By David Hytner, at New York New Jersey Stadium
“Spain fully deserve it. They have been absolutely superb all tournament. They have dominated all game against a ridged, rugged Argentina. The best team has won this World Cup,” gushed former England goalkeeper Joe Hart on BBC One Sunday night, Nigeria time. 19 July.
It was the triumph of an idea, an identity. Of an unshakable and patient faith in it. And when it was over, Spain’s new generation having emulated the one from the 2010 World Cup, all of those legendary names, there was simply delirium for them.
Spain were the only team that turned up to play this World Cup final, Argentina damned by their lack of ambition – even before they had Enzo Fernández sent off towards the end of the regulation time. It was utterly extraordinary that the defending champions barely mustered an attempt on goal.
Spain did not let them play. Just as they have barely let any of their opponents do so during the course of this tournament. Their miserly defence has been the cornerstone of everything.
The question that came to pound concerned their ability to find a way through the sky blue and white ranks. It was the only question.
Spain stayed true to their style; to who they are. The possession. The passing. The cohesive movements. The control. When they found the answer, it was nothing less than they deserved. The goal in the 106th minute followed a deep Pedro Porro cross and a brilliant header back by the substitute, Nico Williams. Another replacement, Ferran Torres, seized the moment of his life, lashing high past the Argentina goalkeeper, Emi Martínez. In only their second World Cup final, Spain had added a second star to their shirt.
There was no fairy-tale triumph for Lionel Messi. His team tried to respond with ten men to the Torres goal and, belatedly, they showed a few flickers. The substitute, Guiliano Simeone lashed high in stoppage-time. Argentina got what they deserved. It was some distance from being a classic final – unlike when Argentina beat France in 2022. It will live forever in Spanish hearts.
It was a spectacular show on one level. In the land of the spectacular show. Where everything is bigger, glitzier. Loaded with more sugar. It started with a ceremony, one to officially close the most bloated tournament there has been, which took in all manner of performances. Jennifer Hudson’s rendition of the US anthem before kick-off was certainly something; ditto Tom Cruise’s speech about the beautiful game. We kicked off six minutes late. There plenty more at half-time. It ended with a coronation, featuring those six kilograms of solid gold bliss.
Nobody cherishes the ball quite like Spain. They settled the quicker. They sought to assert themselves. They seemed to have an extra second in possession at the outset, normally more than one option. They were alive to the quick passes, such as the one that Dani Olmo returned to Lamine Yamal inside the area in the early running. The angle was tight for Lamine Yamal. His shot was kept out by a combination of Lisandro and Emi Martínez.
Argentina had one flicker in the opening 45 minutes when the Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón left his line to deal with a Julián Alvarez throughball for Messi. The clearance was straight to Alvarez but his first touch was poor. Otherwise the first period was all about Spain’s dominance of the ball.
Rodri set the tempo. Lamine Yamal had a few nice moments; a sumptuous touch here, a sharp turn there. Spain worked their patterns. They tried to wear Argentina down, to create the overloads. Argentina focused on their shape, on letting nothing pass. Not very much did in the first 45 minutes. Argentina did not care that their expected goals number up to that point was 0.00.
Did anybody enjoy the half-time show? It was a strange detail that Madonna, one of the headline acts, did not actually appear on the pitch. Instead, there was big-screen VT of her singing in the back of a car which was driven by Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.
Lionel Scaloni restructured in midfield, introducing Leandro Paredes in the holding role for the left winger, Nico González. The Argentina manager wanted his players to get closer to their opponents. It was not long before Paredes barged Rodri off the ball and was booked.
Spain continued to press high. They continued to probe. Could Argentina free themselves from the choke hold? It remained a tale of Spanish possession. They had a couple more shots; nothing too threatening. They over-elaborated at times. Their control needed to produce something clear-cut. Lamine Yamal did well to cross from the right after slipping away from two markers only for the substitute, Ferran Torres to head too close to Martínez. In context, it was a decent chance. By the time of the second hydration break, Argentina had still to attempt an effort on goal.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Torres screams with joy and wheels away, pursued by teammate Nico Williams, after scoring the only goal of the match.
