After all the drama of the two semi-finals, the showpiece game of the 2026 World Cup couldn’t live up to the hype but at least it had the right winner. Argentina – without a shot on goal in the 105 minutes before Spain scored – didn’t come to play and ultimately got what they deserved.
Here, Daily Mail sport looks at all the big issues.
SMART SUBS WIN THE FINAL
After England’s rather tame surrender against Argentina in Atlanta, there has been much talk about the use of substitutes. Here, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente saw his team dominate the game from the first moment but that wasn’t enough to satisfy him. He used his bench to introduce freshness and impetus and it paid off for him. He used six substitutes in all but it was the timing that was most interesting.
Leading scorer Mikel Oyarzabal wasn’t having a bad game – far from it – when he was taken off in the 62nd minute nor was Alex Baena when his afternoon ended in the 75th. But the two replacements – Ferran Torres and Nico Williams – combined to score the winning goal and were the two most effective and dangerous players on the field from the moment they arrived. Williams in particular was a constant menace and looked set to be denied in a personal dual with Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez until Spain finally grabbed their winner.
Spain and Luis de la Fuente got what they deserved after 120 grueling minutes against Argentina
Ferran Torres won it for the Spaniards with a 106th-minute strike rifled into the roof of the net
This is the kind of in-game influence a coach can have and England’s Thomas Tuchel will have much to think about before his team host the new World Champions at Wembley in their opening Nations League game on September 26.
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
It was hard not to watch this and wonder about how it could all have turned out differently. Certainly the version of England we thought was developing under Tuchel would have contributed to a fuller and more engaging World Cup final than this.
Argentina were a shadow of the robust and aggressive side we had seen in Atlanta against Tuchel’s England. Last Wednesday it was clear that the defending champions had real limitations but we already knew that. We had seen it against Switzerland, Egypt and even Cape Verde. But at least they played with an intensity and a belief.
Here they came to New Jersey seemingly with nothing to offer apart from the occasional flashes of attitude. So unambitious were they that by the time Spain opened the scoring in the second period of extra time, Argentina had still not managed a single shot.
Maybe they had left all their energy in Atlanta. Maybe they have to fall behind in order to play. Here, they almost equalised at the death when Giuliano Simeone volleyed over. Or maybe they didn’t think they could rile Spain the way they did England. Or maybe they just aren’t really that good. What is clear is that England would have given Spain a better game.
MARTINEZ RISES TO THE OCCASION AGAIN
They say he has never quite been the same goalkeeper since his failed move to Manchester United last summer, but at times Aston Villa’s goalkeeper Martinez was all that stood between Spain and a straight forward victory here.
Martinez – the hero of the 2022 World Cup Final shoot out – did not exactly have to produce the best saves of his life to deny Argentina’s opponents but he still made ten in regulation time and several more after that. The best were probably a spring to his right to clutch Aymeric Laporte’s header when it seemed to heading in to the top corner and then a flying leap in the other direction to beat away Williams’ rising drive.
Emi Martinez had a stellar afternoon in goal for the Argentinians and dispelled speculation that he’s past his peak
But the Aston Villa No 1 couldn’t have done anything to prevent Torres’s effort finding the back of the net
Martinez can sometimes be erratic and over emotional. We remember the ludicrous way he behaved after Argentina won the 2022 final. But he was none of those things here in New Jersey. He was the solid presence his defence needed, especially after they lost United central defender Lisandro Martinez to injury in the first half. Had this game gone to penalties, we know who our money would have been on.
RODRI BOOST FOR MARESCA
Without doubt one of the reasons Manchester City fell off the pace so much in the last two Premier League seasons was the absence through injury and subsequent drop in standards of their midfielder Rodri.
It’s only two years since the 30-year-old was lifting the Ballon D’Or trophy but the physical problems that followed robbed City of one their most important players. Here in America he has had a fabulous World Cup and he was arguably Spain’s best player as the Euro 2024 champions took an early hold of the game.
With his shorts worn high and his shirt tucked in, Rodri looks a bit of a throwback and the way he plays is reassuringly simple and unfussy. He hardly missed a pass or a tackle and was a picture of calm until he was eventually relieved of his duties ten minutes in to the extra time period.
New City manager Enzo Maresca will have been watching his player as he prepares for his first season in charge and will want him to sign the contract extension that is on the table as soon as possible. Rodri’s current deal runs out in the summer of 2027. He is one of those rare players who is pretty much irreplaceable.
Rodri has been back to his best this summer and was handed the player of the tournament award after the final whistle on Sunday
The 30-year-old is one of those players who is almost irreplaceable, both for Spain and Man City
PERFECT BAR THE FOOTBALL
This final looked and felt exactly like you would expect it to. Played under a perfect blue sky with a full stadium supporting two of the most famous and identifiable teams in the world football, it featured appearances beforehand from Tom Cruise, Robbie Williams and Chris Martin and then – briefly – Madonna and Justin Bieber at half-time. It will have thrilled FIFA, their sponsors and indeed their president Gianni Infantino.
What it lacked for large periods was any decent football and it felt for a while that this huge and entertaining tournament had simply burned itself out.
Maybe the 3pm kick off didn’t help – it was searingly hot down the pitch at kick-off – and what we definitely didn’t need was a half-time break that lasted 27 minutes from the moment the referee blew his whistle to end the first half and did so again to start the second.
This has been a fabulous World Cup – much better than many of us ever thought possible – but this final felt as though it was rather too much about the showbusiness than it was the action on the field.
At the end, despite the way they had behaved at the final whistle, it was also unfair to ask Argentina to hang around so long to watch Spain receive the trophy.
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