Prateek Tanmay
3 min readJul 20, 2026 03:36 AM IST
The name of Ferran Torres will be etched in Spanish football history as the Barcelona player struck in the second half of Extra Time to help Spain defeat Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final on Sunday. This was Spain’s second World Cup title with the first one coming back in 2010 when they defeated Netherlands 1-0 in the final.
The match had ended goal-less after 90 mins which necessitated Extra Time. Argentina were down to 10 men after Enzo Fernandez was sent off in second-half stoppage time after getting his second yellow card. Fernandez was carded for a reckless play that sent Spain defender Pau Cubarsi cartwheeling into the air, and the card came out immediately.
Another foul about two minutes after play resumed gave Lamine Yamal a chance to win it from about 22 yards out on a free kick. Yamal’s strike was curling toward the right post, and Martinez dived to knock it away for his 10th save of the afternoon — the most ever in a World Cup final.
He leaped to his feet, punching the air and imploring the crowd to get loud. Not long after that came the whistle, sending the game to extra time.
Spain took 15 shots in regulation, Argentina none. Spain took nine corners, Argentina one. And somehow, 90-plus minutes of that sort of dominance wasn’t enough.
It was the ninth 0-0 score at halftime in the 23 World Cup finals, including the 1950 Uruguay-Brazil match that wasn’t an actual final but decided the champion.
Argentina made three changes from its starting 11 for the semifinal win over England: Midfielders Rodrigo De Paul and Nico Gonzalez, along with defender Gonzalo Montiel were in, while midfielders Leandro Paredes and Nahuel Molina, along with forward Giuliano Simeone, were dropped.
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Spain kept its starting 11 from the semifinal win over France untouched. It was the 104th and last match of the biggest World Cup ever, a 48-team event that played out over the US, Canada and Mexico.
Because there were more matches than any previous World Cup, it was no surprise that there were more goals than all other editions – 307 and counting entering Sunday.
Post Malone headlined the closing ceremony, which started about 90 minutes before the final was set to begin and just a few minutes after Messi and Argentina arrived at the stadium.
President Donald Trump was present as well, with plans calling for him to be part of the trophy presentation at the conclusion of the match.
“I won’t pick sides,” Trump told Fox Sports in an interview released Sunday afternoon before the final. “I just think it’s very hard to bet against Messi. He’s great.” Argentina was wearing its light blue and white vertically striped jerseys for the match, while Spain was wearing predominantly red with navy sleeves. The officiating crew was from Slovenia – Slavko Vincic is the referee, with Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic his assistant referees.
