Substitute Ferran Torres struck just 39 seconds into the second half of extra time, and Spain were world champions again — while Argentina’s dream of a fourth straight major title, and Messi’s fairytale finish, stayed unwritten.

It took 106 minutes, a red card, and a goalkeeper playing out of his mind, but Spain finally broke Argentina open in the FIFA World Cup 2026 final. Nico Williams turned his marker inside out on the right, drove to the byline, and squared it for Torres to bury a close-range finish past Emiliano Martínez. Ten-man Argentina — reduced after Enzo Fernández picked up a second yellow card in second-half stoppage time — never found an answer.

For Messi, at 39 and very likely playing his last World Cup, it was a cruel way to bow out. He becomes only the second man in history, after Brazil’s Cafu, to appear in three separate World Cup finals — 2014, 2022, and now 2026. This is the one that got away.

The scoreline lied about the game

If you only saw “1-0,” you’d picture a tight, nervy final. The numbers tell a completely different story.

Spain finished with 20 shots to Argentina’s 2 — 12 of them on target, against zero from Argentina all match. Expected goals (xG) told the same story: 1.94 for Spain versus just 0.20 for Argentina.

An undefeated march to glory

Spain didn’t just win the final — they went the entire tournament unbeaten, a run that began with an unassuming draw against debutants Cape Verde in the group stage. It’s their second World Cup title and first since 2010, and it puts Luis de la Fuente’s side in position to chase something no nation has managed since Brazil in 1958 and 1962: back-to-back World Cup titles, when the tournament returns in 2030.

What it means on both sides of the equator

For Brazilian fans, watching a fierce rival fall one win short — with Messi denied his fairytale ending — will sting in a familiar, complicated way. For American fans who just hosted their first men’s World Cup final on home soil, it was a front-row seat to one of the most dramatic 120 minutes in recent tournament history. Either way, nobody left New Jersey without a story to tell.