Spain have won the World Cup, pocketed $51 million, and are getting championship rings — and somehow the best part of the celebrations is two midfielders standing on scales in a Seville town hall to receive tomatoes.
Fabian Ruiz and Gavi, both from Los Palacios y Villafranca in the province of Seville, were honored Tuesday in the most local, most Spanish way imaginable. The region is known for tomato production. So they weighed the lads — Ruiz at 85 kg, Gavi at 68.5 kg — and handed them the fruit accordingly. It's the kind of ceremony that could only happen in Spanish football, and it's all the better for it.
Two very different World Cup contributions
The contrast between what these two actually did at the tournament is worth sitting with for a moment. Ruiz was a genuine engine for Spain — 366 minutes played, and the man who put the first goal past Belgium in a 2-1 quarterfinal win. At 30, this was the PSG midfielder's tournament. He earned his tomatoes.
Gavi? Eighty-five minutes. A squad player's contribution at this World Cup, though at 21 he's already got a Nations League title (2023) alongside this and has years of major tournaments ahead at Barcelona. The ceremony treats them as equals, which is fair enough — this is about hometown pride, not minutes logged.
The city is also renaming two municipal grass pitches in their honor and planning a monument for Gavi, Ruiz, and Jesús Navas — another local who lifted the World Cup back in 2010. That's three World Cup winners from the same Spanish province. Remarkable depth of talent for one patch of Seville.
- Fabian Ruiz: 85 kg, 366 minutes played, scored vs Belgium in the quarterfinals
- Gavi: 68.5 kg, 85 minutes played, also won the 2023 UEFA Nations League with Spain
- Fields renamed: "Fabian Ruiz Football Field" and "Pablo Pez Gabira 'Gavi' Football Field"
The pair had already paraded through Madrid with their teammates on Monday. Spain become the first World Cup winners to receive championship rings — customized, arriving at a later date. Add the tomatoes, and this is shaping up to be quite the summer for two lads from Seville.
