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John Healey resigns as defence secretary in disagreement with Starmer over spending – UK politics live | Politics

Published

2 months ago

June 11, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Healey criticises Reeves for being ‘unwilling’ to fund defence by enough, and Starmer for being too weak to over-rule her

Here is one of the key extracts from the letter.

This new era for defence required further investment through the defence investment plan. The excellent and extensive cross-government work that completed in January – overseen by you, me and the chancellor – confirmed the scale of the challenge and the rising demands on defence.

Since then, you have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.

This is a double hatchet job. John Healey is criticising Rachel Reeves for being too stubborn to increase defence spending by the amount he wants, and Keir Starmer for being too weak to over-rule her.

Key events

Defence minister Al Carns says defence investment plan ‘not fit for purpose’, as he praises Healey’s ‘serious service’

Al Carns, the former Royal Marine who only became an MP in 2024, who was immediately appointed a defence minister and who has even hinted that he would like to stand for the Labour leadership soon, has issued a statement on social media praising his former boss. Here is an extract.

John Healey has given this country serious service in a serious time.

He took on the Ministry of Defence at a moment when the world was getting more dangerous, not less, and he carried that weight with the discipline and decency that the job demands.

I worked alongside him closely. I saw the hours, the care, and the seriousness he brought to every brief, including the hardest ones. There are issues facing this Department that do not lend themselves to easy answers. The work on funding, on veterans, on Legacy, on the welfare of those who serve.

As Pippa says (see 2.14pm), Keir Starmer will need appoint a new defence secretary soon. (There are some cabinet jobs you can leave empty for a bit, but the defence post is not one of them.) Carns himself could be a candidate to replace him. (Luke Pollard, the well-regarded minister of state at the Ministry of Defence, is senior to Carns in the MoD pecking order, but Carns had a stellar career in the armed forces and his appointment would be well received.) But Carns has told Times Radio today that the defence investment plan is “not fit for purpose”, implying he would not take the job unless Rachel Reeves were to agree to a significant rethink.

Pippa Crerar on what Healey’s resignation means for Starmer

Here is a snap analysis of John Healey’s resignation by Pippa Crerar, the Guardian’s political editor.

John Healey’s departure puts Keir Starmer in an even more difficult position than he was already.

The former defence sec’s charge that he is putting UK’s security at risk is a devastating one – which will worry Labour MPs & cut through with voters. The fact Tories underfunded defence for years won’t wash.

It further weakens Starmer in that this was supposed to be his strong point – and has repeatedly said that keeping nation safe is his number one priority.

Cabinet relations have been badly damaged by the protracted row over plan – with the standoff leading to some of worst infighting since Labour took power over cuts to other department’s capital budgets.

International allies will notice Healey’s resignation – and reasons why. PM is meeting G7 allies in France next week & is in Ankara for a Nato summit in early July. Awkward timing.

Starmer may also struggle to appoint a credible new defence secretary – for all the ambitious MPs out there – who will be prepared to make case for this plan now?

It also impacts Reeves, who blocked extra spending, and leaves her open to charge of leaving nation unsafe. She faces impossible choices over spending – but many will feel defence should have been priority.

It all makes Starmer’s departure – already looking likely – feel inevitable. While his allies say he’ll fight any challenge from Andy Burnham if he wins Makerfield – he’s just lost one of his most senior cabinet ministers. When the herd moves, and all that.

Unite’s leader Sharon Graham says Healey’s resignation shows work on defence investment plan has been ‘utter chaos’

Higher defence spending is normally a cause championed by people on the right in politics. But one of the leading voices calling for the publication of an ambitious defence investment plan (DIP) has been Unite, the union led by the leftwing Sharon Graham. Unite has a lot of members working in the defence sector, and Unite has been campaigning for a settlement that will secure jobs.

Commenting on Healey’s resignation, Graham said:

What is going on in regard to yet another delay on the DIP is fast becoming a national disgrace. Make no mistake jobs and skills are at risk.

John Healey’s resignation letter has laid bare the utter chaos at the heart of government on this issue. Defending the UK and investing in our defence industry simply can’t be done on the cheap. British defence needs investment. Failure to protect UK defence jobs would be a national betrayal.

