Spain are world champions for the second time after edging Argentina to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Having dominated large spells of the contest and created the better chances throughout, La Roja finally found the breakthrough in extra time to secure a deserved victory and lift the trophy.
Here are our Scout Notes from Sunday night’s Final, featuring match stats from our World Cup Toolkit page.
SPAIN 1-0 ARGENTINA (AET)
- Goal: Ferran Torres
- Assist: Williams
- Tackles bonus: Rodri, Yamal | Simeone, Mac Allister
- Chances created bonus: Williams
- Shots on target bonus: Torres
TEAM STATS
PLAYER STATS
SCOUT NOTES
- Spain named an unchanged XI from the side that beat France 2-0 in the semi-finals.
- Argentina, meanwhile, made three changes. Gonzalo Montiel ($4.3m) replaced Nahuel Molina ($4.4m) at right-back, Rodrigo De Paul ($5.9m) came in for Giuliano Simeone ($5.6m) on the right wing, while Nico Gonzalez ($5.6m) replaced Leandro Paredes ($5.6m) on the left.
- Spain dominated from start to finish. They controlled 65% of possession, produced 2.07 more xG (expected goals), created four more big chances and registered 18 more shots than Argentina. Incredibly, Argentina failed to have a single attempt until the 116th minute.
- Spain, however, struggled to convert their dominance into clear-cut opportunities. Lamine Yamal ($10.0m) almost opened the scoring early on after exchanging passes with Dani Olmo ($7.7m), but his close-range effort was well saved. Later, Yamal produced a superb cross for Ferran Torres ($7.8m), whose header went straight at Emiliano Martínez ($5.0m). Pau Cubarsí ($5.0m) forced a save from distance, while Mikel Oyarzabal ($8.1m) tested Martínez with a tame effort from outside the area. Substitute Nico Williams ($7.8m) also wasted a promising three-on-three counter-attack late in normal time, shooting straight at the Argentina goalkeeper.
- Extra time proved decisive. Torres looked lively after replacing Oyarzabal shortly after the hour mark. He won a free-kick just outside the penalty area, but Yamal’s effort failed to beat Martínez. The breakthrough finally arrived soon after. Pedro Porro ($5.5m) floated a cross to the back post, where Williams nodded the ball across goal. Torres reacted first and fired into the roof of the net to seal the World Cup for Spain.
- Argentina also suffered several setbacks. Lisandro Martínez ($4.6m) limped off before half-time with a suspected thigh injury, while fellow centre-back Cristian Romero ($4.9m) was forced off around the 70th minute. Matters then worsened when Enzo Fernández ($7.5m) received a second yellow card moments before extra time.
“It’s obvious that today many negative things happened with the injuries, in key positions, which we weren’t expecting. We had to change three of the back four and that’s not an excuse, but it’s true.” – Lionel Scaloni
- Argentina simply couldn’t lay a glove on Spain for most of the final. In fact, they failed to seriously threaten until extra time. Their first real moment arrived in the 114th minute. Lionel Messi ($10.0m), who endured a quiet game by his standards, whipped a cross into the Spain box. The delivery carried so much spin that it almost caught the goalkeeper out, bouncing onto the roof of the net.
- Argentina then came close to an equaliser. Giuliano Simeone ($5.6m) fizzed a dangerous ball across the six-yard box, but substitute Marcos Senesi ($4.7m) couldn’t apply the finishing touch after pushing forward from centre-back. Messi had one final opportunity to change the outcome. His corner found Simeone in space, but the forward blazed his close-range effort over the crossbar.
- Spain fully deserved their victory. They controlled the contest from the opening whistle and rarely looked troubled. Argentina only became a genuine attacking threat in the closing stages, by which point it was too late. La Roja’s dominance ultimately secured their second FIFA World Cup title.
