Opinion: New Jersey pizza, the fuel of world champions

Rodri #16 of Spain lifts the FIFA World Cup Winner's Trophy after the team's victory following the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final match between Spain and Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19, 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. David Ramos/Getty Images hide caption

Perhaps you saw the ecstatic scenes this week of Spain's World Cup Championship team arriving back home after they won the tournament in a thrilling 1- zero — excuse me, it's soccer — one - nil victory over Argentina.

La Roja, as they've become known for their red jerseys, took off from Newark airport, landed in Madrid and rode in an open-topped red bus emblazoned "STARS SHINE TOGETHER", to be acclaimed by an estimated 2 million fans, shouting, cheering, and sobbing, as the team hoisted the FIFA World Cup trophy.

You may wonder: what fuels great athletes to play 120 minutes against their mightiest competitors, win by a single goal, and then fly through the night across the Atlantic to parade before their grateful nation?

Love of country? Love of the game? Or pizza from West Orange, New Jersey?

Shortly after Spain secured their victory, the phone trilled at Bagels by Jarrett, or BXJ, which also call themselves, "The most confused bagel shop you've ever loved."

The owner, Jarrett Seltzer, and his crew also make pizza, and had made a stack of them for Norway's World Cup team after they defeated Brazil in the Round of 16.

"I guess they don't have a lot of pizza in Norway," Jarrett Selzer told us.

Maybe when the world's best soccer players flop to the ground in theatrical pain to try and draw fouls, they whisper to each other, "Pssst: Try the pizza at BXJ," because on Norway's apparent recommendation, the Spanish team ordered 46 pies: pepperoni, margherita, and buffalo chicken.

"And a few gluten free," Seltzer told us.

He also said he had been restlessly experimenting for months to perfect his recipe for pizza dough. "To go from good to better," he said.

"But hard work really does pay off," he told us. "To feed the guys who just won the World Cup? I don't know if there's a cooler feeling.

"You try and do something as good as you can, and get better and better, and then just one day, it all pays off," Jarrett Seltzer said. "Like it did for us and those guys on the team. They're always eating such healthy diets. What's a better way to say, 'Finally, we won!' than a big New Jersey pizza?"