EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY — Spain have become world champions for the second time in their history, as Luis de la Fuente’s men beat Argentina 1-0 in Sunday’s 2o26 FIFA World Cup final in New York New Jersey.
Although Spain dominated the game from start to finish, they had to wait until the 106th minute to finally find a way past Emiliano Martínez. The Argentina goalkeeper made a series of saves to thwart La Roja but had no chance when Nico Williams nodded down a Pedro Porro cross at the far post and Ferran Torres buried a first-time shot into the roof of the net.
Defending champions Argentina had lost Enzo Fernández to a second yellow card at the end of normal time yet they battled to the end.
However, Spain, as when winning the 2010 final, found the answer in extra time.
This was a head-to-head worthy of the World Cup final, bringing together the champions of Europe and South America, the top two sides in FIFA’s world ranking, each of them unbeaten on the road to the final. What followed was a first half controlled by Spain, who produced the first notable attempt through Lamine Yamal after five minutes. Dani Olmo worked the ball to the teenager in space on the right side of the box and he shot low but Martínez got down to block at the near post.
If Spain were in control, it was cagey stuff with La Roja struggling to find gaps in a deep, determined Argentina defense. With half-time approaching, openings did appear with Mikel Oyarzabal driving a shot at Martínez and Marc Cucurella dragging an effort wide.
For Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni, the challenge increased with injuries to both of his starting centre-backs as the final progressed, with Lisandro Martínez making way for Nicolás Otamendi just before the break and Facundo Medina replacing Cristian Romero after 70 minutes.
By that point, Spain were still the side asking all the questions. Yamal created an excellent opportunity for Torres after 67 minutes but he headed too close to Martínez. Pau Cubarsí and substitutes Pedri and Williams all drew saves from the Argentina custodian as the pressure continued, culminating in the goalkeeper’s flying save from Yamal’s free-kick at the very end of normal time.
Argentina had hit 19 goals on their way to the final yet Spain’s control was such that La Albiceleste did not manage a single attempt until extra time.
Their task became even greater when Fernández was sent off following a challenge on Cubarsí three minutes into second-half added time.
Extra time brought more of the same. Martínez kept out a Williams header and Merino put another wide. Both Williams and Torres had goals disallowed. In between, though, Torres produced the defining moment to put Spain back on top of the world.
Key stats
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Spain’s total of one goal conceded is the lowest for a World Cup-winning team in a single edition of the tournament.
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Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón has set a record for most clean sheets in a World Cup tournament with seven.
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Spain’s Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, both 19, are the fourth and fifth teenagers to have played in a World Cup final. As with Pelé (aged 17 in 1958), Giuseppe Bergomi (18 in 1982) and Kylian Mbappe (19 in 2018), they have all ended up on the winning side.
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At 65 years and 28 days old, Luis de la Fuente has become the oldest World Cup-winning coach, surpassing the mark of his compatriot Vicente del Bosque who was 59 years and 220 days when winning Spain’s first world title.
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Spain are the first team to be reigning champions of both the men’s and women’s World Cups at the same time, having won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.
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At 39 years and 25 days old, Lionel Messi became the oldest outfield player to appear in a World Cup final, breaking the record of Sweden’s Gunnar Gren, who faced Brazil in 1958 aged 37 years and 241 days. Substitute Nicolas Otamendi beat Gren’s record too to become the second-oldest outfield player (38 years, 157 days).
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Messi is also now the second player to have appeared in three World Cup finals, doing so in 2014, 2022 and 2026, after Brazil’s Cafu, who played in the 1994, 1998, 2002 deciders.
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La Roja are undefeated in regular time in their last 38 matches (W29 D9), having not lost since 22 March 2024, when they succumbed 1-0 to Colombia in a friendly in London. This is their longest-ever unbeaten sequence and has beaten Italy’s record for a European nation of 37, set between October 2018 and September 2021; it was Spain who ended that run by triumphing 2-1 in a UEFA Nations League encounter on October 6, 2021.
What they said
“I feel especially proud of this generation of footballers who have grown with this idea, making it better and giving us an example of a group, of a family. They are players with exceptional talent. For me, it’s been an honour to have accompanied them on this journey. I’m very emotional, looking back. We have spoken a lot with the players. We’ve won everything and that is wonderful. They are a generation of footballers who are a source of pride for Spain. Together, we are stronger. I think the game should have been decided earlier. Dibu’s [Martínez] great saves prevented us from winning sooner but it’s a World Cup final and, even with ten players at the end, you have to suffer.” Luis de la Fuente, Spain coach
“[I feel] sadness but knowing that we left everything out there. I have a lot of things to say about how we got here but it’s not worth it. I want to thank these guys eternally for giving us another World Cup final and for competing until the end. They [Spain] were better, that’s the truth. But I’ll hold on to an enormous memory of what they’ve done, of what it’s worth to get this far. We have to give it huge value because it takes a lot to get here. We’re big in victory and we have to be big in defeat. Today we’re showing that we know how to lose. We lost the match and we’re owning it. But that doesn’t mean we’ll stop remembering everything we did to get here.” Lionel Scaloni, Argentina coach
“I think, in the end, the goal was for 47 million people; it wasn’t just mine or from the 26 players here. I believe that today’s outcome was written in the stars. [The game] was there for us to win, far from our people, but we did our best to make them feel as close as possible. All finals are difficult – when Messi is on the opposition team that nervousness always creeps in – but ultimately we’ve always stuck to our guns, to playing our own brand of football, and I think today we’ve shown that once again.” Ferran Torres, Spain forward
Information and Photos Courtesy of FIFA
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