Spain’s second men’s World Cup title was secured with a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina on July 19, 2026. The final lasted 120 minutes, but the work behind it began months earlier in hotel kitchens, travel plans, and conversations with club staff. FIFA confirmed that Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal in the 106th minute.
Toscana Viar, nutrition chief for Spain’s national soccer team, also spent years working with Athletic Club.
Her tournament plan included rice and chicken at 8 a.m., a small rice cake that resembled a tart, a lemon-and-mint alcohol-free mojito, and room for an occasional burger or ice cream. The broader lesson was that consistency mattered more than perfection.
There was no champion’s menu
Months before the tournament, staff contacted players and their club nutrition teams to review routines, needs, and supplement plans. They also worked with hotels and travel organizers so suitable food would be ready at every stop. This was logistics as much as nutrition.
The squad did not receive one identical meal, nor did every player get a separate custom plate. Instead, a wide buffet let each person follow a strategy shaped by training load, match time, travel, appetite, and familiar foods. The aim was to stop eating from becoming one more source of pressure during a long tournament.
Why pasta appeared at breakfast
Some players wanted pasta, rice, or chicken even at 8 in the morning. Others could not face a heavy solid meal after waking, so the staff offered more liquids and a rice-based cake that was easy to eat. Breakfast looked unusual only if you expected everyone to want cereal and toast.
Why serve lunch food before most people have finished their first coffee? Carbohydrates replenish glycogen, the stored fuel muscles use during repeated sprints, while protein supports muscle maintenance and recovery. The main meal was generally placed about four hours before kickoff, with fat and fiber reduced when easier digestion was the priority.
A UEFA expert group on elite soccer nutrition has also advised that fuel intake should change with the training and match schedule rather than remain fixed. A hard match day calls for a different plate than a rest day, and two players may still need different amounts. That is why variety was central, not decorative.
Hydration came with mint and lemon
The team’s favorite drink was an alcohol-free mojito made with lemon, mint, and other ingredients. It tasted familiar and refreshing, which made drinking more appealing after training and matches. No alcohol was involved.
Hydration in soccer is not only about replacing water. Sweat also carries electrolytes, the minerals involved in normal muscle and nerve function, and the Royal Spanish Football Federation previously reported that a player could lose nearly 7 lbs. during a match in some conditions.
That is why individualized sweat testing and planned drinking breaks can matter when heat, humidity, and 120 minutes of play pile up.
An occasional burger can fit into a balanced eating pattern, even for elite athletes, when most meals support training and recovery.
A burger was part of the plan
“My role is not to make them eat perfectly, but to make them perform perfectly,” the nutritionist said. Because the staff supervised about 95% of the squad’s meals, an occasional trip for a burger or ice cream did not overturn the wider strategy. She went further and described that freedom as necessary.
That does not mean fast food improves athletic performance. Her point was that one meal should be judged within the pattern around it, especially when players spend weeks living under strict schedules and constant scrutiny. In other words, she was talking about adherence and well-being, not a performance boost from the burger itself.
Could one burger undo months of preparation? For the most part, no, just as one salad cannot create elite fitness. The everyday pattern still does the heavy lifting.
What everyday eaters can learn
The most useful takeaway is to borrow the structure, not the professional portions. Planning meals, keeping varied foods available, and building most choices around minimally processed staples can reduce last-minute decisions. It is the food equivalent of packing your bag the night before.
Elite players, however, have unusually high energy demands and a staff monitoring training, recovery, hydration, and supplements. Copying their large carbohydrate servings or supplement routines without the same workload would miss the point. The winning idea was personalization.
A sustainable eating pattern leaves room for real life. An occasional burger can fit, but the comment was made in a tightly managed elite setting, not as a medical prescription for everyone. Balance was the strategy, not an excuse.
The original interview was published by ABC.
