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Spain are world champions for the second time, claiming the 2026 FIFA World Cup title with a 1-0 victory over defending champions Argentina at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night, ending a 16-year wait to stand atop world football once again.
Ferran Torres, introduced as a substitute in the second half, volleyed Spain ahead just 37 seconds into the second period of extra time, converting a cross from Nico Williams to settle a final that had been locked in a tense stalemate through 90 minutes and a bruising first half of added time.
The goal was enough to deny Lionel Messi, appearing in his third World Cup final, what would have been a second world title, and to hand coach Luis de la Fuente his country's greatest prize since Andres Iniesta's winner against the Netherlands in South Africa in 2010.
The result extended Spain's unbeaten run in all competitions to 38 matches and denied Argentina the chance to defend the crown they won in Qatar in 2022.
For long stretches of the night, the occasion appeared destined to belong to Emiliano Martinez. The Argentina goalkeeper finished with 10 saves, the most on record by any goalkeeper in a World Cup final since records began in 1966. He denied Torres with a header, turned away a sharp Laporte effort, and produced a stunning late intervention to tip Yamal's free-kick onto the bar and behind in the closing seconds of normal time.
Martinez was also sharp to push out a shot from Dani Olmo in the 64th minute and repelled Nico Williams twice in the frantic final stages of the second half before extra time. Time and again, Argentina's night seemed to begin and end with their goalkeeper.
Spain had managed just three shots in the entire first half, the fewest on record in a single half of a World Cup match. Yet their 0.23 expected goals across 90 minutes spoke to the quality of opportunity they consistently failed to convert against an increasingly desperate Argentine rearguard.
Argentina, for their part, did not register a single shot in the opening 70 minutes of the final, the longest such drought on record in a World Cup final. It was a match shaped almost entirely by one side pressing and one side holding on.
The decisive shift in momentum arrived in the 90th minute, when Enzo Fernandez, already booked for dissent in the 82nd minute, was sent off for a reckless challenge on Pau Cubarsi. The dismissal reduced Argentina to 10 men heading into extra time and handed Spain a considerable advantage they would ultimately not squander.
That pressure nearly produced an early breakthrough when Nico Williams bundled home a loose ball in the 96th minute, only for referee Slavko Vincic to rule that Mikel Merino had fouled Nicolas Otamendi in the build-up. The call was reviewed by VAR and stood, leaving Spain to regroup and find another way through.
Nine minutes into the second half of extra time, that way through arrived. Porro delivered a cross to the back post, Williams showed the sharpness that had troubled Argentina all night to steer the ball into Torres's path, and the Barcelona forward crashed a volley into the roof of the net. The stadium erupted.
Torres became only the fifth substitute to score in a World Cup final, and the first to do so since Mario Gotze's winner for Germany, also against Argentina, in the 2014 final in Brazil. He is also just the second Barcelona player to score in a World Cup final, after Iniesta 16 years ago.
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Spain were made to defend their lead through a frantic and chaotic closing sequence. Merino, introduced in the 75th minute and twice coming agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock himself, threw his body in front of a Messi shot in the 117th minute and blocked the ball with his face. He was taken off for treatment and did not return, but the lead held.
Vincic's final whistle, when it came, sparked scenes of jubilation across the pitch and into the stands.
Yamal, at 19 years and six days, became the third-youngest player to appear in a World Cup final, behind Pele for Brazil in 1958 and Giuseppe Bergomi for Italy in 1982. Messi, at 39 years and 25 days, became the second-oldest outfield player to feature in a final, and the second man in history to play in three World Cup finals, after Brazil's Cafu.
Despite those personal milestones, Argentina could not find a way past a Spain side that was dominant, disciplined and ultimately decisive when it mattered most.
For Spain, for De la Fuente, and for a generation of players who came of age at this tournament, it was a night that will not be forgotten.
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