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World Cup 2026 final: Spain’s collective triumphs over Messi’s genius
Spain’s second World Cup win was built on a familiar pattern that the opposition simply had no answer to
New Delhi: At the end of the 2026 World Cup final, Lionel Messi — the greatest player of this generation and perhaps of all time — was sitting on the field with his legs stretched out in front of him and a rather stunned look on his face.
It’s difficult to say whether that look came more from the fact that Spain had beaten them 1-0, thanks to a Ferran Torres goal in extra time or because of how meekly Argentina had surrendered. His team were the defending champions and they had found ways to win games but just when they needed their heart the most, it failed them.
It was a World Cup final but only one side came out wanting to win. The other, ruled by fear, chose to simply defend. That’s not how Messi would like to remember his last World Cup game; that’s not how we’d like to remember this Argentina either but that’s what we are left with.
When the dust settles, perhaps Lionel Scaloni will try to explain what his tactics were. Argentina failed to get a shot on target in the game, and according to Opta, it was the first time they failed to attempt a shot on target in a game in the FIFA World Cup since facing Germany on July 13, 2014.
Argentina attempted 2 shots in this game, their lowest total in a single match in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and this wasn’t all down to Spain. La Roja controlled the game no doubt but if Messi and Co had pushed forward more or shown more enterprise, we might have even had a semblance of a game.
Instead, we had Spain probing and trying things against a deep-lying Argentine defence. It was shocking because it was the same Scaloni who had thrown caution to the wind against England in the semi-final. So, what changed? So, what was the plan… penalties?
Spain, who also won the World Cup in 2010, dominated every statistic. They had more possession (67% vs 33%), more shots (20 vs 2), more shots on target (12 vs 0), more corners (9 vs 4). But Argentina did commit more fouls (25 to 21).
The 25 fouls committed were the most in a World Cup game since... the 26 against France in the 2022 World Cup final. Maybe Scaloni thought that was a tactic he needed to replicate.
Argentina did try to get under the skin of the Spain side; they did try to rough them up. But unlike England who had gotten riled up in the semi-final, Rodri and Co stuck to their plans.
“So much pride. Pride for this generation of footballers that have been growing with this idea, staying loyal to the idea, and doing their best. They are an example of a team, a group, a family, and a collective of great players that have been exceptional,” said Spain manager Luis de la Fuente after the game and he isn’t wrong.
Still, breaking down the Argentina defence wasn’t easy and when they did do that, they had to contend with Emiliano Martinez in the goal. The Argentine goalkeeper pulled off 12 saves before Torres finally finished off the game. The goal itself was a long time coming but by taking the game into extra time, everyone was starting to think about penalties.
“Of course we would have liked to win the game much sooner,” said de la Fuente. “The Martinez save prevented us from doing so. We tried and tried to get on the scoresheet but weren’t able to, but this is a World Cup final, even against ten men at the end we had to suffer. But, we like to suffer, and I’ll say it again, we were prepared for everything.”
Everything but perhaps Argentina turning up in this mood. Scaloni tried to explain himself and his team but he failed.
“[I feel] sadness but knowing that we left everything out there,” said the Argentina manager. “I have a lot of things to say about how we got here but it’s not worth it. I want to thank these guys eternally for giving us another World Cup final and for competing until the end.”
He added: “They [Spain] were better, that’s the truth. But I’ll hold on to an enormous memory of what they’ve done, of what it’s worth to get this far. We have to give it huge value because it takes a lot to get here. We’re great in victory and we have to be great in defeat. Today we’re showing that we know how to lose. We lost the match and we’re owning it. But that doesn’t mean we’ll stop remembering everything we did to get here.”
Indeed, the best part of the run to the final was the run; not the final. As Wayne Rooney put it: “It was crap”. They had one of the most creative players in the tournament… one of the greatest goalscorers the game has ever seen and they failed to use him. Spain blocked off the passing lanes but still, Messi surely has a little magic left in him.
The goalscorer Torres, who came on in the 62nd minute, called it destiny but everyone knows it was more than that.
“I think, in the end, the goal was for 47 million people; it wasn’t just mine or of the 26 players here. I believe that today’s outcome was written in the stars; [the game] was there for us to win, far from our people, but we did our best to make them feel as close as possible. All finals are difficult – when Messi is on the opposition team that nervousness always creeps in – but ultimately we’ve always stuck to our guns, to playing our own brand of football, and I think today we’ve shown that once again.”
For now, that brand of football has seen Spain become the first nation ever to hold the men’s and women’s World Cups at the same time. And if you are going to remember anything from this final, let it be this; the victory is a validation of the vision to put a system in place; a system that helped the collective triumph over genius.
