Ferran Torres hasn’t touched a soccer ball since the World Cup final. 

Now, on a rainy afternoon this week in New York City, the 26-year-old Spanish hero is juggling barefoot for the cameras when it dawns on him: this is the first time he’s been on the ball since the tournament. He said he needed a break, and if anyone deserves it, it’s Torres. 

After all, this is the man who scored the game-winning goal, delivering Spain its second World Cup victory in July as he smashed the ball into the net with an emphatic left-footed volley just a minute into the second half of extra time before a global audience of more than 1.5 billion. 

Because of that one fateful strike, there are more eyes than ever on Torres — and that’s saying something for someone who joined Barcelona from Manchester City four years ago and is coming off a career-best club campaign with 21 goals. While social media churned out an endless stream of post-Cup party pics, transfer speculation and relationship tales, Torres is undaunted as his fame seems to grow by the moment.

The day of the WWD shoot is a busy one for Torres, with appearances on the “Today” show and “The Source With Kaitlan Collins.” On both programs, he skillfully navigates rumors of an imminent transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

What the forward does confirm, however, are his hopes to leverage his growing fame into becoming a fashion star. 

“It’s something new to me, and it’s something I want to learn,” Torres says upon finishing his first fashion editorial. “I would like to be someone that the people try to look at, and I think I have potential.” 

Under Armour, which signed Torres to an endorsement deal in 2024, likewise has faith in the budding star, as chief executive officer Kevin Plank says the company was drawn to him because he’s equally compelling on and off the pitch.

“He has effortless style, a magnetic personality and charisma that’s impossible to miss, but he’s also incredibly humble,” Plank says. “He has the kind of star power that transcends football, and as we continue reestablishing Under Armour around the world, he’s exactly the kind of athlete we want representing our brand.”

For a newbie, Torres takes to it quickly. He beams with a boyish, sincere smile when complimented on his camera presence and adopts a handsome brooding expression while the photographer Ricardo Beas snaps away to the beat of Justin Bieber, a Torres-approved track. 

As he changed into a series of denim-driven looks, a gold chain with a cross and Virgin Mary pendants he’s had since he was 11 and a stainless steel Audemars Piguet Royal Oak with a light blue dial he bought before the World Cup are his personal contributions to every shot.

“I really like watches, and I try to get special pieces,” Torres says. “[The Royal Oak] brings me very, very good luck.”

Torres is a natural in front of the camera, listening intently as Beas directs him in his native Spanish. With each instruction, he’s game, be it taking off his shirt to display a back full of tattoos or messing with his now famous head of hair. “I look like Elvis Presley,” he tells the crew at one point. At another he echoes the compliments he receives by playfully responding, “I am beautiful.”

The closest thing to pushback is an incredulous “WHAT?” when asked to kick the ball at the camera, as he double-checks if the videographer is sure before striking it toward the frame with precision (ultimately, no harm was done to anyone or anything on set). 

For a player so in demand at the moment, he is incredibly at ease and personable. It helps that Torres is accompanied by his longtime agent, Héctor Peris Ros along with his wife and daughter, who are like his second family.

The two men have been working together since Torres was still a child, and Peris Ros shows the bracelet on his wrist that his client gifted to him many years ago. It didn’t even come off when he got married because he views Torres like a younger brother.

Even though Torres grew up just 10 minutes away from the academy of Valencia FC, he moved out of his family home and into the facilities with other youth players. 

“He was crying because he didn’t understand why, but we convinced everyone that we thought it was best at that time,” Peris Ros says. “It helped him to build a strong personality.” 

The first call-up to Valencia’s senior side came when Torres was 16, and he’d play three seasons for the club before moving to Manchester City. A year-and-a-half later, Barcelona came calling to bring Torres back to Spain and paid the English team a transfer fee of 55 million euros (then $62 million) to acquire the talented forward — creating significant pressure to live up to the value for one of the most scrutinized clubs in the world. 

The expectations led Torres to seek out goals at the expense of his overall game, and when he couldn’t get out of the slump, he fell out of rotation with highly skilled players Ousmane Dembélé, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski securing starting places. 

A long slump to his first full season was broken by a Man of the Match performance in February 2023, the day after which he revealed he’d begun working with a psychologist after having “fallen into a bottomless well.” 

Choosing to divulge what he was going through and how he enlisted help has drawn praise in an era in which mental health discussions are becoming more prominent across the sporting world. 

Looking back now on that decision, Torres says, “I know there are many people that have problems, and I think to show the world that it’s something normal to talk about, it made me feel very good.” 

One of the tools that’s stuck with him is learning how to stay calm and disconnect from the world. Spending time with his two dogs — Roma and Vader, both of whom are rescues — does a great deal in that regard. 

“Dogs are the biggest thing in my life,” Torres says. “I try to spend as much time as I can with them, and I try to help [dog shelters] because it makes me feel like a good person.” 

Getting through those challenging early years at Barcelona prepared him to accept his role at the World Cup, as he came off the bench for all but one of his eight appearances. Two of those substitutions led directly to game-winners as he assisted on the lone goal in the round 16 match against Portugal and netted the opportunity anyone who’s ever touched a ball has dreamed of in the final game against Argentina. 

“You always want to play as much as you can,” Torres says. “But you have to accept it because as soon as you do, you’re gonna perform better. I learned a lot with the bad moments, and now I’m ready to live the bad moments but work for the good moments.” 

As the ball bounced off the ground toward him just outside the left goal area, Torres wasn’t thinking much and just struck the ball willing to accept the outcome. He didn’t even remember how the goal had happened until seeing it later. He says he’s rewatched it about 1,000 times. 

Since then, just within two weeks after the winner’s medal was placed around his neck, Torres has already seen two examples of the scrutiny that comes with global fame.

The day after the final, Torres wore a “Make Spain Great Again” hat at the parade in Madrid to celebrate the team’s victory. Fans debated online about whether it was a joke or if he has far-right leanings — the latter possibility of which is particularly distressing to fans of a club team with such strong historic ties to Catalan independence. 

Torres clears the air. “It was nothing about politics because I don’t know about politics,” adding, “It was just a funny moment because I love seeing Spain on top, being the World Cup champion, so I don’t pay attention about what people say.” 

He is also not bothered by the significant attention around photos taken of him last month kissing Spanish teammate and close friend Marcos Llorente while on vacation in Ibiza with a group of friends. 

In response to a question on Instagram asking why it was made such a big deal, Llorente says [translated from Spanish], “For me, there is nothing more masculine than a man who is confident in himself and is not afraid to show affection to a friend.” 

When asked about the social reaction, Torres responds by laughing. “They always talk s–t, so I have to live with this,” he adds. “I know who I am, and my family knows who I am, so that’s all I care about.” 

Even more attention is likely for Torres in the next few days should he decide to leave FC Barcelona, but a fresh slate could be exactly what he needs to take his club career to the next level.

If his on-set charm and confidence are any indication, the new star is more than ready.