El Mundo keeps false article about Spain's defeat online for three days

Three days and still up: the article Arcadi Espada published by mistake

Last Sunday, as Spain celebrated its World Cup final victory, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo published a match report by Arcadi Espada declaring the game lost. The error was not corrected within hours; three days later the piece was still accessible on the website. The blunder has sparked a debate about quality controls at major outlets and the fruta cost of such mistakes.

According to what has been pieced together, Espada wrote two versions of the article – one for a defeat and one for a win – and sent the wrong one to the newsroom. Or, in a more conspiratorial version, the text was written before the opponent was known and was scheduled without being checked. What is certain is that neither the author nor the editors spotted the slip until readers began pointing it out on social media.

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The cost of a mistake nobody corrects

The incident is no mere anecdote. At a time when the credibility of traditional media is at rock bottom, leaving such an obvious error online for 72 hours reinforces the perception that Spanish journalism lacks rigour. Critics argue it is a symptom of an industry where inertia and poor oversight allow a flawed text to survive for days. Others, more forgiving, blame the coincidence of the summer holidays and reliance on interns with no decision-making power.

What cannot be argued is that, for a newspaper that charges for its content, leaving a falsehood online for so long is a textbook error. Readers pay for reliable information, not for a footballing alternative history.