Spain wins 2026 World Cup as Torres scores in extra time vs. Argentina

The final whistle blew at New York/New Jersey Stadium on Sunday night, and Spain had done what it set out to do: claim the World Cup for only the second time in its history. Ferran Torres, a substitute who had been on the field for less than half an hour, buried a shot in the 106th minute of extra time—low, hard, underneath the crossbar—to end a match that had tested the patience of everyone watching. Argentina, and Lionel Messi with it, went home empty-handed.

For ninety minutes, neither team could find the back of the net. Spain controlled the rhythm of play from the opening whistle, moving the ball with precision and creating chances with the kind of efficiency that had defined their entire tournament run. Lamine Yamal tested Argentina's goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez early. So did others. By the 82nd minute, Spain had fired ten shots, seven of them on target. Martínez, though, was immovable—a wall of composure and reflex that kept the scoreboard blank. Argentina, by contrast, barely mounted an attack. They had no shots on goal by the time the first half ended, and the pattern held through regulation. Spain's defense, anchored by players like Unai Simón in goal, had been so dominant throughout the tournament that they had conceded just one goal across all their matches. Against Argentina, they conceded none.

The turning point came in the 93rd minute when Enzo Fernández, Argentina's midfielder, picked up a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Torres. The red card meant Argentina would have to play the final thirty minutes of extra time with ten men. It was a moment that shifted the weight of the match decisively. Spain pressed harder. Nico Williams nearly broke through in stoppage time, his shot punched away by Martínez. Then came a controversial moment in extra time when Williams appeared to have scored, only to have the goal disallowed for a foul that seemed marginal—Nicolás Otamendi's contact with Mikel Merino looked exaggerated, but the referee's decision stood.

Spain's persistence finally paid off in the second half of extra time. A cross came into the box, Williams kept it alive with his head, and the ball fell to Torres's feet. He didn't hesitate. The shot was clean and true, finding the net in the 106th minute. Argentina threw everything forward in the minutes that followed, searching for an equalizer that would force a penalty shootout, but Spain's defense held firm. When the final whistle came, Argentina had still not managed a single shot on goal. Spain had generated twenty.

For Spain, it was a tournament played exactly as they had planned it—controlled, methodical, suffocating. They gave up one goal in the entire competition and won the trophy. For Messi, if this was indeed his last match for Argentina, it ended in the kind of loss that no player wants to remember: dominated, outplayed, unable to leave a mark on the biggest stage. Spain's second World Cup title is now secure. The question for everyone else is how to stop them next time.