When the Canadian men’s hockey team won gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics, the legend of the “Lucky Loonie” was born.
More than two decades later, another country seems to have its own version of the iconic tale after Spain won the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Sunday.
Early Monday, Joan Capdevila — who won the World Cup with Spain in 2010 — shared on social media that the Spanish side had some extra luck against Argentina at New York/New Jersey Stadium.
“And now I’ll tell you a secret,” the retired star left back wrote on X.
“In 2010, I buried a coin in the grass before starting the match… I’ve told it millions of times. I asked (Spanish footballer Marc Cucurella) to do the same yesterday.
“Marc, I love you so much. YOU ARE A WORLD CHAMPION!”
Capdevilla also shared a video of the defender — who left Chelsea for Real Madrid this summer – walking over to the sidelines after the opening ceremonies, then appearing to take something out of his sock and push it underneath the stadium’s turf.
A few hours later, Cucurella seemingly confirmed the story, reposting Capdevilla’s video with his own message.
It’s unclear if Spain actually needed the extra luck, as it seemingly easily overmatched the Argentine squad, which didn’t register a shot until deep into extra time.
Spain’s World Cup win was its second after the 2010 triumph and La Furia Roja is now the No. 1 team on FIFA’s latest world rankings.
While both Spaniards didn’t divulge what type of coin was buried before the match, we can almost certainly guess that it wasn’t a Canadian $1 piece.
Where did the Lucky Loonie legend begin?
That means the lore of the Lucky Loonie remains a piece of Canadiana.
The legend began in 2002, when Trent Evans, the icemaker for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, buried a loonie under centre ice at the hockey arena for the Games.
While it originally was placed to assist in the puck-drop as centre ice was emblazoned with a large logo, it became a good-luck charm for Team Canada.
Both the Canadian men’s and women’s hockey teams won gold in the tournament and after the Games, Canadian hockey legend and team executive director Wayne Gretzky recovered the coin and gave it to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Is Cucurella getting a face tattoo now?
Spain’s win might mean that Cucurella has to follow through on a promise he may wish to take back.
Prior to the tournament, Cucurella stated that he would get a tattoo of the team manager if Spain won it all.
“If we win the World Cup, I’ll get a tattoo of Luis de la Fuente’s face,” he told Cadena COPE.
Then, after the final whistle on Sunday, he posted on X: “Any tattoo artists in the room?”
Tn the mixed zone after the game, the defender said he was unsure of where he was going to get the tattoo placed on his body.
“I don’t know yet. I have to think about where I’m going to get it,” Cucurella said. “People will also ask me, so it doesn’t have to be in a visible place, but oh well.
“I think we have a long journey ahead of us now, I hope they give me ideas, I’ll think about it and then I’ll have to do it.”