The world of football has a new champion. The Spanish team was crowned with the FIFA World Cup 2026 against Argentina with a solitary goal from Ferran Torres in the second extra time in a match in which the regulation 90 minutes did not leave many glimpses of football.
The Spanish team is crowned for the second time in its history with a group of players who had already been doing well in the tournament. Luis de la Fuente, coach of the Spanish team, figured out how to beat an Argentine team that had become accustomed to winning in the final part of the game and turning the scores around in previous instances.
As for Ferran Torres, he went from villain to hero in this World Cup. The Barcelona player had been heavily criticized for his recent performances with Spain, especially for the opportunities he had had offensively and not been able to achieve.
As the saying goes, ‘better late than never’ was well applied on this occasion by the Spanish footballer to score his first goal of the tournament and which ended up giving Spain the second star.
Spain cornered Spain in all offensive facets. In fact, in the 90 minutes of regulation, Argentina finished with zero shots on goal. Numbers that leave a lot to say for an Argentine team that has important players on its roster such as Julián Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez (did not play) and of course Lionel Messi who went completely unnoticed.
Luis de la Fuente’s men knew how to neutralize a Messi who had very little influence on Argentina’s attack. Both Pau Cubarsí and Aymeric Laporte stopped the Inter Miami player, who had just contributed a goal or an assist in every game of the 2026 World Cup, in his tracks.
The Spanish were so superior that the midfield formed by Rodri, Fabián Ruíz and Dani Olmo were overshadowed by Leandro Paredes, who did not have one of his best performances and flirted with the red card, Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández, who was sent off near the end of the second half and Rodrigo De Paul.
Fernández’s expulsion weighed heavily against Argentina’s aspirations to win the match. Added to this, the injuries to Lisandro Martínez in the first half and to Cristian Romero caused Lionel Scaloni to make forced changes that were not in the action plan.
The match was so close that both Argentina and Spain defended well to take the match to extra time. That was when the figure of Ferran Torres appeared and scored the winning goal.
A long shot for Nico Williams, he gave a header to Ferran himself on the second line and with an accurate shot sent the ball to the defended goal of Emiliano ‘El Dibu’ Martínez, who had an outstanding game despite the goal conceded.
There were a total of 11 saves that ‘El Dibu’ Martínez made and prevented the match from ending in a rout in favor of the Spanish.
Argentina tried in the final minutes to find an equalizer, but Spain defended its minimal advantage well and got its second star. Spain is once again world champion after winning its first World Cup in South Africa 2010.
