Spain won the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, for the second time in its history, after a valuable and well-deserved 1-0 victory over Argentina on Sunday evening, to reclaim the title it had previously won in 2010 in South Africa.
Under the watchful eyes of US President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, the Spanish national team dominated the proceedings in regulation time, during which its players missed more than one clear opportunity, without the net being shaken thanks to the brilliance of Argentina's goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who saved more than one clear opportunity, while Lionel Messi's teammates did not fire a single shot on goal throughout the 90 minutes.
After the original time ended in a goalless draw, with Argentina playing with ten players since the third minute of stoppage time in the second half following the expulsion of their player Enzo Fernandez for receiving his second yellow card, the two teams resorted to playing an extra time of half an hour divided equally into two halves.
During extra time in the match held at MetLife Stadium in New York, New Jersey, which is the ninth in the history of World Cup finals, Ferran Torres scored the winning goal for the Spanish national team in the 106th minute with a thunderous shot from inside the penalty area, without the Argentine national team being able to equalize the result and push the match to penalty kicks, during the remaining time of the match.
Thus, the championship, which was won by the Argentine national team in the previous edition in Qatar in 2022, returned to the European continent, where its teams raised their tally of World Cup titles to 13, while the teams of the South American continent won the championship only 10 times.
This is the sixth time that the World Cup final has been decided in extra time, after the 1934, 1966, 1978, 2010 and 2014 editions.
Spain, who participated in their second World Cup final, continued their unbeaten streak for the 38th consecutive match in various competitions, becoming the first European team to achieve this feat, after breaking their tie with the Italian team, noting that they achieved 29 victories compared to 9 draws in that series.
In contrast, Argentina, making its seventh appearance in the World Cup final, was aiming to become the third team to retain the title in two consecutive editions after Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962).
During its journey in the current World Cup, the Argentine national team opened its campaign by topping the standings of Group 10 in the group stage with 9 points, achieving a perfect score, after winning 3-0 against Algeria, 2-0 against Austria, and 3-1 against Jordan.
The Argentine national team defeated Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time in the round of 32, before winning by the same score against the Egyptian national team in the round of 16.
Argentina beat Switzerland 3-1 after extra time in the quarter-finals, then won 2-1 against England in the semi-finals.
In contrast, the Spanish national team began its journey in the World Cup by topping the standings of Group H, where it drew 0-0 with Cape Verde in its first match of the current edition, then achieved a big 4-0 victory over the Saudi Arabian national team, followed by a difficult 1-0 victory over the Uruguayan national team.
Spain beat Austria 3-0 in the round of 32, then Portugal 1-0 in the round of 16, Belgium 2-1 in the quarter-finals, and France 2-0 in the semi-finals.
Very good
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