Spain Defeats Argentina in Tedious World Cup Final Marked by Argentina's Cynical Play

A worrying thought as a tepid first half drew to a close: was the half-time show going to be better than the football? This was a slog. Argentina could not match Spain’s possession approach but they had ways to level the playing field. There was physicality from Lionel Scaloni’s side, whose aim was to kill the spectacle before taking control in the second half, and they were allowed to take it to the limit by the Slovenian referee, Slavko Vincic. Alexis Mac Allister could have been booked for an early foul on Dani Olmo and the leniency, together with a pitch not conducive to playing flowing football, allowed Argentina to disrupt Spain’s passing game, creating the conditions for one of the most tedious World Cup finals.

Credit to Spain for refusing to take the bait. The European champions maintained their composure as they won the World Cup for the second time, even though their patience was stretched by Argentina’s spoiling tactics and constant niggles. Argentina had no way up the pitch. They had problems passing out from the back, particularly from the left. Spain squeezed them. Their pressing was expertly coordinated, stifling Argentina. Enzo Fernández and Mac Allister were outplayed in midfield and Scaloni was forced to make a change at half-time, Nico González making way after struggling on the left wing and Leandro Paredes on to provide more stability. However, the switch did nothing to alter the mood. Argentina remained a cynical eyesore. Paredes was booked for a needless barge on Rodri and was lucky not to be sent off until after full-time. In the end Argentina were caught out by their own game. The writing was on the wall when Fernández, perhaps dashing his hopes of a move to Real Madrid, was sent off for two silly bookings at the end of normal time.

Argentina are a slow, ageing side and had already played two rounds of extra time. Their legs were heavy and their cause was not helped by them losing both of their starting centre-backs to injury. Lisandro Martínez and Cristian Romero are comfortable on the ball so it was not ideal when they went off early. It deprived Argentina of another outlet, and their reliance on Lionel Messi also hurt them. Spain cut off the supply to the 39-year-old and were too intense for him. Messi was never able to find space, never able to shake off more than one Spanish player. There was no repeat of the crosses that hurt England in the semi-final and there was an argument that Scaloni should have taken off his captain after Fernández’s dismissal. Messi stood in the middle but could not hold the ball up. He was a passenger but Scaloni removed Julián Álvarez, who might have worried Spain more with his ability to run the channels.

Álvarez’s departure was the cue for Scaloni to bring on Marcos Senesi and switch to a back five. The statistics were ridiculous. Argentina’s xG was 0.00 until conceding forced a desperate late flurry. Even then, though, the threat increased only to 0.22. It took until the 117th minute for the defending world champions to muster their first shot, Messi’s hopeful effort from long range deflected wide. Spain, defending as a team, were unruffled. Argentina had 34.9% possession and six touches in the Spain area. It was one-way traffic during the second half. Spain kept pushing – they had 20 shots to two – but poor finishing and inspired goalkeeping threatened to leave them at the mercy of a penalty shootout. Emi Martínez’s 12 saves were the most by a goalkeeper in a World Cup final and his best was a leap to push away away a Lamine Yamal free‑kick. Yet it was not enough.

Spain were deserved winners from a moral and tactical perspective. They played all the football and proved their big-game mentality by standing up to Argentina’s nonsense. Rodri, excellent as the No 6 before making way for Martín Zubimendi in extra time, nullified Fernández and Luis de la Fuente’s substitutions were spot on. Pedri was incisive after replacing Fabián Ruiz in midfield. Argentina worked to stifle Lamine Yamal, using Nicolás Tagliafico to contain the teenager on the right wing, but De la Fuente stretched the play by bringing Nico Williams on for Álex Baena on the opposite flank. Now Spain had speed down both wings and the pressure told. Mikel Merino should have scored at least once after coming on but eventually a goal arrived. Pedro Porro sent in a deep cross from the right. Williams beat Nahuel Molina and pulled the ball back for another substitute, Ferran Torres, to score.