly, however, Mbappe did not find the back of the net.
For starters, it must be said that the Merengues have no one to blame but themselves for the defeat to Real Betis, for they could not have had a clearer chance to steal at least a point away from the night.
However, there was a clear element of controversy in the spot-kick that must not be misinterpreted as an excuse.
At the precise moment that Mbappe struck the ball from the spot, a Real Betis player was half inside the penalty area with his foot in the air.
Had the player’s foot been on the ground, the penalty would certainly have been retaken, and had he been outside the area, the save would be deemed completely fair. His foot being airborne, yet inside the box, however, opens up a grey area.
The referee on the night believed that having the foot in the air did not warrant a retake, and saw Real Madrid lose their penalty.
However, there are strong grounds to claim that it should have been retaken as his foot being inside the box takes precedence over whether it was grounded or not.
Had the referee’s decision gone differently, one would have backed Mbappe to come good the second time and Real Madrid would have avoided the defeat.
Alvaro Valles deserves his flowers
For Real Madrid to create seven big chances, have 20 shots and an xG of 3.46, and yet not score is simply absurd. But it happened last night against Los Verdiblancos, and only one man stood in between Real Madrid and the scoresheet – Alvaro Valles.
The Real Betis goalkeeper delivered the performance of his lifetime as he stopped chance after chance and denied the visitors any sight of goal.
In 90 minutes, Valles made a staggering six saves, all of which came from inside the box, and prevented a direct xG of 2.98. In simpler terms, Real Madrid should have scored three goals past him with the quality of chances they had, but he directly stopped them all.
Further, Valles saved Mbappe’s penalty under the highest of pressure in a moment that was simply the crowning moment of his entire night.
On a different night, with a different goalkeeper, the outcome of the game could well have been very different.
Valles, however, deserves every bit of praise he is earning for his performance last night, and even Real Madrid fans have no option but to stand and applaud the shift he put in for ninety minutes.
