On Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the 2026 World Cup final pits Argentina against Spain, and history points to goals: across the previous 22 men's finals the winning side averaged 2.6 goals and the losing side 1.1, a combined average of 3.7 per final.
If Argentina wins, Lionel Scaloni — who led the team to the 2022 crown — would become only the second coach to win two World Cups, after Vittorio Pozzo (Italy in 1934 and 1938). At 39, Lionel Messi will be the oldest outfield player ever to appear in a final (the only older man was goalkeeper Dino Zoff, 40, in 1982); a start would also make him the first player to start three World Cup finals, surpassing Cafu, who came off the bench in one of his.
Spain counters with youth: Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, both 19, are set to start, and no team has ever won the title with more than one teenager in the lineup. Should La Roja prevail, 65-year-old Luis de la Fuente would become the oldest World Cup-winning coach, passing Vicente del Bosque, who was 59 in 2010.
