New hair, new style, new routines: Ferran Torres is playing for the World Cup title with Spain and has become one of the most talked-about faces of the tournament along the way.
Ferran Torres is in the World Cup semi-finals with Spain, but the internet is busy with a different question: what exactly happened to Ferran Torres?
The 26-year-old's glow-up is one of this summer's biggest football talking points away from the pitch. TikTok editors are cutting before-and-after clips around the clock, barbers get shown his haircut as a reference picture, and the clips flood feeds by the millions.
The hair is only the most visible part of a longer transformation. Seven years lie between the skin fades, textured crops and near-buzzcut phases of the past and today's long hair. For years, Torres wore the classic cuts many pros wear, and none of them got him noticed.
His wardrobe has changed too: instead of skinny jeans, tight hoodies and visible logos, Torres now wears relaxed cuts and barely any branding. An analysis on X has a simple explanation: Torres used to want his clothes to show off his body; now he cares about how an outfit works as a whole. The author suspects a whole generation of pros behind it, one that has grown tired of looking like footballers.
Ferran Torres: a plastic surgeon weighs in on the glow-up
Spanish plastic surgeon Carmen Ruiz analysed the transformation for El Periódico, and her verdict is less spectacular than the reactions online. Most of the changes, she says, are consistent with the natural development of a young man: more defined facial features, more muscle definition, skin that appears healthier.
Add the discipline of an elite athlete, skincare and, most likely, professional advice on hair and shaving. All of that, she says, has amplified the appeal of someone who was already attractive. Drawing any further conclusions from a few pictures is something Ruiz calls irresponsible.
Ferran Torres: intermittent fasting, fasted training and waffles
How much discipline is actually involved is something Torres explained himself before the World Cup. In March, he sat on the Spanish show El Hormiguero and talked about his routines: dinner around 8pm, then nothing until 2pm the next day, training on an empty stomach. “I feel more energised,” he said.
He even converted teammate Pedri to intermittent fasting, against his initial resistance. There is one exception: on matchdays, the two eat a proper breakfast, waffles with white chocolate.
On the pitch, things are going well for Torres at this World Cup even without a goal of his own: in the round of 16 against Portugal, he came off the bench and set up the winner. On Tuesday, Spain face France in the semi-finals, and Torres has up to two games left to give people something to talk about on the pitch as well.
