Spain triumphed over reigning champions Argentina to claim the World Cup, thanks to a decisive late goal by Ferran Torres which secured a 1-0 victory in the final held in New Jersey.
Building on the momentum from their historic fourth European Championship win in 2024, Spain has once again made their mark in football’s annals. This victory secures them the coveted trophy for the second time, reminiscent of their celebrated 2010 World Cup success.
Spain stands alone as the only nation to capture both the European Championship and World Cup in successive tournaments. Following their Euro 2024 success, they have achieved this remarkable feat once more. They have set a record as the first World Cup winners to concede a mere goal throughout the entire event. Additionally, Spain is the inaugural champion of the UEFA Nations League to ascend to a World title, having won the young tournament in 2022-2023.
“We’ve won everything, everything,” proclaimed Spain’s manager Luis de la Fuente, speaking through an interpreter. “It’s incredible to witness a generation of footballers who embody excellence in Spanish sport and inspire our youth. United, we are unstoppable, and there’s no denying that.”
For Argentina and their captain Lionel Messi, despite a valiant display of resilience and determination until the final whistle, the defeat marked a bittersweet conclusion to a World Cup journey filled with unexpected turns and achievements.
The Argentines had been dreaming of a fourth World Cup and a back-to-back trophy after winning against France at Qatar in 2022— but it was not to be.
Spain appeared to dominate for much of the game with Argentina barely getting a look in, but it was only in extra time that one of Spain’s dozens of shots broke through.
In the 106th minute, well into extra time, Torres managed to land a strike into the roof of the net, just as a penalty shootout felt all but assured.
Torres was a late-game sub, taking the pitch in the 62nd minute.
It was 27C and sunny for the 80,000-strong crowd at New York New Jersey Stadium but it took close to full time for gameplay to heat up on the pitch.
After 49 minutes of bitsy, defensive play, the two sides were locked on 0-0 when they cleared the pitch for the half-time show. The score would not budge until well after the 90-minute mark.
As the clock wound down, chaos broke out around Spain’s net — Messi taking back-to-back corners, Argentina making breathless attempt after attempt that they were unable to manoeuvre past Spain’s formidable defensive line.
Spain dominated early, using their 67 per cent possession to show off their skills in the midfield and taunt Argentina, but the defending European champions only managed to convert three of those plays into attempts on goal going into the entertainment.
Around the five-minute mark, Lamine Yamal played a one-two in the box, collecting at the near post and getting a shot off that was saved by Emiliano Martinez.
Despite the early excitement, the first half wore on with few significant breaks. While Spain looked in control, neither side looked concerned.
After the first hydration break, Messi began dropping deeper and deeper into the midfield to pick up the play, only for Spain’s defence to sweep him up every time.
The 39-year-old, eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi would have hoped for this final game to help him to at least nudge back into equal position with France’s Kylian Mbappé as a top World Cup goal scorer.
Going into the match, the bowed-out Mbappé had 22 World Cup goals under his belt, compared to Messi’s 21. But another wasn’t to be, and with this largely rumoured to be his last time at the tournament, that is probably where his still mighty legacy will remain.
An apparent injury saw off Argentine centre-back Lisandro Martínez in the 43rd minute, to be replaced by Nicolás Otamendi.
The second half immediately marked a shift in play for both sides. When the teams returned from the not-quite-regulation 25-minute half-time break, they were both much livelier, but it wasn’t enough to shift the game’s play.
Some 43 seconds in, Spain’s Alejandro Baena took an early chance on target — that was comfortably saved — before Argentina decided they had had enough of that and started taking more possession.
Despite more zest, the start-stop play that dominated the first half returned and Argentina remained defensive— the attacking side that came out of the gates swinging in the second half against England in the semi-final nowhere to be seen.
Spain continued to notch up attempts on goal, getting increasingly dangerous — but not dangerous enough — by attempt eight: A cross from Yamal offered Torres the chance to fling a header at speed into Martinez’s waiting hands.
It offered a rare glimmer of excitement but it was not enough to change the pace as both teams headed into the tournament’s last hydration break, increasingly tense and locked at nil-nil.
Off the back of the hydration break a frenzied feeling settled into play but not enough to change the score. Spain continued to make attempts on goal, but each one on target is saved without hesitation or fumble by Martínez.
Messi’s influence was almost completely negated time and time again by the well-organised and controlling Spanish midfield. Spain’s midfield acted like a curtain until, in the 92nd minute — halfway through stoppage time— when Argentina made its first serious attack, only one of two it would make across the entire match.
As the game moved into extra time Argentina’s side looked threadbare — down to just 10 men after Enzo Fernandez was sent off on a second yellow card; Messi the only attacker after Fernandez was sent off for an out-of-control tackle and Julian Alvarez came off in extra time.
The first goal of the game came well past the 90-minute mark, when Williams punted a defended ball into the net, only for it to be ruled out off the back of a penalty Mikel Merino incurred by standing on Nicolás Otamendi’s foot.
Nine minutes later, they nearly doubled their lead after Torres got a one-on-one with Martinez, but the offside flag was up, and it was thrown out.
Spain finished with 20 attempts, 12 on target, compared to Argentina’s two off-target attempts.
Speaking after the game, Torres and his manager were candid about the game’s slow evolution.
“Well, in the end, all finals are difficult, and when you have Messi on the opposing team, you always get nervous,” Torres said. “But ultimately, we’ve always depended on ourselves, on playing our style of football, and I think we demonstrated that once again today.”
“Yes, I think the game should have been decided much earlier,” de la Fuente said.
“Dibu’s great saves prevented us from winning the game sooner. We could have taken a more comfortable lead. But this is a world championship final, and even with 10 men, you have to suffer at the end. But since we like to suffer, we’ve shown once again that we’re ready for anything.”