Spain are world champions. Again.
Ferran Torres came off the bench and scored in the 106th minute to give Spain a 1-0 victory over Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday. Argentina were already down to 10 men after Enzo Fernandez was sent off just before extra time, and Spain finally broke through when Nico Williams nodded down Pedro Porro's cross at the back post and Torres buried the finish. Argentina, the defending champions, barely threatened until extra time and lost to a team that was simply better for almost every minute of the match.
Spain are world champions for the second time. Their first was 2010. This one, in many ways, was more dominant.
Spain 1, Argentina 0 (AET). World Cup Final. MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ.
The Final
This game played out exactly the way Spain's tournament had: suffocating, organized, impossible to crack.
Argentina, with Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, and Enzo Fernandez, managed almost nothing in attack before extra time. Spain's defensive structure was relentless from the opening whistle, and Unai Simon barely had to make a save. The match drifted through 90 goalless minutes with Spain in control but unable to convert chances.
Then, early in the second period of extra time, Torres settled it. A substitute, coming off the bench to score the biggest goal of his career, in a World Cup final, against the defending champions. The stuff of legend.
Lionel Messi likely played his final World Cup match without adding a second title. He was largely kept quiet, a testament to how completely Spain executed their defensive plan. The greatest player in the history of the sport walked off the MetLife pitch a World Cup champion once, and that will always be his legacy.
Tournament Awards
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Golden Ball | Rodri (Spain) |
| Silver Ball | Lionel Messi (Argentina) |
| Bronze Ball | Kylian Mbappe (France) |
| Golden Boot | Kylian Mbappe (France) |
| Silver Boot | Lionel Messi (Argentina) |
| Bronze Boot | Jude Bellingham (England) |
| Golden Glove | Unai Simon (Spain) |
| Best Young Player | Pau Cubarsi (Spain) |
| Fair Play Trophy | Netherlands |
Spain's dominance showed up in the awards, too. Rodri was named the tournament's best player, Unai Simon won the Golden Glove after seven clean sheets, and Pau Cubarsi was honored as the Best Young Player. Mbappe finished as the Golden Boot winner with 10 goals, ahead of Messi and Bellingham.
The Semifinals
Getting to the final required navigating two more difficult matches.
Spain 2-0 France (July 14, Arlington) - Spain were magnificent. Oyarzabal converted a penalty in the 22nd minute, Porro added a second in the 58th, and Mbappe never found the space he needed. France, one of the most dangerous teams in the tournament, were neutralized completely.
Argentina 2-1 England (July 15, Atlanta) - This one went down to the wire. England's Anthony Gordon gave them the lead in the 55th minute and it looked like football might be coming home. Then Enzo Fernandez equalized in the 85th and Lautaro Martinez broke England's hearts in the 90+2nd minute. Argentina survived again. England's wait continues.
Tournament Review
The High Points
Spain's defensive record. One goal allowed in eight matches. That is a World Cup record for fewest goals conceded by a champion. Unai Simon's long scoreless stretch, seven clean sheets, and Golden Glove win made him one of the defining players of Spain's run.
Spain holding both World Cups. Spain became the first country to simultaneously hold the men's and women's World Cup titles, adding the 2026 men's trophy to the women's title won in 2023. That is a historic moment for Spanish football.
Erling Haaland. Seven goals. Norway in the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in their history. Haaland was one of the most electric individual performers of the tournament, Brazil eliminated, and his first World Cup did not disappoint.
The Golden Boot race. Mbappe finished with 10 goals to win the Golden Boot, Messi finished with eight to take the Silver Boot, and Jude Bellingham earned the Bronze Boot. The race gave the tournament one more star-driven storyline all the way through the final weekend.
Argentina's comeback against Egypt. Down 2-0 in the 77th minute of their Round of 16 match, Argentina scored three times in the final stretch to win 3-2. Messi's 10th career World Cup assist, to a different player each time, set up the opening goal of the comeback. Moments like that do not happen in any other sport.
The USMNT beating Bosnia with 10 men. The USA won 2-0 against Bosnia and Herzegovina with Folarin Balogun red-carded in the 64th minute, ending a 24-year knockout win drought in the process. It was one of the tournament's defining moments.
The 48-team format delivered. This was the first World Cup with 48 nations, and the skeptics were wrong. More games meant more stories: Egypt's run, Canada's first knockout win, Paraguay eliminating Germany, Morocco back in the quarterfinals. The expanded field added chaos and that chaos was compelling.
Record crowds throughout. From the opening matches in Los Angeles to the final at MetLife, the tournament played to packed stadiums across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The atmosphere was everything FIFA hoped for.
The Low Points
Germany eliminated in the Round of 32. One of the most decorated programs in World Cup history lost to Paraguay on penalties. In an expanded 48-team field designed to give big nations more runway, Germany still went home early. It was a stunning result.
The USMNT's Round of 16 exit. After the euphoria of the Bosnia win, Belgium put up four goals against the USA in a 4-1 dismissal. Charles De Ketelaere was unmarkable, the defense struggled all night, and the tournament ended in a performance that exposed the gap between the USMNT and Europe's best. There is real work to do before 2030.
Messi's final exit. This is not a criticism of the tournament, it is a moment of reflection. The greatest player ever likely walked off a World Cup pitch for the last time on Sunday without a second title. Spain deserved to win. That does not make it any less bittersweet.
Parting Words
The 2026 FIFA World Cup was a resounding success. The format worked. The crowds showed up. The matches delivered. From Portugal's 94th-minute winner over Croatia to Haaland eliminating Brazil, from the USMNT winning with 10 men to Spain's historic defensive tournament, this World Cup gave the sport everything it asked for.
Spain leave as the deserving champions: the best team, the most organized, the most complete side from start to finish. Ferran Torres, who was once criticized for not delivering on his potential, scored the winning goal in a World Cup final. That is the beauty of this game.
The next World Cup is in 2030. Until then, Spain hold the trophy, Messi's legacy is secure, and the United States knows exactly what it needs to build toward.
What a tournament.
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