Flaco López sends Palmeiras back to Club World Cup final after 24 years | OneFootball

Argentina is, once again, in the World Cup final. This Wednesday (15), the reigning world champion beat England 2-1 in a comeback victory, with goals scored in the closing minutes of the match, and secured a place in the 2026 World Cup final, where it will face Spain.

With Argentina’s qualification, Palmeiras once again has a representative in a World Cup final after 24 years. Called up by Lionel Scaloni, forward Flaco López is part of the Albiceleste squad and will now have the chance to play in the most important match in world football.

The last Palmeiras representative in a final was in 2002, when Marcos was part of the Brazil national team that won its fifth World Cup title. Since then, no Palmeiras player had reached the tournament final while wearing the club’s shirt.

In the semifinal played in Atlanta, England opened the scoring through Anthony Gordon in the second half and came close to qualifying. However, Argentina responded in the closing minutes: Enzo Fernández equalized in the 85th minute, and Lautaro Martínez, taking advantage of an assist from Lionel Messi in stoppage time, sealed the 2-1 victory and sent Argentina to its second consecutive World Cup final.

Although he started the semifinal on the bench, Flaco López has been involved in Argentina’s World Cup campaign and has already been decisive along the team’s journey. In the quarterfinal against Switzerland, the Palmeiras striker provided the assist for one of the goals that secured qualification, reinforcing his role within the squad led by Scaloni.

Now, Argentina will seek back-to-back World Cup titles against Spain, while Flaco López could make history as yet another Palmeiras player to become a world champion with his national team — and the first foreigner to do so.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.