Spain 1-0 Argentina: Torres extra-time winner seals World Cup triumph

Result

Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Sunday, winning their second men's World Cup title and their first since 2010. Ferran Torres, on as a second-half substitute, struck in the 106th minute to settle a tense, attritional final that had finished goalless after 90 minutes.

Argentina were reduced to ten men in stoppage time at the end of normal time, when Enzo Fernandez was shown a second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Pau Cubarsi. Already booked for dissent earlier in the half, the Chelsea midfielder lunged in high and left referee Slavko Vincic with little choice. It was the sixth red card ever issued in a men's World Cup final and the first since John Heitinga was sent off for the Netherlands against Spain in 2010.

Spain's dominance was complete. They finished with 65 percent possession, 20 shots, and 12 on target, accumulating an expected goals total of 1.94. Argentina did not register a single shot on target across the entire match. Their first attempt of any kind arrived in the 117th minute, a statistic that captures how thoroughly Luis de la Fuente's side controlled the occasion.

Emiliano Martinez made 11 saves for Argentina, the most by any goalkeeper in a World Cup final in the last 60 years, but the pressure was relentless and Torres eventually found the gap. The Barcelona forward, who had replaced Mikel Oyarzabal just after the hour, drove a powerful finish past Martinez in the first minute of extra time and joined Mario Gotze as the only substitutes to score a World Cup final winner.

Pool impact

For Last Man Standing pools, Spain selections progress to the next round, while Argentina picks are eliminated. The final being settled in extra time rather than penalties means the result is clean for pool scoring: Spain win, Argentina lose, and no draw complications apply.

Score Predictor players who called a Spain win earn points, though the 1-0 scoreline after extra time will have rewarded the small minority who backed a tight, low-scoring final. Anyone who predicted an Argentina victory or a draw in regular time is out for this entry.

Pre-match forecasts

The final pitted the tournament's best defence against its most celebrated attack, and the pre-match consensus was that it would be tight. Spain had conceded only once in six matches before the final, a defensive record unmatched in the modern tournament era, while Argentina had scored in every knockout game and arrived with Lionel Messi chasing a third consecutive major international trophy.

Most analysts expected Spain to control the ball and Argentina to disrupt. That is exactly how the match unfolded. De la Fuente's side had averaged over 60 percent possession across the tournament, and they kept to that pattern, patiently probing an Argentina defence that had conceded late goals against Egypt, Cape Verde, and Switzerland earlier in the knockout stage. The question was whether Spain's finishing could match their approach play, and for 105 minutes the answer looked like it might be no.

Standout stats

Spain's victory extended their unbeaten run to 38 matches, a new European record surpassing Italy's 37-game streak from 2018 to 2021, and they became only the seventh nation to win multiple men's World Cup titles. They kept seven clean sheets across the tournament, another record for a single World Cup, and conceded just one goal in total, the fewest by any champion in tournament history.

Rodri won the Golden Ball as player of the tournament, completing 648 passes across the competition, more than any player has ever registered at a single World Cup. He broke his own record of 638 set at Qatar 2022.

For Argentina, the defeat ended a 13-match World Cup unbeaten run stretching back to the opening game of the 2022 tournament. They became the fourth consecutive defending champion to reach the final and finish as runners-up, following Argentina in 1990, Brazil in 1998, and France in 2022. Messi, at 39 years and 25 days, became the oldest outfield player to start a men's World Cup final, in what he has indicated was his last World Cup appearance.

What comes next

Spain's triumph crowns a tournament in which they were the standout side from the group stage onward. With a squad that was the fifth-youngest among the 48 teams at this World Cup, including 19-year-old Lamine Yamal, the foundation is in place for a sustained period at the top. De la Fuente has now won his first nine major-tournament knockout matches and is unbeaten in all 15 of his World Cup and European Championship fixtures.

For Argentina, the post-Messi transition that has been anticipated for years is now a reality. The core of the squad that won the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Copa America, including Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, and Julian Alvarez, remains young enough to compete in 2030, but the identity of the side will shift without the player who has defined it for nearly two decades.

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