Spain is world champion again. La Roja beat Argentina 1-0 in the FIFA 2026 World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, claiming the country’s first title since 2010 and capping off a tournament in which the team never lost a single match.
The winning goal came from Ferran Torres, who pounced on a rebound early in the second half of extra time to send the ball into the net in the 106th minute.
It was enough to settle a match that neither side could break open in 90 minutes of regulation, despite Spain controlling most of the possession and creating the better chances throughout.
Argentina’s real hero on the day was goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. He set a new World Cup final record with 11 saves, repeatedly denying Spain and keeping his team in the game long after Argentina had stopped generating any offense of its own.
Remarkably, Argentina finished the match without registering a single shot on target, a stunning stat for a team that came in as the defending champion trying to become just the third nation ever to win back-to-back World Cups.
Argentina’s day got harder in the closing minutes of regulation when Enzo Fernández picked up a second yellow card in the 93rd minute and was sent off, forcing the team to play the rest of the match a man down.
Spain nearly capitalized soon after when Nico Williams put the ball in the net, but the goal was wiped out for a foul in the box, sending the match into extra time instead.
Lionel Messi, playing in what was expected to be one of the final World Cup appearances of his career, was held quiet for most of the match. He had a shot sail over the crossbar from a tight angle and another deflect off Mikel Merino, but he could not find the breakthrough his team needed.
On the other side, 19-year-old Lamine Yamal continued to shine as the breakout star of the tournament.
A charity photo from 2007 showing a young Messi bathing a baby Yamal, taken as part of a UNICEF campaign, had gone viral in the buildup to the final, adding an extra layer of storyline to the meeting between the two.
With the win, Spain extended its unbeaten run to 38 straight matches, a new record that breaks the previous mark held by Italy. The team has not lost a match in regulation time since March 2024.
Spain also becomes the first country to hold both the men’s and women’s World Cup titles at the same time.
Cape Verde, making its first-ever World Cup appearance, also left the tournament with plenty of respect. The team held Spain to a scoreless draw in the opening match of the group stage and pushed Argentina to the brink in the round of 32 before bowing out.
Halftime Show Draws Mixed Reviews
FIFA staged its first-ever halftime show at a World Cup final, and reaction to it was sharply divided.
The performance opened with Madonna singing her hit “Music” alongside Brazilian football legends Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, followed by a run of acts that included The Muppets performing with Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel, K-pop group BTS, a comedic cameo from Ted Lasso stars Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt, an acoustic number from Justin Bieber, Shakira and Burna Boy performing their official World Cup song “Dai Dai,” and a closing set from Coldplay backed by a children’s choir.
Estimates of the show’s length varied depending on the source, but even a shorter version was seen by many fans as needlessly disruptive, since FIFA’s own rules call for halftime breaks of no more than 15 minutes.
The delay, combined with new mid-half hydration breaks introduced for this tournament, drew criticism from fans and pundits who felt the changes were reshaping the sport to fit an American style of sports entertainment, breaks that some pointed out double as extended commercial windows for the tournament’s broadcast partner.
Opinions on the performances themselves were all over the place. Former England international Wayne Rooney called the show “crap” on BBC’s broadcast, while fellow pundit Gary Neville said he enjoyed it.
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane called it an anti-climax but admitted it was nice to see Shakira. Online, reactions ranged from fans joking that the show hurt the integrity of the match to others saying it was more entertaining than recent Super Bowl halftime shows.
US President Donald Trump was in attendance for the final along with several family members, and he was booed by the crowd when he took the pitch afterward to help present medals and the trophy to the Spanish team.
Spain’s celebration, though, was untouched by any of the surrounding noise. After grinding through a tournament that started with a scoreless draw against a World Cup debutant, the team leaves as champion, unbeaten, and now the owner of the longest undefeated streak in the sport’s history.