Healey’s resignation ‘utterly damning’ for Starmer, says SNP

The SNP says John Healey’s resignation is “utterly damning” for Keir Stamer. In a statement, Dave Doogan, the SNP leader at Westminster, said:

Keir Starmer is putting Scotland’s safety at risk by failing to deliver the vital defence investment that is needed in the face of growing international threats.

The resignation of the UK defence secretary, at a time of global crisis, is utterly damning for the prime minister – and it will be the final nail in his sorry time in office.

Yet again, the Labour government is in chaos – and it is putting Scotland and the UK’s defence in jeopardy at the worst possible time.

Badenoch claims Healey’s resignation shows Starmer’s premiership ‘falling apart’

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, has said that the resignation of John Healey shows Keir Starmer’s premiership “is falling apart”.

Speaking to reporters, she said:

His health secretary resigned two weeks ago. His defence secretary has resigned at a critical time when we are facing global threats, and he is doing so because the prime minister is trying to please his backbenchers by putting money into welfare instead of defence.

We need to start funding defence. We need to get to 3% of GDP by the end of this parliament …

Keir Starmer has no plan whatsoever. I don’t see how he can stay in this job. He can’t run the country. He is paralysed because his backbenchers only want to spend money on welfare.

(All oppositions need a simple attack line to use against the government and at the moment Badencoch is running hard with the line that Labour won’t spend money on X, or cut taxes for Y, because its MPs just want to spend more money on benefits. This makes for compelling rhetoric, and because benefit spending is rising fast in some areas it has enough truth in it to make it arguable. But, as an overall explanation for what is happening with spending, it is almost wholly wrong. See here for more on this, or here.)

John Healey is getting a lot of praise from MPs on social media – at least, from Tory MPs.

Here are some examples.

From James Cleverly, the former foreign secretary

I have always respected John Healey.

He clearly takes defence of the realm and defence of our interests more seriously than either Keir Starmer or Rachel Reeves.

From Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister

The first duty of government is defence of the Realm. @JohnHealey_MP ’s principled resignation states clearly this administration has failed.

I’ve criticised every party for the state we’re in but the truth is now clear: the complacent confidence in peace is over. We must rearm.

From Ben Obese-Jecty, a former soldier

This is a hugely principled stance from John Healey.

The chaos around the Defence Investment Plan and no agreement on how we defend the nation has caused the Secretary of State to resign. Keir Starmer’s position as Prime Minister must now be untenable

From Andrew Bowie, the shadow Scottish secretary

John Healey is an honourable man, well respected and held in high regard across the House and in the Defence community.

He has done the only thing possible given the state of the Defence Investment Plan.

All credit to him.

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has said that John Healey’s resignation should be a wake-up call for the government. He said:

Healey’s resignation is a wake-up call for Starmer and Burnham.

Stop repeating the mistakes of the Conservatives and get serious about funding our armed forces properly.

We cannot afford years more political chaos while our national security is put at risk.

And these are from Emily Maitlis, one of the hosts of the News Agents podcast, on Healey’s resignation.

BREAKING: John Healey I have been told that John Healey only got the full offer on Monday afternoon – No 10 tried to rush and publish the Defence investment Plan on Thursday. Healey was clear that rushing through the plan was too risky for defence and personnel, as the plan needed to be properly finalised and was too important. Chiefs said that £13.5B – which was only £10b real cash, the rest being treasury trickery – would not end hollowing out and would delay key transformation

I understand that John Healey had agreed the Strategic Defence Review on the basis it MIGHT NEED TO BE ACCELERATED if things changed. NATO as we know has said we have to be ready for conflict by 2030 – meawhile Russian aggression is at record highs, wars on two continents etc. The PM recognised this in Munich. But the deal the PM offered didnt even put a date on 3%.

This is from Deborah Haynes, defence and security editor at Sky News, on John Healey’s resignation.

BREAKING: The Treasury only offered the Ministry of Defence an extra £10bn in real cash for its investment plan over four years – the actual settlement was an additional £13.5bn but £3.5bn of that was regarded by military chiefs as treasury trickery. John Healey told the Prime Minister the promised funding was not enough to keep the UK safe.

Healey says he would have to take decisions that could make UK ‘less safe’ if he accepted PM’s defence plans

Here is a summary of all the points in John Healey’s resignation letter.

He criticised Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, for being unwilling to give defence more, and Keir Starmer for being unwilling to over-rule her. (See 12.30pm.)

