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Spain’s persistence pays off to win 2026 World Cup as Messi, Argentina exit quietlyplayMadrid erupts at full-time as Spain crowned World Cup champions (0:18)Mark Ogden
Senior Writer, ESPN FC
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ferran Torres’ goal early in the second period of extra time was enough as Spain secured their second World Cup with a 1-0 win at New York/New Jersey Stadium (MetLife Stadium) on Sunday.
The Barcelona forward had side-footed the ball home after Nico Williams’ header fell to him following Pedro Porro’s cross. Before that, it had been Spain with the better chances, controlling possession and forcing a number of choice saves from Argentina keeper Emiliano “Dibu” Martinez, including a superb stop from a Williams shot at the start of extra time.
The game itself followed the script many had predicted, with Spain possessing more of the ball and Argentina waiting for their moment to find Lionel Messi. Accommodating his 39-year-old legs had served them well during this World Cup as he proved decisive in late comebacks against Egypt and England. But Spain were simply fresher and more technically gifted than previous opponents, and the end result is that Argentina’s first shot of any kind came in the 115th minute, a record of futility for a World Cup.
The upshot was a physical game, with referee Slavko Vincic loathe to intervene and opting to let play run on. But Enzo Fernández left him little choice when he upended Pau Cubarsí in injury time, earning a second yellow card.
– VAR Review: Should Enzo Fernandez have been sent off?
– Ratings: Messi 3/10 in sad Argentina loss
– World Cup 2026: All results and feature coverage
Messi had stated this was his last World Cup, and he left the stage after a tournament that saw him record eight goals and four assists. It was the third time that Argentina reached the final in the last four World Cups, having lost to Germany in 2014 and beating France in 2022.
As for Spain, already the reigning European champions, they crown a tournament that saw them concede a single goal in eight matches, against Belgium in the quarterfinals. Coach Luis De La Fuente surprised many with some of his team selection, with Pedri again starting on the bench, but he was ultimately vindicated. — Gab Marcotti
Spain fully deserved their World Cup win over Argentina, but they needed to dig deep to do it after a bruising, challenging game. ANP via Getty ImagesIt was a hard watch for much of the time, and arguably the worst World Cup final in living memory, but Spain held their nerve and beat Argentina through sheer persistence and belief that their superior quality would win in the end.It did, and it was a victory for control over chaos. Spain dominated possession in every game they played and Argentina couldn’t get close to the European champions by fair means, so they attempted to drag the down by less savory methods. But Spain maintained their composure long enough for Torres to win the game with his goal deep into extra time.By the end, Spain had registered 20 shots compared to two by Argentina, with 12 on target and none by the outgoing world champions.De la Fuente’s team might lack the explosive brilliance of France’s or Argentina’s ability to drag games out of the fire, but they simply know how to control possession and the tempo of a match. And when a team can do that as well as Spain, it is going to win a lot and it shows why Spain are now on an incredible run of 38 games without defeat. — Mark OgdenWhat got Argentina to the World Cup final is what cost them the trophyIf you go 117 minutes without registering a single shot, you’re either not playing a sport of any kind or you have a big problem. And that’s what Argentina had Sunday afternoon. Regular time ended without a single shot — off target or otherwise — toward the Spain goal, something that’s objectively difficult to do. In fact, it happened to Costa Rica (twice) and nobody else since records of this kind have been kept.
Their lack of shooting continued well into injury time, with the mitigating factor that Fernández’s sending off left them down to 10 players.
How to explain the attacking sterility? A lot of it has to do with Spain, who end the tournament having given up just a single goal in eight games. Their ability in possession and intense press denied Argentina both ball and time, two things you need to shoot on goal.
But a lot has to do with the formula that manager Lionel Scaloni chose for this World Cup.
Scaloni built the team around Messi knowing that Messi, at 39, simply can’t contribute off the ball the way he used to. And to mitigate this, he built a team to play narrow so that when it lost the ball, there would still be density and opponents would be forced wide. He also packed the team with players he trusted and whom — crucially — Messi trusted: Alexis Mac Allister, Rodrigo De Paul and Leandro Paredes (who didn’t start the final, but came on and played an outsized role) — players who are tough in the tackle, but not exactly examples of dynamism.
