Spain win the World Cup as biggest ever tournament filled with heroes, scandal and shambles ends in A-list spectacle

FERRAN TORRES fired home the winner in the World Cup final to crown Spain as champions for the second time and deny Argentina back-to-back titles. And that meant Rodri lifts the iconic gold trophy aloft to bring the curtain down on the biggest and best World Cup ever. Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal as Spain won the World Cup Credit: Getty The 26-year-old was the hero at the New York New Jersey Stadium Credit: Getty It was certainly not the most thrilling final to befit the preceeding 38 days – 0-0 for 106 minutes. And the pre-match and half-time ‘entertainment’ didn’t do much entertaining, either, instead leaving the billions watching around the globe confused more than anything else. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! But in the end, Spain won’t care. For 2010 and Andres Iniesta, now add 2026 and Torres. READ MORE ON THE WORLD CUP The action on the dodgy MetLife pitch started with plenty of fanfare and plenty to be desired as iShowSpeed kicked off the forgettable closing ceremony which also included Post Malone, Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger. Tom Cruise’s monologue speech won’t exactly go down as one for the ages, either – although Coldplay frontman’s Chris Martin speaking fluent Spanish and Jennifer Hudson’s rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner both captured the attention of the 80,000 inside the MetLife. But if anyone knows how to really ramp up a crowd for a grand occasion, it is the Buffer brothers Michael and Bruce. And an A-list crowd, too – Matt Damon, Will Ferrell, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Drake, Timothee Chalamet, Kylie Jenner… and Donald Trump. Most read in Sport WORLD CUP 2026 FREE BETS AND SIGN UP OFFERS WORLD CUP FINAL LIVE: ALL THE LATEST FROM SPAIN VS ARGENTINA The first half of the actual football was a cagey affair – three Spanish shots, zero Argentine – and ended up acting as another warm-up act for the half-time show. Although that too was largely underwhelming with the unlikely front three of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and… err… Madonna refusing to come out on the pitch. At least Justin Bieber and his guitar did while Shakira’s cameo showed more creativity and movement than anyone in white and blue had mustered in the opening 45 minutes. Eventually, after 27 minutes and 23 seconds, the football continued. Spain continued to be the only team looking for a goal as Argentina seemed content to sit in and wait to win it on penalties, although there was no chance of a thrilling 3-3 draw like in Qatar in 2022. And they had to do extra-time with ten men after Enzo Fernandez picked up two yellow cards, two more than the number of shots his side managed in normal time – compared to Spain’s 15. Emiliano Martinez, playing in goal with a broken finger, palmed away a Lamine Yamal free-kick right at the end then Spain had a seemingly legitimate goal chalked off for an alleged foul in extra-time. Only one team tried to win this World Cup final. Fortunately for Spain, they got what they deserved when Torres kept his cool to side-foot home from Nico Williams’ expert header at the start of the second half of extra-time. It was Spain’s 20th shot. Argentina, inexplicably, were still on none. They finished on an embarrassing two. Spain were deserved winners Credit: Getty Lionel Messi congratulated Lamine Yamal after the final whistle Credit: Reuters So Lionel Messi – unlikely to return to the world stage – could have absolutely no complaints about the e absolutely no complaints whatsoever about his side’s fully deserved defeat. As for Rodri, he has now completed football – adding the World Cup to every available trophy for club and country, plus the Ballon d’Or. Spain were the best team at this World Cup and rightfully won it – and they even drew 0-0 with Cape Verde first up. A staggering 104 matches across five-and-a-half weeks and three countries was always going to throw up storylines galore. But even by World Cup standards, this has exceeded many of our expectations. For those criticising the extra 16 teams, expanding the World Cup to 48 for the first time, it was on the whole a roaring success. Okay, six teams finished on zero points. And the head-to-head rule in the group stages was naff and made too many of the third matches redundant, especially with only 12 teams going home. But who had Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha down to have more followers than Tom Brady on their bingo card? Or his Curacao counterpart Eloy Room to make a record 15 saves to earn a clean sheet and his country’s maiden World Cup point against Ecuador? Iraq were forced into a two-hour half-time against France amid a Philadelphia thunderstorm. Iran were forced to travel back outside of the USA after their matches – despite playing in Los Angeles twice and Seattle – amid the backdrop of the war with co-hosts USA. And then there was the farce surrounding American striker Folarin Balogun, sent off and certain to be suspended for the last 16 against Belgium until a certain someone intervened… Shambolic and scandalous. But enough of that, let’s get back to the positives. Like all of the big boys turning up and delivering a Golden Boot race and player of the tournament battle for the ages. Messi. Haaland. Mbappe. Kane. Dembele. Bellingham. Cristiano Ronaldo even tried to join the party one last time at the age of 41. Madonna was joined by Ronaldo and Ronaldinho for her half-time performance Credit: Alamy Justin Bieber put on an acoustic performance Credit: Splash But after ending 40-year-old Luka Modric’s World Cup career with the help of cricket tech snicko, he admitted he was out for six of his own – six tournaments, that is. Erling Haaland is well used to breaking records. Here, he broke Brazilian hearts and broke America along the way. A memorable return to the top table for Norway after 28 years – and their fans rowed back across the Atlantic full of pride. In the end, it was England who sent the Vikings packing – days after that memorable Azteca night/morning/who knows what time of day it counted as when the sun came up back home before the agonising, frustrating defeat to Argentina, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. And then it came down to the final two. Spain conceding just once on their way here to the MetLife and seeing off France in comprehensive fashion in the semis. Argentina were the opposite. Incredibly, they didn’t lead any of their knockout matches against Cape Verde, Egypt, Switzerland or England at the 90-minute mark but thanks to that man Messi, some questionable refereeing decisions (and Thomas Tuchel’s defensive substitutions), they booked their place in back-to-back finals. Spain the best team. Argentina with the best player and the best fight. And, at the end of it all, Torres scored the 308th and final goal – and it will be one replayed countless times in Spain for generations to come. Oh, and Germany lost on penalties. Donald Trump was there with Gianni Infantino Credit: Getty Comment now