Ferran Torres’ first goal of this 12 months’s World Cup was the goal of his life, and it put Spain back atop the soccer world.
Denying Lionel Messi a second straight title in what he has indicated could be his final World Cup match, Torres got here off the bench and scored within the 106th minute and Spain — in a match it simply dominated — ended Argentina’s reign with a 1-0 win on Sunday.
Torres pounced on a bouncing ball within the box and used his left foot to bury a shot just below the crossbar and into the back of the online.
“It was a goal scored by 47 million people,” Torres said, referring to Spain’s population.
Possibly not by them — but definitely for them.
It was Spain’s second title, this trophy getting added to the one claimed in 2010. And there’s no doubt in regards to the center of the soccer universe now, not after this display.
Spain allowed just one goal in eight matches on the tournament, setting a World Cup record for fewest goals allowed by a champion. And this title, combined with the World Cup won by Spain’s women in 2023, makes the European nation the primary to carry each the lads’s and ladies’s titles concurrently.
“I feel sad,” said Messi, who was moved to tears after receiving his runner-up medal and staring into the gang at Argentina supporters. “They were higher, to be honest.”
The rating indicates this match was close, but just one team was in command.
Spain took the sport’s first 20 shots on goal before Argentina — desperate for an equalizer — got its first attempt off within the second half of beyond regular time. Spain took nine of the sport’s first 10 corner kicks, and only a World Cup final-record 12 saves by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez gave the 2022 champions a shot at going back-to-back.
Spain is now unbeaten in its last 38 matches — 29 wins, nine draws — and now’s the outright holder of the longest such streak by any European team ever. Italy went 37 matches (28 wins, nine draws) from October 2018 through September 2021, before Spain ended that streak.
And for the last two-plus years, no one has beaten Spain. Not even Messi. An Argentina team that was the kings of the late-game rally on this tournament had no answer this time.
Messi took a corner kick with about 4 minutes left before the ultimate whistle and the ball took a fortunate skip toward reserve Giuliano Simeone — who sent it high and over the crossbar, holding his head in disbelief afterward.
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“When you’ve Messi on the opposite side, well, you might be nervous,” Torres said. “At the top of the day, we at all times trusted us. We at all times provide you with our football, and we showed it again.”
The win made Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, at 65, the oldest coach ever to guide a team to the World Cup title.
“We’re world champions,” de la Fuente said. “It was together we reached this stage.”
There was some pushing and shoving after the ultimate whistle, which was quickly cleaned up and Spain commenced its celebration as most Argentina players sat on the turf in disbelief. Cooler heads prevailed, and Spain’s players lined up minutes later to form an honor guard of sorts for Argentina’s squad to walk through on its approach to the stage for the runner-up medals.
Enzo Fernandez was sent off in second-half stoppage time after getting his second yellow card, meaning Argentina was forced to complete the match with only 10 players. Fernandez was carded for a reckless play that sent Spain defender Pau Cubarsi cartwheeling into the air, and the cardboard got here out immediately.
It was the 104th and last match of the most important World Cup ever, a 48-team event that played out over the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Because there have been more matches than any previous World Cup, it was no surprise that there have been more goals than all other editions — greater than 300, nearly three per match.
Except, in fact, when Spain was involved. Spain’s plan was easy and flawless: Hold the ball as much as possible, denying opponents any hint of possibilities.
It worked, all of the approach to the top.
“There’s sadness, but in addition the knowledge that we gave it our all,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “I could say quite a bit about how we came, however it’s not value it. I’m eternally grateful to those guys; they competed right to the top. The opposite team was higher.”
Spain got here into this tournament regarded as one in all the favorites, and with the complete belief it could end Argentina’s reign.
It needed to undergo the sport’s best player — perhaps ever — to make good on that promise.
Messi is 39 and the mathematics definitely suggests that the Inter Miami star is at the top of his international profession. There have been hints — equivalent to Messi himself declaring that a house World Cup qualifying match against Venezuela last 12 months could be his final competitive contest for Argentina on his nation’s soil.
“I experienced a number of things on this pitch, good and never so good,” Messi said that night. “I’ll take the great with me.”
Within the Messi era, there was a number of good. A variety of great, actually.
There was the World Cup title in 2022, obviously topping the list. There was the Olympic gold medal on the 2008 Beijing Games. The 2 Copa América titles, the primary in 2021 and the second in 2024. He won Argentina’s player of the 12 months award 16 times in a span of 19 years, first winning it as an adolescent and continuing to win all of it the way in which into his late 30s.
He’s a legend inside the game and on all corners of the globe. But Spain was higher Sunday.
“I spoke to my players, they usually said: ‘Look, we’ve won every part, coach. We’ve won every part,’” de la Fuente said. “And that is gorgeous.”
The spectacle was not limited to easily soccer. There was a halftime show, a primary for FIFA. There have been a ton of celebrities there from stage, screen and sports: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Cillian Murphy, Daniel Craig, Stephen Curry, Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson, Kevin Durant, Serena Williams, Carlos Alcaraz, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and dozens more.
They got here to see a show. So did 80,000 other people, not to say perhaps as many as 2 billion watching across the globe.
Spain didn’t disappoint. No team has won back-to-back men’s World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962, and Spain kept Argentina from pulling off that repeat.
“We’re gracious in victory,” Scaloni said, “and we should be gracious in defeat.”