A Final That Took 106 Minutes to Decide
Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time to win the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final. Ferran Torres got the winner, 106th minute, at MetLife Stadium. Second World Cup title for Spain. Argentina’s reign as champions is over, and this was probably Lionel Messi’s last shot at a major trophy with his country.
Ninety minutes wasn’t enough. Wasn’t close to enough, really. Spain had the better chances basically the whole way, especially after Torres came on for Oyarzabal in the 62nd minute, but Emiliano Martínez kept saying no. Torres headed one straight at him in the 66th off a Yamal cross. By the 82nd minute Spain had put seven shots on target and still had nothing to show for it. Argentina, for their part, mostly just defended — dropped deep, leaned on the back line, let Martínez do the rest.
Extra Time, A Red Card, Then the Winner
Right at the death of normal time, things got worse for Argentina. Enzo Fernández caught Pau Cubarsí with a reckless challenge deep in stoppage time, sent him flying, and referee Slavko Vincic didn’t have much choice — second yellow, red card, Fernández off. Ten men going into extra time against a Spain side that hadn’t let up all night. Not a great spot to be in.
Didn’t take long to show either. Thirty-nine seconds into the second period of extra time, Torres pounced on a chance from close range and finally beat Martínez. Spanish end of the ground went up. Argentina barely threatened all game and only started creating anything late in extra time, but by then it was too little. Martínez himself had an incredible night — 11 saves in total — and it still wasn’t enough to keep Spain out forever.
A Fitting End to a Historic Run
Numbers back up how lopsided this really was underneath the tight scoreline. Spain finished with 20 shots, 1.94 expected goals, to Argentina’s 0.20. Just one goal conceded across the whole tournament for Spain — one of the best defensive runs in World Cup history, and they played more games to get there than any champion before them. De la Fuente, 65 years old, is now the oldest coach ever to win it, and Spain add a second star to match their 2010 win.
Tough one for Argentina. They came in trying to be the first team ever to win four straight major tournaments after the Copa Américas and the 2022 World Cup, and it ends here instead. For Messi, hunting one last trophy with his country, it wasn’t meant to be — cruel way to close out a career that’s already given football basically everything else.
Match Summary
Spain 1-0 Argentina (after extra time) FIFA World Cup 2026 Final — MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Sunday, 19 July 2026 Referee: Slavko Vincic
Goal: 106′ Ferran Torres (Spain) 1-0
Red card: Enzo Fernández (Argentina), 90+3′ — second yellow
Stats: Spain 1.94 xG from 20 shots — Argentina 0.20 xG. Martínez made 11 saves in goal for Argentina.
Result: Spain win their second World Cup title with one of the strongest defensive campaigns in tournament history. Argentina fall short of becoming the first team to win four straight major tournaments.
For live World Cup final coverage and reaction, visit fawanews. Full results and the tournament bracket at the official FIFA World Cup website.
