MADRID: Spain’s FIFA World Cup-winning squad continues to receive tributes following its title triumph, but two midfielders have been honored with an especially unique reward from their hometown.
The town of Los Palacios y Villafranca, in Spain’s Seville province, celebrated local stars Fabián Ruiz and Gavi for their contributions to the national team’s World Cup victory by presenting each player with tomatoes equal to their body weight.
The ceremony was held at the town hall, where both players were weighed before being awarded the equivalent amount of locally grown tomatoes. Fabián Ruiz, who weighed 85 kilograms, received 85 kilograms of tomatoes, while Gavi was presented with 68.5 kilograms.
Seville province is widely known for its tomato production, making the gift a symbolic tribute to the region’s agricultural heritage as well as the players’ achievements.
During Spain’s successful World Cup campaign, 30-year-old Fabián Ruiz played 366 minutes and scored his team’s opening goal in the quarterfinal against Belgium. Gavi, 21, made his contribution by featuring for 85 minutes during the tournament.
As part of the celebrations, local authorities also announced that two football pitches in the town will be renamed in honor of Fabián Ruiz and Gavi.
More read, World Cup 2026 becomes biggest tournament in FIFA history
Earlier, the 2026 FIFA World Cup concluded with Spain lifting the trophy at MetLife Stadium, capping what FIFA says was the biggest and most commercially successful tournament in the competition’s history.
Expanded to 48 teams for the first time, the tournament featured 104 matches, making it the largest World Cup ever staged. Co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the event ran for more than a month under the competition’s new format.
FIFA said total tournament revenue is expected to exceed €7 billion (about $8 billion), around 56% higher than the revenue generated by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
