Speaker 1: The twenty twenty six FEEFA World Cup is over and
Spain are champions. Spain won Argentina zero at MetLife Stadium
in East Rutherford, New Jersey in extra time after one
hundred six minutes of football, and it took a red
card to finally break the deadlock. This was not the
final anyone expected. Argentina came in as defending champions, carried
by lee Neelle Messi in what was almost certainly his
last World Cup game. Spain came in as the best
team in the tournament, having beaten Portugal, Belgium and France
on their way to MetLife Stadium, and for ninety minutes
neither team could score. The first half was tense, tight
and Physicallesandro Martinez picked up a yellow card in the
forty first minute for a foul on Padre. The game
was chippy from the start. Argentina were aggressive, trying to
disrupt Spain's rhythm with fouls and physical challenges. Spain were patient,
moving the balls side to side, waiting for Argentina to
tire Leandro Parades got a yellow in the fifty second minute.
Enzo Fernandez got one in the eighty second. The tension
was building, Argentina were getting frustrated, Spain were getting closer. Then,
in the second minute of stoppage time, Christian Romero was
shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Ei
Arthur Baal, and in the third minute of stoppage time,
Enzo Fernandez was sent off red card. Argentina down to
ten men with three minutes of stoppage time left plus
thirty minutes of extra time. Enzo Fernandez, the player who
had produced the equalizer against England in the semi final,
the midfielder who had been Argentina's most consistent performer in
the knockout rounds, was gone. The sending off changed everything. Argentina,
already struggling to create chances against Spain's suffocating midfield, now
had to defend for thirty minutes with a man down.
Messi dropped deeper to try to help, but at thirty
nine years old, he did not have the legs to
cover the ground that Enzo would have. And then in
the one hundred and sixth minute, Ferre and Torres scored
the winner a volley off across from the right. Torres
met the ball cleanly, struck it first time, and Emiliano
Martinez had no chance. Spain won Argentina zero and with
twenty four minutes of extra time left, Argentina needed a
goal against the best defensive team in this tournament. With
ten men and with Messi looking exhausted, they never came close.
Argentina failed to register a single shot during regulation and
did not manage an attempt until extra time. Spain's midfield
trio of far barn Rue, Ease, Rodrie and Pedri controlled
possessions so completely that Argentina's attack was starved of the ball.
Messi touched the ball in dangerous areas maybe four times
in the entire match. Alvarez was isolated, alta Ro Martinez
was invisible, and when Enzou was sent off, whatever faint
hope Argentina had vanished. In the twenty first minute of
extra time, Alexis Macalistaya picked up a yellow card for
a foul on rod Re. It was a desperate tackle
from a team that had run out of ideas and
run out of energy. The final whistle blew a few
minutes later. Spain had won the World Cup. This is
Spain's second World Cup title, their first since twenty ten,
when Andres Iniesta scored the winner against the Netherlands in Johannesburg.
Sixteen years later, a new generation has done it again.
Luis de la Fuentai, the manager who took over after
the twenty twenty two disappointment, has built a team that
combines the technical brilliance of Spain's golden era with the
defensive discipline that passed Spanish teams lacked. Spain went undefeated
in this tournament. They beat Portugal in the round of
sixteen with a stopping time winner from Michel Merino. They
beat Belgium in the quarterfinals with an eighty eighth minute
winner from Mayrino. Again, they dismantled France in the semifinal
to zero in a performance that made the tournament favourites
look ordinary. And tonight, they beat Argentina in the final
with a man advantage for thirty minutes, but also with
a tactical superiority that would have made the difference regardless. Padri,
at twenty three years old, was the player of the tournament.
His control of the midfield, his passing range and his
ability to break lines with a single pass made him
the heartbeat of this Spanish team. Ferran Torres, who scored
the winner tonight, has been decisive in the knockout rounds
Ayartha bal and poor Row have produced goals when Spain
needed them, and Unaisimne the goalkeeper has been reliable, composed
and occasionally spectacular. This is the arrival of Spain's new
Golden generation and it is one of the most dominant
World Cup runs in history. Now the awards. The Golden
Boot for the tournament's top scorer goes to Kylian m
Bappay six goals in seven games. He scored twice against
Switzerland in the group stage. He scored twice in the
round of sixteen. He scored the decisive second goal against
Morocco in the quarter finals, and he scored twice in
the third place playoff against England, a game where France
conceded six but m bap Pay still found the net twice.
