World Cup 2026 | Spain–Argentina

Spain beats Argentina to win 2026 FIFA World Cup: Ferran Torres scores extra-time winner

A 106th-minute goal from Ferran Torres seals Spain’s second World Cup title. La Roja finished with 20 shots to Argentina’s two.

ANGELA WEISS

Héctor Martínez David Nelson

Madrid Update: Jul 19th, 2026 18:39 EDT

Make us preferred on Google

“Where were you on July 19, 2026?”

Maybe someone will ask me that years from now.

I was sitting in front of my computer, writing this match report, trying to hit the right keys while somehow pressing T when I meant to hit R. I was stiff as a board, convinced I was battling allergies that the antihistamine I’d taken at 9 a.m. refused to cure. Turns out it wasn’t allergies at all. It was acute soccer fever.

That familiar feeling. The one that runs through your body before a match as big as Spain vs. Argentina in New Jersey. A World Cup final. And what a final it was.

A tense, tense World Cup final

Extra time, hearts pounding, until Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute to send Spain back to the top of the world. It was beautiful. It was deserved. Anything else would have been an injustice to the game, rewarding a team that came to New Jersey to destroy rather than create.

Spain won its second World Cup by defeating Argentina in a final that had only one true protagonist. La Roja dominated from start to finish, overwhelmed its opponent, and played with a man advantage from the 93rd minute after Enzo Fernández, already on a yellow card, was rightly sent off for a studs-up challenge on Pau Cubarsí.

At long last, Spain has its second star.

This group of young players, this TEAM, completes an extraordinary run that has delivered the UEFA Nations League (2023), the European Championship (2024), Olympic gold (2024), and now the World Cup (2026).

That’s no small achievement, as Luis Aragonés, the legendary coach who laid the foundations for the way Spain plays today, might have said.

And it’s not just the senior men’s team. Last weekend Spain also won both the men’s and women’s Under-19 European Championships, with the women claiming an incredible fifth consecutive title.

The victory at MetLife Stadium also made history. Never before has the same country held both the men’s and women’s World Cup titles at the same time.

And every one of those teams shares the same unmistakable identity. Try a simple experiment: turn on a Spain game and squint until you can’t tell whether you’re watching the women’s U-17s, the men’s U-19s or one of the senior national teams. They all play the same brand of soccer. They all play beautiful soccer.

Scaloni makes three changes

It was only the second World Cup final contested entirely by Spanish-speaking nations, following Uruguay vs. Argentina in 1930.

There was another intriguing subplot on the sidelines. Luis de la Fuente and Lionel Scaloni once attended the Spanish Football Federation’s coaching course together.

The teacher, from Haro in northern Spain, kept faith with the same starting lineup that had defeated Belgium in the quarterfinals and France in the semifinals.

The student, from Pujato in Argentina’s Santa Fe province, kept changing his plans before finally settling on three changes from the team that had survived against England: Gonzalo Montiel, Rodrigo De Paul and Nico González.

Perhaps Nico’s inclusion was the biggest surprise, intended to slow down the right flank where Pedro Porro and Lamine Yamal had caused so much damage throughout the tournament.

There was another layer to that matchup. On April 4, during a LaLiga game, Nico had been sent off with a straight red card for a challenge on Lamine. Diego Simeone had played him at left back that day, but memories like that are hard to ignore when the prize is a World Cup.

Early chance for Spain in the World Cup final

The final exploded into life almost immediately.

In the fourth minute, Lamine forced Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez into an early save. The Barcelona star looked dangerous from the outset. Lionel Messi, by contrast, barely featured during the opening 15 minutes.

The first heavy tackle arrived when Alexis Mac Allister crashed into Dani Olmo. It deserved a yellow card, but referee Slavko Vinčić, under intense scrutiny because of Argentina’s physical style, waved play on. He would continue to set a remarkably high threshold for fouls, much to De la Fuente’s frustration.

Argentina, however, had little reason to complain.

Every free kick became an opportunity to slow the game down, perhaps believing the longer the score remained level, the more the final would swing in their favor.

But the momentum belonged to Spain.

Mikel Oyarzabal and Marc Cucurella both went close before halftime. Spain was clearly the better side, yet the score remained 0-0, a valuable outcome for the defending champions. Argentina also suffered a setback just before the break when Lisandro Martínez, already on a yellow card, left injured.

The halftime interval was longer than usual, another example of FIFA embracing American-style entertainment.

Scaloni responded by introducing Leandro Paredes for Nico González, allowing Enzo Fernández greater freedom to push forward.

Paredes brought more control, but also more aggression.

He struck Rodri from behind while the Spaniard didn’t even have the ball, then earned a yellow card moments later after shoving Dani Olmo in full view of the referee.

Spain continued to create chance after chance.

Álex Baena, Olmo and Ferran Torres all threatened, while Martínez repeatedly rescued Argentina from opportunities that looked destined to end in goals.

The match drifted toward extra time.

Argentina seemed content to wait for penalties. Spain wanted no part of them.

The soccer favored La Roja. The physical battles favored Argentina.

That became even clearer in the 93rd minute, when Enzo Fernández received his second yellow card after catching Cubarsí with his studs.

Three minutes later, already in stoppage time, Paredes escaped a second booking after another late challenge on Ferran Torres just outside the penalty area.

Spain win the World Cup in extra time

Even so, the match went to extra time.

Spain continued to grow while Argentina did everything possible to slow the game down.

The statistics told the story.

Spain outshot Argentina 20-2, while Argentina failed to register a shot on target and finished the first 90 minutes with 0.00 expected goals, a remarkable reflection of La Roja’s control.

Then came the decisive moment.

Pedro Porro delivered the cross. Nico Williams headed the ball back across goal. Ferran Torres, the “Shark” from Valencia, unleashed a left-footed strike that instantly brought back memories of Andrés Iniesta’s immortal World Cup winner.

Spain’s second star was ready to be stitched onto the jersey.

It was richly deserved.

Thank you, Luis de la Fuente, and thank you to this remarkable generation.