Messi’s presence also meant playing with one striker, which in turn meant choosing between Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez every game. Being the lone “out ball” on a team like this is a thankless and tiring task. And, of course, it meant there was no room for someone like Nico Paz, arguably one of the more gifted players in this squad, but for whom Scaloni couldn’t find a position.
The setup worked — with a bit of luck and a lot of Messi — until it didn’t.
You can second-guess it all you like: Scaloni would say that this was the only way to incorporate Messi and his performances at this World Cup — eight goals and four assists — justify his decision. Maybe so, but the lack of an alternative framework became very telling Sunday as Argentina degenerated into frustration and physicality, while some of their most talented players were stuck on the bench. — Marcotti
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez will be remembered as the only standout for Argentina during the World Cup final in what can otherwise be considered a disappointing team performance.
Martínez certainly grew into the game, making routine saves throughout the first half before going on to record game-changing deflections. He made a total of 11 saves in the 120 minutes, tied for second most in a World Cup knockout stage match in the past 60 years.
Martinez made history all while nursing an injury in his right hand. The Argentina goalkeeper suffered a fracture in his right ring finger when warming up for the Europa League final with Aston Villa. The injury forced Martinez to train separately from his Argentina teammates during the first games of this World Cup before finally integrating with the group. Still, he acknowledged Friday that his hand hurts every day.
“No, it still hurts every day. I knew it was going to hurt a lot. I avoided surgery,” Martínez stated.
Martinez was determined to play throughout the World Cup and be the figure Argentina needed between the posts. Despite the score, without Martinez, the game could’ve gone very differently. — Lizzy Becherano
Messi had a subdued World Cup final in New Jersey, touching the ball just 54 times and not managing a single impactful moment in which he could have shown his best. Al Bello/Getty ImagesMessi quietly leaves the stageThe fairytale ended here, with reality crashing into the fantasy that at 39 years of age Messi could continue to carry a nation on his back. He did it throughout a stellar tournament, but Spain were too much and, ultimately, the numbers were brutal. One shot (blocked), zero touches in the opposition box, disposed twice, fouled four times. All this in 120 minutes plus injury time of football.As you watched the clock tick away and Messi continue to try to thread the needle between conserving energy and securing a spot on the pitch where his teammates could find him, you kept believing that, at some point, he could turn the game. Heck, he did it enough times before.But the job only got tougher after Enzo Fernandez was sent off and throughout extra time, Messi was effectively the lone centerforward in a de facto 4-4-1 formation. In those conditions, you really couldn’t expect much of anything.And to think that it was after defeat in the 2016 Copa America final, in this very stadium, that Messi had revealed his international retirement, frustrated with the Argentina FA and their failures in major competitions. His retirement only lasted a few months and, upon his return, Argentina won a World Cup and two Copa Americas, as well as the 2022 Finalissima. All this after his 34th birthday.Needless to say, as muted as his exit was, Messi’s achievements in his previous 1100-plus games for club and country will resonate forever.play1:03Scenes in Spain as Ferran Torres scores extra-time opener in World Cup finalHalftime show goes way over the limitFIFA were reluctant to confirm the details of the half-time show ahead of the game — primarily exactly how long the players would be off the pitch while the acts performed on the pitch during the interval. But it turned out to be worse, and longer, than most were prepared to imagine.Overall, the entertainment break lasted 27 minutes and 20 seconds between the referee’s half-time whistle and the start of the second half. FIFA rules stipulate that a half-time break should last no longer than 15 minutes, but we already knew that those rules would be stretched on this occasion.However, guidance that it would be an 11-minute show and a break that would last around 17 minutes turned out to be way off.The watching world can, and will, debate whether there was any value in the performances of the likes of Madonna, Justin Bieber and Shakira, but from a sporting perspective, the extended half-time break was a real buzz kill in a game that was already lacking excitement. By being off the pitch for so long, the game lost any momentum it had and there was zero intensity. The hydration breaks in each half didn’t help either.Hopefully it was the first and last World Cup halftime show, but while Gianni Infantino is FIFA president, the gimmicks are likely to get worse than get better.– Mark Ogden
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