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Spain Are World Champions — Ferran Torres' 106th-Minute Winner Silences Messi's Last Dance
Spain beat defending champions Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final to lift a second World Cup, their first since 2010. A tense goalless ninety was settled just after the restart of extra time's second half by Ferran Torres, and Messi's final World Cup ends as runner-up. England beat France 6-4 in the third-place match; Mbappé took the Golden Boot with 10 goals and Spain's Rodri the Golden Ball.
Clinch Desk · Sun, Jul 19
Spain are the champions of the 2026 World Cup. In the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19, Spain beat defending champions Argentina 1-0 after extra time to sew a second star on the shirt, their first title since South Africa 2010. In front of more than 80,000 fans the final stayed goalless through normal time, until Ferran Torres thumped in a close-range finish seconds into the second half of extra time (106') to decide it.
For Argentina, and for Lionel Messi, it was a night of heartbreak. Chasing back-to-back titles and the perfect ending to his 'last dance', Messi was suffocated by Spain's defence and finished silent, closing his final World Cup as a runner-up. The defending champions' campaign — surviving on the brink round after round, from the extra-time scare against Cape Verde to the late comeback against England — stopped at the last hurdle.
A day earlier in Miami, the third-place match delivered the tournament's wildest goal-fest: England raced into a 4-0 half-time lead and beat France 6-4 — ten goals in a single game — to take the bronze. The individual awards had a Spanish flavour too: Kylian Mbappé claimed the Golden Boot with 10 goals, while the Golden Ball went to Spain's midfield general Rodri, ahead of Messi.
And with that, the first 48-team World Cup — 104 matches across 39 days — is complete. Relive the month's drama in our '2026 World Cup recap' (/news) and the final bracket (/bracket). And Clinch's next story — the KBO pennant race (/kbo) — rolls on.