Spain Deserved Every Minute of This World Cup

Spain are world champions again. 1-0 over Argentina at MetLife Stadium, Ferran Torres scoring in the 106th minute to settle it in extra time. It is Spain’s second title, sixteen years after their first, and I do not think there is a serious argument that they did not deserve it.

I say that as someone who wanted Argentina to win this final. I will get to why in a minute. But you can want a team to win and still watch the other team be clearly, obviously the better side for two hours, and this was that kind of final.

The stat that tells you everything

Here is the one number I keep coming back to: Argentina did not register a single shot on target in the entire match. Not one. A team with Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez, and Lautaro Martinez in it went 120 minutes without forcing a save. That is not bad luck. That is a team that spent the whole final chasing the ball instead of using it.

Spain, by contrast, did what they have done all tournament: took the ball and kept it. This was not the possession-for-its-own-sake Spain of 2010, either. Their own evolution through this tournament, from that patient, protective 2010 style to a faster, wider version with the same technical base, was on full display in the final. They pressed higher, released their full-backs more, and never really let Argentina settle into a game they could control.

It capped a run that saw Spain go the entire tournament unbeaten, with the only blemish a goalless group-stage draw against Cape Verde. In the semi-final they beat France 2-0, a result that ended Didier Deschamps’ spell as coach. That is their 13th win in 14 games under Luis de la Fuente. Whatever the final scoreline says, this was not a team that got lucky for seven matches in a row.

Emiliano Martinez earned every minute of that scoreline being close

None of this is a knock on Argentina’s goalkeeper. If the final stayed goalless as long as it did, a lot of that is Emiliano Martinez, who was Argentina’s busiest player of the entire tournament by minutes and, on this night, their most important one. Spain had the ball, the territory, and the chances for almost the whole match, and Martinez was the reason it took until the 106th minute for one of them to go in. Ninety minutes of regulation football, into extra time, and Spain still had to wait. That is a goalkeeper playing out of his mind, not a team collapsing.

And on the other side, the few moments Argentina did have to break forward, the final ball just was not there. Messi found pockets of space a few times, the way he does, but nobody was in position to finish it, and on the rare touch he got himself, it did not fall for him either. A team living off scraps for two hours is not a team that is going to win a World Cup final, no matter who is wearing the armband.

The game had its share of niggly, physical moments too, the kind every final this tense produces, players on both sides pushing right up to the edge of what the referee would allow. None of it changed the result, and none of it should take away from what was, underneath the tension, a final won by the better team playing the better football.

What this does not take away from Messi

I have been an Argentina fan for a long time, mostly because of Messi, and I am not going to pretend that is not personal for me.

People like to say Messi is just gifted, like it fell into his lap. That has never been true, and it especially was not true this tournament. He finished as joint top scorer with eight goals, at 39 years old, and it was his passing that set up both goals in the semi-final comeback against England. A player who is “just talented” does not do that in his last World Cup, at that age, against teams built specifically to stop him.

What actually gets me about Messi is not the talent. It is that he lost a final in 2014, came back, won it in 2022, and then did it all again in 2026: dragged himself back to a World Cup final at 39, past teams that spent the whole tournament planning specifically around stopping him. Just getting back to a final is one of the hardest things to do in this sport. He did it twice in a row, more than a decade apart. That is not luck. That is not gifted. That is somebody who refuses to be done.

Rodri won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player, and I get the case for it. He had a genuinely great campaign, and midfielders who do not pile up goals and assists are chronically underrated for exactly the kind of control he gave Spain all summer. But I have seen the argument going around since the award was announced, and it is basically mine: a lot of what Rodri did well is inseparable from Spain’s collective press, the kind of thing that takes a whole team playing a system, not just one player being brilliant in it. Messi and Mbappe, by most reasonable measures, had the bigger individual impact on their teams this tournament, goals, assists, and moments created out of nothing. I do not think Rodri getting it for being the best player on the winning team is some injustice. I just think Messi, or even Mbappe, had the stronger individual case, and that is my opinion, not a correction of the voters.

The actual takeaway

Take the result away from me for a second, and here is what I actually think: teamwork won this World Cup. Spain did not have one player carrying the other ten. They defended together, they attacked together, and when it mattered in extra time, someone who was not even a starting striker put the ball in the net. That is the sport working exactly the way it is supposed to.

Argentina will be fine. This is still a golden generation, and Messi leaves this tournament with his legacy exactly where it already was: secure. But tonight belonged to Spain, and they earned it.

Quick answers

What was the final score of the 2026 World Cup final? Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time. Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the 106th minute.

Did Argentina have any shots on target in the final? No. Argentina failed to register a single shot on target across the full 120 minutes.

Is this Spain’s second World Cup title? Yes. Spain previously won the World Cup in 2010; 2026 is their second title.

How many goals did Messi score at the 2026 World Cup? Eight, level with Kylian Mbappe atop the tournament’s scoring charts, despite Argentina losing the final.

Who won the Golden Ball at the 2026 World Cup? Rodri, Spain’s holding midfielder, was named the tournament’s best player.

These are my personal views as a fan who enjoys writing. The match facts are drawn from public reporting; the interpretation, and the Golden Ball opinion, are mine alone.