Spain were crowned world champions for the second time on Sunday when substitute Ferran Torres fired home in the 106th minute to break a grim stalemate and seal a 1-0 victory over holders Argentina at MetLife Stadium. The final, watched by President Donald Trump and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino from a VIP box, will not be remembered for its beauty. Argentina failed to muster a single shot, on target or off, during the 90 minutes, the first time any team has done so in a World Cup final, and the match drifted listlessly toward penalties before Torres finally converted Spain’s 20th attempt. The Barcelona forward, introduced from the bench, pounced on a Nico Williams layoff and buried a left footed strike under the crossbar to settle a contest that had offered little until its decisive moment.
The aftermath brought more drama than the match itself. Argentina’s frustrations boiled over at the final whistle, with players pushing and shoving as Enzo Fernandez, already sent off in stoppage time for a reckless challenge on Pau Cubarsi, watched from the tunnel. Spain’s suffocating defensive mastery, which yielded just one goal conceded across eight tournament matches, left Argentina’s attack, and Lionel Messi in particular, starved of oxygen. The 39 year old, playing in what is widely expected to be his final World Cup appearance and only the second man after Brazil’s Cafu to feature in three finals, was unable to conjure the magic that had carried his team through earlier rounds. Lamine Yamal, Spain’s teenage sensation, was similarly anonymous. For purists, the spectacle was a letdown after a month of exhilarating football, the halftime show featuring Justin Bieber, Madonna, and Ted Lasso proved more entertaining than much of what preceded it.
Yet for Spain and their coach Luis de la Fuente, the result eclipsed the performance. At 65, de la Fuente became the oldest manager to win a World Cup, adding the 2026 trophy to the European Championship he claimed in 2024. His team has now gone 38 matches unbeaten, a record for any European or South American side, and became the first nation to hold both the men’s and women’s World Cup titles simultaneously after Spain’s women won in 2023. “I’m so proud of this generation of footballers who have grown up with this philosophy, remained true to it, made it even better and set an example as a team and a family,” de la Fuente said. Torres, whose goal was his first of the tournament, captured the collective spirit: “It was a goal scored by 47 million people, it wasn’t even mine or from the 26 players. It was destined to happen.” For Argentina and Lionel Scaloni, who learned his coaching trade under de la Fuente in Spain, the defeat ended dreams of becoming the first back to back champions since Brazil in 1962. “I would have never imagined, including my staff, that we would be in this place,” Scaloni said, tears streaming down his face. “We have to go on.”
