EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — History said to expect goals. Spain's defence read a different book.
Ferran Torres' 106th-minute strike — his first goal of the tournament — gave Spain a 1-0 victory over defending champion Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday, delivering La Roja's second title and shattering Lionel Messi's dream of a farewell crown.
Coming into the final, the numbers painted a clear picture: winning teams in the previous 22 World Cup finals averaged 2.6 goals, and only three finals in history had ended 1-0. Spain ignored the script. The goal by Torres — a second-half substitute who pounced on a bouncing ball and rifled a left-footed shot under the crossbar — was the only one of the night, making this just the fourth 1-0 final in World Cup history, joining 1990, 2010 and 2014.
The result was lopsided in every way except the scoreline. Spain took the first 20 shots of the match before Argentina managed a single attempt deep into extra time. A record 12 saves by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez kept the 2022 champions alive, but Spain's suffocating defence — which conceded only one goal across the entire tournament, a record low for a World Cup winner — proved impenetrable.
Messi, at 39 the oldest outfield player ever to appear in a World Cup final, walked off in tears after what he strongly indicated would be his final World Cup match. He was denied a second consecutive title, a feat no man has achieved since Brazil in 1962.
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, 65, became the oldest manager to win the World Cup, surpassing Vicente del Bosque (59 in 2010). Spain also became the first nation to simultaneously hold both the men's and women's World Cup titles, adding this trophy to the women's crown won in 2023.
Youth played its part too. Spain started two teenagers — Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, both 19 — making them the first team to win a World Cup final with more than one teenager in the lineup. Teenagers themselves have now featured in four World Cup finals without ever losing: Pelé (1958), Giuseppe Bergomi (1982), Kylian Mbappé (2018), and now Yamal and Cubarsí.
Argentina finished the match with 10 men after Enzo Fernandez was sent off in second-half stoppage time. Spain, unbeaten in 38 matches, celebrated a triumph built not on attacking fireworks but on defensive perfection — a masterpiece that rewrote the history book.
Sources
- https://apnews.com/article/argentina-spain-world-cup-final-score-messi-fccc26aa12d9226e63d06b601b770617
- https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-final-messi-argentina-spain-4c6eaf707c7ee3eaeb243269b720aa9e
