Spain are World Cup champions after a dominant display against Argentina, sealed by Ferran Torres’ decisive strike in the 106th minute of extra time. The victory completed Spain’s domination of international football, adding the World Cup to the European Championship they previously won by beating England.
Lamine Yamal was central to Spain’s triumph, becoming the youngest player — at 19 years and six days — to win both the World Cup and the Euros. The Barcelona winger came into the tournament troubled by a hamstring injury but ended it as one of the defining figures of the competition. He has now started 13 games at major tournaments and won all of them, the longest 100% win rate of any European player across major tournaments when starting.
Yamal also joined 19-year-old Spain team-mate Pau Cubarsi as just the fourth and fifth teenagers to start a World Cup final and win, following Pele for Brazil in 1958, Italy defender Giuseppe Bergomi in 1982 and Kylian Mbappe with France in 2018. Across 28 competitive matches for Spain, Yamal is yet to taste defeat. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente paid tribute to his young star afterwards, expressing his “sincere gratitude” and adding: “He has played great football that will help him to mature and be even a greater footballer than he already is.”
For Lionel Messi, the final may represent the end of his World Cup journey. The 39-year-old stood for a long moment taking in the sight of Argentina’s supporters as they sang his name inside the New York New Jersey Stadium. It was Yamal — two decades his junior and a fellow product of Barcelona — who approached Messi at the final whistle, the two men falling into each other’s arms in a moment that captured the passing of an era.
Argentina’s defeat was shaped in part by their provocative approach, which the article contrasts with the purist strategies employed by Spain throughout the match. While Messi was let down by his side’s methods, Yamal’s influence was amplified by the collective discipline of those around him — a combination that has now delivered football’s two greatest prizes to a player still in the infancy of his career.
Image credit: BBC Sport / BBC Sport
