#MakeSpainGreatAgain is the hashtag that spread with a viral photo from Spain’s July 2026 FIFA World Cup victory parade in Madrid, in which winning-goal scorer Ferran Torres rode the open-top bus wearing a red cap reading “Make Spain Great Again” — a direct visual riff on Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. The image was reposted by the White House, Fox News, and Spain’s far-right VOX party within hours, pulling a football celebration into an international political fight.
Quick Facts
- First seen: July 21, 2026, during Spain’s World Cup victory parade through Madrid
- Central figure: Ferran Torres, Spain forward, scorer of the 106th-minute extra-time winner against Argentina in the 2026 World Cup final
- Cap text: “Make Spain Great Again” (red, MAGA-style typography)
- Amplifiers: White House, Fox News, VOX (Spain’s far-right party)
- Status: active
What Happened
Two days after Spain beat Argentina 1-0 to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the national team held an open-top-bus parade through central Madrid. Torres — shirtless, holding the trophy at various points — was photographed and filmed wearing a red baseball cap with the words “Make Spain Great Again” printed in the same block font used on Trump’s MAGA hats. The image spread almost immediately across X, Instagram, and TikTok, both under the descriptive “#MakeSpainGreatAgain” tag and under variants such as “MSGA” and “TorresMAGAHat.”
Reactions
The response split along familiar political lines. Spain’s far-right VOX party and the official White House X account both reposted the photo approvingly. Fox News framed it as Torres “doubling down” after criticism when he reposted an image of himself in the cap. On the other side, a deputy spokesman for the left-wing Sumar coalition publicly criticized him and, per Euronews, accused Torres of unrelated conduct as part of the pushback. President Trump himself weighed in on the cap, further cementing the moment as a political story rather than a sports story.
Reporting was consistent that Torres’s intent was not clear. Analysts offered three readings: a genuine right-wing nod, a mocking Trump reference, or a joke about Trump having handed Spain the World Cup trophy at MetLife Stadium. Torres did not offer a full explanation in the immediate aftermath, and the ambiguity kept the tag active as each camp filled in the blank differently.
Controversies
The core controversy is one of borrowed political symbolism. Critics argued that MAGA is a specific American political brand carrying specific meanings — anti-immigration, culturally conservative, closely identified with Trump — and that wearing a Spanish-language version of it in Madrid inevitably imported those meanings into Spain, whether Torres meant to or not. Supporters read the cap as either a personal statement of pride or a light gag on the American president who was involved in the trophy presentation.
A secondary controversy attached to the amplification itself: the fact that a U.S. presidential administration and a partisan cable network amplified a Spanish athlete’s parade photo was, for many Spanish commentators, its own story about how domestic political images travel across borders.
Cultural Impact
“#MakeSpainGreatAgain” is a compact example of a MAGA-derived tag being exported from U.S. politics into another country’s public life, this time by way of a football parade. Beyond Torres, it fed a broader discussion — carried in outlets from Sports Illustrated to HuffPost to The Olive Press — about how the MAGA visual identity has become a global template that any public figure can pick up, whether to endorse, to mock, or simply to attract attention.
Variations & Related Tags
- #FerranTorres2026 — the winning goal and its aftermath
- #SpainVsArgentinaFinal — the July 19, 2026 World Cup final at MetLife Stadium
- #MAGA — the original U.S. political slogan the cap is riffing on
Sources
- https://www.euronews.com/2026/07/22/ferran-torres-sparks-controversy-with-make-spain-great-again-cap-at-world-cup-parade
- https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ferran-torres-sports-make-spain-great-again-hat-similar-trump-slogan-world-cup-homecoming-parade
- https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/world-cup-hero-ferran-torres-doubles-down-criticism-posts-picture-wearing-make-spain-great-again-hat
- https://www.si.com/soccer/president-trump-make-spain-great-again-cap
- https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2026/07/21/watch-world-cup-hero-ferran-torres-causes-a-stir-by-wearing-maga-inspired-hat-at-spain-trophy-parade/
- https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/spain-world-cup-hero-ignites-063842252.html