Enzo Fernandez was sent off in second-half stoppage time <\/a>after getting his second yellow card. Fernandez was carded for a reckless play that sent Spain defender Pau Cubarsi cartwheeling into the air, and the card came out immediately.<\/p>\nDefense led Spain to a title<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 more than 300, nearly three per match.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
It worked, all the way to the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is sadness, but also the knowledge that we gave it our all,\u201d Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. \u201cI could say a lot about how we got here, but it\u2019s not worth it. I am eternally grateful to these guys; they competed right to the end. The other team was better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spain had to go through the game’s greatest player \u2014 maybe ever \u2014 to prove that.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 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\u2019s soil.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would have loved to have won, but I\u2019m thankful,\u201d Messi said. “‘Thanks’ is the only word I have \u2014 and sadness.\u201d<\/p>\n
He retired from the national team after losing a Copa America final to Chile \u2014 in the same stadium he played in Sunday \u2014 a decade ago, then came back a few weeks later after changing his mind.<\/p>\n
![\"Spain]()
<\/p>\n
Spain midfielder Rodri (16) steps in to recover the ball against Argentina forward Lionel Messi (10) during the second half of FIFA World Cup final match on Sunday, July 19, 2026 , at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford.<\/p>\n
Shafkat Anowar\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Good thing he did, because in that decade he went from superstar to absolute icon.<\/p>\n
There was the World Cup title in 2022. There were two Copa America titles, the first in 2021 and the second in 2024. He won Argentina\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
He’s a legend within the game and on all corners of the globe. But Spain was better Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spoke to my players, and they said: \u2018Look, we\u2019ve won everything, coach. We\u2019ve won everything,’\u201d de la Fuente said. \u201cAnd that is beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
A final unlike any other<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I told the lads before the game, we have to go for the game, we need to face them, we have to look to their eyes and say we want this game,\u201d Rodri said. \u201cAnd then, life gives you the World Cup or not.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain celebrates with the FIFA World Cup trophy following its match against Argentina on Sunday, July 19, 2026,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":946533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,381036,1043,29011,19151,1466,112537,2494,1596,67398,1117,7196,381037,69,39463,2389,23608,114437,47213,24114,3367,18169,14562,381038,66616,75176,24115,3359,114599,5506,24991,49069,46532,249167,63899,184754,184755,223492,34238,124917,343888,326164,343893,299692,291900,184750,223490,324434,289007,345920,328782,325057,329397,329398,365180,324520,25098,1096,5224,3371,27377,128,3366,358,11683,3187,3374,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,4714,14086],"class_list":["post-946532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-america","tag-argentina-spain-world-cup-final-score-messi","tag-brad-pitt","tag-bronny-james","tag-cade-cunningham","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-cillian-murphy","tag-cooper-flagg","tag-dallas","tag-daniel-craig","tag-david-beckham","tag-devin-booker","tag-didier-drogba","tag-donald-trump","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-draymond-green","tag-eli-manning","tag-enzo-fernandez","tag-ferran-torres","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-jalen-williams","tag-james-harden","tag-jaylen-brown","tag-jennifer-connelly","tag-jennifer-hudson","tag-jon-hamm","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-kevin-durant","tag-lindsey-vonn","tag-lionel-messi","tag-madonna","tag-matt-damon","tag-matthew-broderick","tag-mikaela-shiffrin","tag-odell-beckham-jr","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-patrick-mahomes","tag-pau-cubarsi","tag-product-30035-ap-connecticut-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30039-ap-florida-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30079-ap-new-jersey-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30083-ap-new-york-city-news-no-weather","tag-product-30085-ap-new-york-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-32554-ap-online-soccer-game-stories","tag-product-32562-ap-online-other-sports-news","tag-product-40778-ap-connecticut-sports-only","tag-product-40780-ap-florida-sports-only","tag-product-40800-ap-new-jersey-sports-only","tag-product-40802-ap-new-york-city-sports-only","tag-product-40803-ap-new-york-state-sports-only","tag-product-42059-world-cup-text","tag-product-46986-ap-online-top-stories","tag-saquon-barkley","tag-sarah-jessica-parker","tag-serena-williams","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-shakira","tag-spain","tag-stephen-curry","tag-texas","tag-tom-cruise","tag-tx","tag-tyrese-haliburton","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-victor-wembanyama","tag-will-ferrell"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}