Spain are world champions as Ferran Torres’ extra-time goal downs ten-man Argentina

Spain are world champions. Ferran Torres struck early in extra time to settle a final that Argentina fought to the very end with ten men, and a 1-0 win at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey handed Luis de la Fuente’s side the one trophy that had eluded this golden Spanish generation. For Argentina, and for Lionel Messi at 39, the dream of a second straight title ended a step short.

A goal that finally broke the deadlock

For 90 minutes and more, the game stayed locked at 0-0. Spain kept the ball, moved Argentina from side to side and waited for the gap that never quite came. Emiliano Martinez kept his side level with save after save, ten of them in all, a record for a World Cup final. Argentina, defending deep and dangerous on the break, offered little in attack but refused to buckle.

The breakthrough came in the 106th minute. Ferran Torres pounced on the chance inside the box and finished from close range to beat Emiliano Martinez. It was the sort of move Spain had threatened all night, and when it landed the noise inside MetLife told you the game had turned for good.

Argentina’s long night with ten men

Argentina had made their task far harder before extra time even started. Enzo Fernandez picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time at the end of regulation and walked, leaving Lionel Scaloni’s team to see out the closing minutes and the whole of extra time a man down. It was a cruel blow for a side that had won all seven of its matches on the way to the final and had specialised in finding a way when games grew tight.

The numbers laid the contest bare. Spain finished with around 65 percent of the ball and roughly twenty attempts on goal. Argentina managed only a couple of shots across the 120 minutes. That they took it as far as extra time at all owed almost everything to Martinez, whose hands kept the scoreline goalless long after Spain should have been ahead.

Messi denied a fairytale finish

This was billed as Messi’s last act on the biggest stage, and Argentina’s route to the final had been built around him. He created both goals in the semi-final win over England and carried the weight of a nation chasing back-to-back titles. Only two countries have ever defended the World Cup, Italy in the 1930s and Brazil around 1960, and Argentina wanted to be the third. Instead the closing whistle left Messi standing in a shirt that had run out of miracles.

Spain, by contrast, now hold the European and world titles at the same time. De la Fuente kept faith with the core that won Euro 2024, from Rodri anchoring midfield to teenager Lamine Yamal on the flank, and added a World Cup to the collection. It is Spain’s second world title and their first since 2010, the tournament sealed not by their usual patient goal but by a scrappy, priceless one in extra time.

Champions on a night of fine margins

Finals are rarely settled by the run of play alone, and this one turned on a red card and a single move deep in extra time. Spain were the better team across the night, but they needed every bit of their control, and a little luck, to break an Argentina side that made them work until the last. When it was done, the European champions had their crown, and a team that had chased this trophy for years finally had it in their hands.

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