He said he was resigning because he did not think defence was getting enough and, under these plans, he would have to take decisions that could make Britain “less safe”. He said:

You know what defence needs. You made the argument for this powerfully in your speech at the Munich Security Conference back in February. Without a DIP that meets the moment in this way, I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe.

After explaining to you that I would not be able to accept a DIP settlement that does not give our forces the resources they need, I am now left with no other option than to submit my resignation as your defence secretary.

He reminded Starmer that, in a speech last week, Starmer said: “It is our intelligence assessment, and the assessment of other countries in Nato, that there could be an attack by Russia on Nato as soon as 2030.”

I am proud of what we have done in less than two years as a Labour government. We’ve stepped up to lead internationally for Ukraine with the coalition of the willing and Ukraine Defence Contact Group, established Britain as a leading voice for Europe in NATO, raised defence investment to 2.5% of GDP three years earlier than anyone expected, launched the deepest defence reforms in 50 years, won the biggest UK defence export deals for decades, published a first-of-its-kind Strategic Defence Review, gave our Armed Forces the biggest pay rise in nearly 20 years, boosted military morale, fixed over 1,200 of the worst forces family homes, reset relations with European allies and signed major defence agreements with Germany, Norway and France.

You have led this as PM, earning wide respect at home and abroad. Like me, I know you are exceptionally proud of our Forces and all of those who work in UK defence.

I wish you all continuing strength in the exceptional challenges you face as prime minister. As always, our Labour government will continue to have my fullest support.

This was the only reference in the letter to the leadership challenge that Starmer if facing after next week’s Makerfield byelection. Healey’s resignation is likely to be seen as evidence that Starmer’s authority as PM is weakening. But there is no evidence that Healey would get a better defence settlement under Andy Burnham, or any other of the potential replacement leaders, and Healey’s resignation does not particularly help any of Starmer’s rivals.

Andy Burnham’s campaign has released a statement saying that when he spoke about “some recompense” for the Waspi women (see 11.50am), he was not talking about financial compensation. As the Times reports, a Burnham spokesperson issued a statement this morning saying:

Andy has always recognised the unfair way in which state pension equalisation was introduced.

As mayor of Greater Manchester, he supported Waspi women in the city-region with early access to concessionary travel, providing some recompense to them within affordability limits.

He accepts the final decision has been made in relation to financial compensation but has indicated an openness to considering similar schemes on the Greater Manchester model.

Healey says defence spending only set to rise to 2.68% of GDP by 2030 under proposed defence investment plan

Here is the key passage in the letter. In it, John Healey says the version of the long-awaited defence investment plan that he saw on Monday this week would see defence spending rise to just 2.68% of GDP by 2030.

He says:

We came into government, recognising Britain faced a new era of threat which demanded a new era for defence. The SDR [strategic defence review] we jointly commissioned set the 10-year vision to transform our armed forces, strengthen alliances, invest in the technology that is changing warfare and back British industry to make defence an engine for growth.

This new era for defence required further investment through the defence investment plan. The excellent and extensive cross-government work that completed in January – overseen by you, me and the chancellor – confirmed the scale of the challenge and the rising demands on defence.

Since then, you have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.

Since then, the demands on defence have increased still further, as have the UK commitments you have rightly made to allies. Conflict in the Middle East, with the UK now leading the multinational Strait of Hormuz military mission; High North security, with the UK now leading Nato’s Arctic Sentry mission; increased Russian activity towards the UK and Nato nations and increased attacks in Ukraine, with the Paris agreement confirming a British deployment to Ukraine after a ceasefire.

We have worked to secure a defence investment plan that does two things. First, deal with the increasing operational demands on defence now and step up the SDR actions to meet the increasing threat. Second, set a clear path to meet the new Nato commitment you agreed to spend 3.5% of GDP in 2035 through the next spending review.

As we have regularly discussed, I am certain that a headmark date for 3% of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set. This commitment would have strong cross-party support. Other European allies are stepping up in this way.

I know how hard you have worked to get to this point. And in funding the DIP, I fully recognise the strain this places on colleagues in other departments, both now as you have required spending switched into defence and in the future. I am very grateful to those colleagues who have supported this, and I appreciate how difficult their choices will have been.

As I’ve outlined to you, there are credible ways of meeting the mid-term funding challenges, working multi-nationally and as other European nations are doing, to allow us to protect our ability to deliver the missions of our Labour government.

