Spain is the world champion. La Roja held off a dogged, ten-man Argentina side 1-0 in extra time on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, claiming the country’s second World Cup title 16 years after its first in 2010.
The breakthrough came 39 seconds into the second period of extra time. Pedro Porro lifted a ball to the back post, Nico Williams beat Nahuel Molina to a header, and with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez already committed, substitute Ferran Torres steered the loose ball into the net from eight yards out. “I just saw the ball coming to me and I just shot with the power of all the Spanish people,” Torres said afterward.
It was a bruising, low-scoring final that stood in sharp contrast to the tournament’s free-scoring run through the knockout rounds. Argentina, appearing in its seventh World Cup final, went the entire match without recording a shot on target and finished with just two attempts total. Spain, by comparison, fired 20 shots, 12 of them on frame, and forced Martinez into a World Cup final record 11 saves.
Argentina’s night grew tougher as it wore on. Center back Lisandro Martinez was forced off with injury before halftime, and Enzo Fernandez picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time for a challenge on Pau Cubarsi, leaving the Albiceleste to play the entirety of extra time a man down. Lionel Messi, playing in what may have been his final World Cup match, was starved of the ball throughout and finished the game without registering a shot.
Spain entered the match unbeaten in 38 games over more than two years and leaves the tournament having conceded only once all summer. Manager Luis de la Fuente remains undefeated in competitive matches since taking charge, and at 65 becomes the oldest manager to win a World Cup.
The individual honors went Spain’s way as well. Midfielder Rodri was named the tournament’s best player, goalkeeper Unai Simon collected the Golden Glove, and defender Pau Cubarsi was voted Young Player of the Tournament. Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez, despite the loss, put together a record-setting night in goal that kept the final level deep into extra time.
For Messi and Argentina, the defeat ends a bid to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups, and closes the book on the 39-year-old’s remarkable run through his fifth and likely last World Cup. For Spain, it caps a tournament in which the team never trailed and confirms the country as the most dominant side in the world game right now, adding a second global star to a squad already built around Euro 2024 winners.