Spain claimed their second FIFA World Cup title after substitute Ferran Torres scored a dramatic 106th-minute winner to secure a 1-0 victory over defending champions Argentina in Sunday’s 2026 final in New York New Jersey.
Torres broke the deadlock during extra time after Nico Williams headed Pedro Porro’s cross into his path at the far post. The forward met the ball first time and drove it into the roof of the net, finally beating Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez after an evening of stubborn resistance.
The victory delivered Spain their first men’s world title since 2010 and ended Argentina’s defence of the trophy they won in 2022. As in Spain’s previous World Cup triumph, the decisive goal arrived in extra time — apparently, La Roja prefer to keep major finals interesting for as long as possible.
Argentina finished normal time with 10 players after Enzo Fernandez received a second yellow card for a challenge on Pau Cubarsi during stoppage time. Lionel Scaloni’s side continued to battle, but Spain retained control and eventually converted their territorial dominance into the only goal of the match.
Spain dominate but Martinez keeps Argentina alive
Spain controlled possession and created the first clear opportunity after five minutes. Dani Olmo found Lamine Yamal in space on the right side of the penalty area, but the teenager’s low shot was blocked by Martinez at the near post.
Argentina defended deeply and limited Spain’s access to central areas, making the first half a cautious contest despite La Roja’s command of the ball.
Opportunities began to appear shortly before half-time. Mikel Oyarzabal drove an effort towards Martinez, while Marc Cucurella dragged another attempt wide.
Argentina’s task became more difficult as injuries disrupted their defence. Lisandro Martinez was replaced by Nicolas Otamendi shortly before the interval, while Facundo Medina came on for Cristian Romero after 70 minutes.
Spain continued to apply pressure after the break. Yamal created an excellent chance for Torres in the 67th minute, although the forward directed his header too close to Martinez.
Cubarsi, Pedri and Williams also forced saves from the Argentina goalkeeper. Martinez’s finest intervention came at the end of normal time, when he made a flying stop to deny Yamal from a free-kick.
Argentina had scored 19 goals on their way to the final, but Spain’s control was so complete that the South American champions did not register an attempt until extra time. Lionel Messi, influential throughout Argentina’s tournament, was largely denied the space required to alter the contest.
Torres delivers the decisive moment
Extra time followed a familiar pattern, with Spain attacking and Martinez repeatedly standing between La Roja and the trophy.
The goalkeeper stopped a Williams header, while Mikel Merino sent another opportunity wide. Williams and Torres also had goals disallowed as Spain searched for a breakthrough.
That breakthrough finally came in the 106th minute.
Porro delivered a cross towards the far post, Williams nodded the ball down and Torres finished emphatically with his first touch. Martinez, who had answered almost every question Spain posed, had no answer to the final one.
Torres was subsequently named the Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match.
Historic records for Spain
Spain completed the tournament having conceded only one goal, the lowest total recorded by a World Cup-winning team in a single edition of the competition.
Goalkeeper Unai Simon registered seven clean sheets, setting a new World Cup tournament record.
Yamal and Cubarsi, both aged 19, became the fourth and fifth teenagers to appear in a World Cup final. They joined Pele, Giuseppe Bergomi and Kylian Mbappe as teenagers who finished the occasion on the winning side.
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, aged 65 years and 28 days, became the oldest manager to win the World Cup. He surpassed fellow Spaniard Vicente del Bosque, who was 59 years and 220 days old when he guided Spain to their first title in 2010.
The result also made Spain the first nation to simultaneously hold the men’s and women’s World Cup titles, following the women’s national team’s triumph in 2023.
La Roja are now unbeaten in regular time across their past 38 matches, with 29 victories and nine draws. Their previous regular-time defeat came against Colombia in a friendly in London on 22 March 2024.
The sequence is Spain’s longest and surpasses Italy’s European record of 37 matches, set between October 2018 and September 2021. Spain were also the team that ended Italy’s run, winning their UEFA Nations League meeting 2-1 on 6 October 2021.
Messi adds two more records
At 39 years and 25 days, Messi became the oldest outfield player to appear in a World Cup final.
He surpassed Sweden’s Gunnar Gren, who was 37 years and 241 days old when he faced Brazil in the 1958 final. Otamendi, aged 38 years and 157 days, also moved past Gren to become the second-oldest outfield player to feature in the tournament’s deciding match.
Messi also became only the second footballer to appear in three World Cup finals, having played in the 2014, 2022 and 2026 editions. Brazil’s Cafu remains the other player to achieve the feat, appearing in the finals of 1994, 1998 and 2002.
What the coaches and players said
De la Fuente praised Spain’s players and the collective identity they had developed throughout their journey.
“I feel especially proud of this generation of footballers who have grown with this idea, making it better and giving us an example of a group, of a family. They are players with exceptional talent. For me, it’s been an honour to have accompanied them on this journey. I’m very emotional, looking back. We have spoken a lot with the players. We’ve won everything and that is wonderful. They are a generation of footballers who are a source of pride for Spain. Together, we are stronger.
“I think the game should have been decided earlier. Dibu’s [Martinez] great saves prevented us from winning sooner but it’s a World Cup final and, even with ten players at the end, you have to suffer.”
Scaloni acknowledged Spain’s superiority while paying tribute to Argentina’s run to another final.
“[I feel] sadness but knowing that we left everything out there. I have a lot of things to say about how we got here but it’s not worth it. I want to thank these guys eternally for giving us another World Cup final and for competing until the end. They [Spain] were better, that’s the truth. But I’ll hold on to an enormous memory of what they’ve done, of what it’s worth to get this far. We have to give it huge value because it takes a lot to get here. We’re big in victory and we have to be big in defeat. Today we’re showing that we know how to lose. We lost the match and we’re owning it. But that doesn’t mean we’ll stop remembering everything we did to get here.”
Torres said his match-winning goal belonged to the entire country rather than to one player or squad.
“I think, in the end, the goal was for 47 million people; it wasn’t just mine or from the 26 players here. I believe that today’s outcome was written in the stars. [The game] was there for us to win, far from our people, but we did our best to make them feel as close as possible. All finals are difficult – when Messi is on the opposition team that nervousness always creeps in – but ultimately we’ve always stuck to our guns, to playing our own brand of football, and I think today we’ve shown that once again.”
Spain’s triumph reflected the qualities that had carried the European champions through the tournament: control, patience and defensive discipline. Argentina resisted until deep into extra time, but Torres’ finish ensured the World Cup left the defending champions’ grasp and returned to Spain for the first time in 16 years.
