Ferran Torres’ first goal of this year’s World Cup was the goal of his life, and it put Spain back atop the soccer world.
Denying Lionel Messi a second straight title in what he has indicated would be his final World Cup match, Torres came off the bench and scored in the 106th minute and Spain — in a match it simply dominated — ended Argentina’s reign with a 1-0 win on Sunday.
Torres pounced on a bouncing ball in the box and used his left foot to bury a shot just under the crossbar and into the back of the net.
“It was a goal scored by 47 million people,” Torres said, referring to Spain’s population.
Maybe not by them — but certainly for them.
It was Spain’s second title, this trophy getting added to the one claimed in 2010. And there’s no question about the center of the soccer universe now, not after this display.
Spain allowed only one goal in eight matches at the tournament, setting a World Cup record for fewest goals allowed by a champion. And this title, combined with the World Cup won by Spain’s women in 2023, makes the European nation the first to hold both the men’s and women’s titles simultaneously.
“I feel sad,” said Messi, who was moved to tears after receiving his runner-up medal and staring into the crowd at Argentina supporters. “They were better, to be honest.”
The score indicates this match was close, but only one team was in command.
Spain took the game’s first 20 shots on goal before Argentina — desperate for an equalizer — got its first attempt off in the second half of extra time. Spain took nine of the game’s first 10 corner kicks, and only a World Cup final-record 12 saves by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez gave the 2022 champions a shot at going back-to-back.
Spain is now unbeaten in its last 38 matches — 29 wins, nine draws — and now is the outright holder of the longest such streak by any European team ever. Italy went 37 matches (28 wins, nine draws) from October 2018 through September 2021, before Spain ended that streak.
And for the last two-plus years, nobody has beaten Spain. Not even Messi. An Argentina team that was the kings of the late-game rally in this tournament had no answer this time.
Messi took a corner kick with about four minutes left before the final whistle and the ball took a fortunate skip toward reserve Giuliano Simeone — who sent it high and over the crossbar, holding his head in disbelief afterward.
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“When you have Messi on the other side, well, you are nervous,” Torres said. “At the end of the day, we always depended on us. We always come up with our football, and we showed it again.”
The win made Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, at 65, the oldest coach ever to lead a team to the World Cup title.
“We are world champions,” de la Fuente said. “It was together we reached this stage.”
There was some pushing and shoving after the final whistle, which was quickly cleaned up and Spain commenced its celebration as most Argentina players sat on the turf in disbelief. Cooler heads prevailed, and Spain’s players lined up minutes later to form an honor guard of sorts for Argentina’s squad to walk through on its way to the stage for the runner-up medals.
Enzo Fernandez was sent off in second-half stoppage time after getting his second yellow card, meaning Argentina was forced to finish the match with only 10 players. Fernandez was carded for a reckless play that sent Spain defender Pau Cubarsi cartwheeling into the air, and the card came out immediately.
It was the 104th and last match of the biggest World Cup ever, a 48-team event that played out over the U.S., 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 — more than 300, nearly three per match.
Except, of course, when Spain was involved. Spain’s plan was simple and flawless: Hold the ball as much as possible, denying opponents any hint of chances.
It worked, all the way to the end.
“There is sadness, but also the knowledge that we gave it our all,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “I could say a lot about how we got here, but it’s not worth it. I am eternally grateful to these guys; they competed right to the end. The other team was better.”
Spain came into this tournament considered as one of the favorites, and with the full belief it could end Argentina’s reign.
It had to go through the game’s greatest player — maybe ever — to make good on that promise.
Messi is 39 and the math certainly suggests that the Inter Miami star is at the end of his international career. There have been hints — such as Messi himself declaring that a home World Cup qualifying match against Venezuela last year would be his final competitive contest for Argentina on his nation’s soil.
“I experienced a lot of things on this pitch, good and not so good,” Messi said that night. “I’ll take the good with me.”
In the Messi era, there was a lot of good. A lot of great, actually.
There was the World Cup title in 2022, obviously topping the list. There was the Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games. The two Copa América titles, the first in 2021 and the second in 2024. He won Argentina’s player of the year award 16 times in a span of 19 years, first winning it as a teenager and continuing to win it all the way into his late 30s.
He’s a legend within the game and on all corners of the globe. But Spain was better Sunday.
“I spoke to my players, and they said: ‘Look, we’ve won everything, coach. We’ve won everything,’” de la Fuente said. “And that is beautiful.”
The spectacle was not limited to simply soccer. There was a halftime show, a first for FIFA. There were a ton of celebrities there from stage, screen and sports: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Cillian Murphy, Daniel Craig, Stephen Curry, Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson, Kevin Durant, Serena Williams, Carlos Alcaraz, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and dozens more.
They came to see a show. So did 80,000 other people, not to mention perhaps as many as 2 billion watching around the globe.
Spain didn’t disappoint. No team has won back-to-back men’s World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962, and Spain kept Argentina from pulling off that repeat.
“We are gracious in victory,” Scaloni said, “and we must be gracious in defeat.”