His tournament ended in disappointment, but his individual brilliance was undeniable.
The Golden Ball for the tournament's Best Player goes to Padri.
The Spanish midfielder was the heartbeat of the best team
in this World Cup. He controlled games with a calmness
that belies his age. He made passes that opened up defenses,
and he was the constant in a midfield that overwhelmed Portugal, Belgium,
France and Argentina. At twenty three, he has already won
a European Championship and a World Cup, and he is
just getting started. The Golden Glove for the tournament's best
goalkeeper goes to Emiliano Martinez. Argentina's shot stopper was the
hero of their run to the final. He saved penalties
against Switzerland in the quarter finals. He made crucial stops
against England in the semifinal and tonight even in a
losing effort. He kept Argentina in the game during regulation
time with saves that prevented Spain from scoring earlier. The
goal he conceded in extra time was unstoppable. His tournament
was magnificent. The Young Player Award for the best player
under twenty one goes to Lamina Yamal. The Barcelona winger
showed flashes of brilliance that suggest a generational talent. He
did not start every game, but when he played, he
created chances, beat defenders and looked like a player who
will dominate world football for the next decade. The Fair
Play Award goes to Spain for a team that played
seven games, won them all and did so without a
single red card, for a midfield that controlled games through
technical superiority rather than physical intimidation. And for a manager
Luis de la Fuente who built a team that played
the right way and won the right way. And now
Lionel Messi. During the post match ceremony, the MetLife Stadium
crowd serenaded him. Eighty two thousand fans, the vast majority
of them Argentine, sang his name. They sang the songs
they have sung in Buenos Aires and Rosario for twenty years.
They sang for the player who won them the World
Cup in twenty twenty two, who won them the Copa
America in twenty twenty four, and who carried them to
the final again in twenty twenty six. Messi stood on
the field, tears on his face and listened. At thirty
nine years old, this was almost certainly his last World
Cup game. He may play in the twenty two twenty
seven Copa America, he may play friendlies for Argentina for
another year or two, but he will not play in
another World Cup. That chapter is over, and it ended
in defeat, not in glory, not with a trophy lift,
but with tears and with a stadium full of fans
singing his name even as he lost. Does this loss
change his legacy? No, he has won everything a footballer
can win. He is the greatest of all time and
one loss in a final at thirty nine does not
change that. But it hurts. You could see it in
his face. You could see it in the way he
walked off the field slowly, as if he did not
want to leave. You could see it in the tears
that came when the fans started singing. Messi deserved a
better ending than this. He deserved to lift the trophy
one more time in front of a stadium that felt
like Buenos Aires and walk off into the sunset as
a back to back World Cup champion. But football does
not care about what you deserve. It cares about what
you do on the day, and today Spain were better
for Argentina. This is a cruel end to a tournament
defined by resilience. They came from behind to beat Egypt,
they needed extra time to beat Switzerland. They produced one
of the great comebacks in World Cup history to beat England,
and tonight for the first time in the knockout rounds,
they could not find a way. Spain would not let them.
Spain's midfield suffocated Argentina's attack, Spain's defense, led by Carva
Hahl and Green mile Do, kept Messy in check, and
Spain's extra time goal, scored by a player who has
been decisive throughout the tournament, was the difference. Spain are
champions of the world, and they are champions because they
were the best team in this tournament from start to finish.
The twenty twenty six FIFA World Cup is over. It
gave us late goals, dramatic comebacks, penalty shootouts, and a
final that will be remembered for its tension, its red card,
and its extra time winner. It gave us messys tears,
It gave us Spain's triumph, and it gave us a
month of football that reminded us why this tournament is
the greatest show on Earth. Quick note This show is
produced with the help of AI