However, your DIP financial settlement – which I was first given in full on Monday afternoon this week – falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time. The extra support is backloaded when the pressure of operations and imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years and it rises to just 2.68% of GDP in 2030, when we will reach 2.6% next year with the investment we are already making.

The government still has not published the final DIP. At the weekend there were reports it might come today, and then there were reports that it might come tomorrow. In the Commons yesterday Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, said that an announcement like that on a day when the Commons was not sitting would be “an utter disgrace and an utter kick in the face” to MPs. Ministers subsequently made it clear the DIP would not be published tomorrow.

Healey says spending increase in defence investment plan ‘falls well short of what is required’

Healey says the version of the defence investment plan (DIP) he was shown on Monday “falls well short” of what is required. He says:

However, your DIP financial settlement – which I was first given in full on Monday afternoon this week – falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time.

The extra support is backloaded when the pressure of operations and imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years and it rises to just 2.68% of GDP in 2030, when we will reach 2.6% next year with the investment we are already making.

Healey criticises Reeves for being ‘unwilling’ to fund defence by enough, and Starmer for being too weak to over-rule her

Here is one of the key extracts from the letter.

This new era for defence required further investment through the defence investment plan. The excellent and extensive cross-government work that completed in January – overseen by you, me and the chancellor – confirmed the scale of the challenge and the rising demands on defence.

Since then, you have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.

Here is John Healey’s resignation letter.

Healey’s resignation letter – page 1 Photograph: John Healey

Healey’s resignation letter – page 2 Photograph: John Healey

John Healey has resigned as defence secretary over Treasury refusing to give defence investment he says it needs

Reuters has snapped this.

HEALEY TO STARMER: YOU HAVE BEEN UNABLE, AND THE TREASURY HAS BEEN UNWILLING, TO COMMIT THE RESOURCES THAT THE NATION NEEDS TO DEFEND THE COUNTRY AT THIS TIME OF RISING THREATS

Irish and UK governments, and NI’s executive, agree to work together to ‘prevent abuse’ of common travel area

The UK and Irish governments and the Northern Ireland executive have discussed protecting the common travel area and stronger enforcement to “prevent abuse”, the Irish government has confirmed.

Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn, Irish justice minister Jim O’Callaghan and Stormont’s justice minister Naomi Long spoke by phone on Wednesday.

Today in a statement the Irish government’s Department of Justice said:

The invisible border on the island of Ireland is among the most tangible gains of the peace process and is essential to the continuing normalisation of relationships.

Minister O’Callaghan discussed the importance of cross border cooperation in protecting the common travel area [CTA] for both Ireland and the UK yesterday by phone with the Northern Ireland minister for Justice, Naomi Long and the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn.

They discussed stronger co-operation and enforcement to prevent abuse of the common travel area.

Minister O’Callaghan emphasised that significant Border Management Unit doorstop operations now take place at Dublin airport. The number of people landing without documentation has reduced significantly since 2023.

Northern Ireland minister for justice Naomi Long and secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, agreed to work with Minister O’Callaghan to prevent abuse of the CTA.

The rioting in Belfast has been triggered by a brutal knife attack that happened on Monday night. The suspect is a Sudanese national who arrived in Belfast from Dublin, taking advantage of the CTA to cross the border without being stopped. He applied for asylum and was granted leave to remain three years ago. The stabbing has prompted claims that the CTA leaves a “loophole” in border controls that is being exploited by asylum seekers.

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Driver killed in Bedford train crash named

Published

2 months ago

June 21, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.

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Spain v Saudi Arabia: World Cup 2026 – live | World Cup 2026

Published

2 months ago

June 21, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Key events

In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.

Oyarzabal profile

Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.

“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “

News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.

“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.

“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”

Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.

Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.

The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.

The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.

An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.

In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.

For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:

“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.

“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”

Saturday’s match reports here.

The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same ⁠team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.

“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are ⁠missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against ‌Cape Verde.

“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you ‌should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.

“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.

“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.

“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”

The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”

Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.

The teams – Lamine Yamal starts

Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.

Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.

Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)

Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?

Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.

Al-Aqidi profile

Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat

The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.

The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.

Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.

“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.

Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.

Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.

A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.

Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP

Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?

Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.

Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.

“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”

A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.

“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”

We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.

The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.

Lamine Yamal profile

Preamble

Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.

Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.

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