Spain Secures Second Men's World Cup Title Against Argentina in Extra Time

As Spain built into the second half of extra-time of Sunday’s World Cup final, it was already clear that Argentina hoped to make them suffer. Every challenge left no stud unshown. Their defenders labored to block striker Mikel Oyarzabal from his typical lanes of service, with Spain taking 11 of their 20 attempts from beyond the box.

Lionel Scaloni’s side may have been aggressive, but they were also just structured enough to withstand the endless monsoon of Spanish pressure. After the 62nd minute, when Luis de la Fuente brought his first two charges off the bench, Spain adapted to find new avenues to attack, adjusting with Enzo Fernández’s sending-off near the end of normal time.

In his 106th minute at right-back, and with Lamine Yamal sizing up Argentina’s defensive shape at the edge of the box, Pedro Porro looked at the developing scrum outside the box. Fresh from kick-off, his teammates were largely running parallel to him but staying just enough restrained enough in their movement to create precious yards of open terrain beyond the backline. As Yamal passed back to his flank-side running mate, many in New York New Jersey Stadium thought it was another of countless recirculations to start an approach up another pathway.

Instead, Porro lobbed in a cross. The Tottenham defender bent it to perfection, a powerful-enough ball for some defenders to be in two minds about how to react but not so overhit that it risked crossing the byline. Nico Williams was quick to it, finding that his supporting numbers were trailing a bit beyond the ball for late arrivals into the box.

Williams spent far more of his time at the 2026 World Cup watching on from the sideline than he would’ve liked. A starter for six of Spain’s seven games during their triumphant run through Euro 2024, Williams arrived in North America with a groin strain and hamstring issues incurred late in the La Liga season before leaving the group stage finale against Uruguay with an adductor injury.

The Athletic Bilbao winger never started a game at this World Cup, with his 45-minute shift against Argentina his longest of the tournament. On Sunday, his entrance promised greater verve and unpredictability than had been offered by the winger he replaced, Álex Baena.

Better late than never, Williams did not waste his opportunity when it finally arrived. As Porro’s cross fell back to Earth, the 24-year-old got his head to the ball not to square right into the heart of the six-yard box, but instead to deftly doff it beyond the nearby defenders and into the stride of another second-half substitute, Ferran Torres. It was a goal born of preternatural assessments of space, the only way Spain could break down a dogged Argentinian side desperate to get Emiliano Martínez into penalties.

Like Williams, Torres had entered with an intent to exploit Argentina’s approach to the final. Oyarzabal had proved invaluable for a possession-dominant Spain, able to drop deep and help with buildup while backing himself to find seams along the backline. Argentina had structured themselves to allow that, but prevent him from getting the ball any closer to goal. Torres, in comparison, offered a bit more finesse as a natural off-ball mover in the game’s most dynamic phases, but also came on with more gas in the tank that helped him stay sharp against a rapidly tiring group of Argentinian veterans.

In a final of clattering challenges, Torres’s run went entirely unchecked. Giuliano Simeone, the player closest to Torres, had almost cartoonishly taken himself out of the play right as Torres blew past him. Just before Williams kept the ball from going out of play, Simeone had assessed the pass as overcooked and was bent over to adjust his sock as Williams’s header bounced to Torres. Three Argentinian defenders had glommed on to Mikel Merino, who scored match-winners against Portugal and Belgium, leaving Torres with equally unusual time and a void of defensive pressure to finally get Spain on track for their second men’s World Cup title.

Throughout this World Cup’s business end, Spain were discussed as being the best team of the tournament. Their collective approach had become so cohesive that, even if they didn’t score, the team’s focus on their buildup seldom waned. Players had gotten so confident in their mettle under De la Fuente that each seemed eager to embrace their role even if it meant less of an individual spotlight in a World Cup headlined by its stars.

That’s a rare balance in modern international soccer. While the club side of the game has become meticulously curated, with every pressing trigger and passing sequence carefully rehearsed, international duty is usually where stars go to enjoy their game with a team largely built to account for their strengths and weaknesses. Thomas Tuchel tried to foster a similar culture with his squad selections, but found himself light on midfielders after Jordan Henderson’s klutzy celebration.

It makes it all too easy to distill teams down to the star they are designed to support. When it works, as it largely did for Lionel Messi’s Argentina, few question the wisdom of the approach. When it doesn’t, as we saw with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, it’s an equally obvious problem that the coach was unwilling to solve.

Like the leaders of the world’s best clubs, De la Fuente was able to change Spain’s approach during games by bringing in players who could occupy identical spaces to the starters they would replace because each interpreted their role differently. Williams’s approach on the wing gave him greater license to put the opponent on the back foot than Baena’s; Torres came into the game and would successfully stretch a shorthanded Argentina. Even Pedri – who checked in with Torres just after the hour mark – made life more difficult for Argentina, as a more dribbly midfield complement to Rodri than Fabián Ruiz.

While Argentina looked to labor in the mid-afternoon New Jersey sun, Spain adapted. They continued to morph to find new methods to make the 2022 champions sweat further. After an expert looping cross, a brilliant and deft header and an opportunistic scamper into space, it’s Spain who will enter the 2030 World Cup cycle at the pinnacle of the sport.