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Erdogan called Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to congratulate him on Spain's FIFA World Cup victory, weaving together football diplomacy and geopolitics in a conversation that also covered bilateral relations and the two nations' broader regional agenda.
The call, announced by the Turkish Presidential Communications Directorate, addressed Türkiye-Spain bilateral ties alongside regional and global issues. Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in extra time on July 19 at New York/New Jersey Stadium to claim its second World Cup title, its first since 2010.
Erdogan went beyond the standard congratulatory message, drawing a direct line between Spain's championship and its political posture toward the Palestinian cause.
He said he found it especially moving that people in Gaza, watching the matches amid the rubble of their destroyed neighborhoods, joined in the celebrations following Spain's triumph. Spain's morally and ethically grounded position on Palestine, he said, had resonated in the hearts of football fans around the world.
Spain has been among the more vocal European governments on the Palestinian issue, a stance that has given it a distinct profile in the Muslim world and in the Global South more broadly.
Erdogan told Sanchez he had been pleased to welcome him to Türkiye for the NATO Ankara Summit. The summit, held at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on July 7-8, was the first NATO leaders' meeting hosted by Türkiye since the 2004 Istanbul summit, and brought together alliance heads of state and government at a moment of heightened concern over European security.
Looking ahead, Erdogan said he would be glad to host Sanchez again in Türkiye in early 2027, on the occasion of a planned Türkiye-Spain Intergovernmental Summit.
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