Late Torres Strike Secures Spain’s Second World Cup Crown Over Ten-Man Argentina

Ferran Torres netted in the 106th minute to guide Spain to their second World Cup title, edging resilient 10-man Argentina 1-0 after extra time in Sunday’s final.

Torres’s decisive goal arrived 16 years and eight days after Andrés Iniesta’s extra-time strike delivered Spain’s maiden world championship with a 1-0 win against the Netherlands.

The breakthrough came on La Roja’s 20th shot of the match, against a defending champion Argentina that had yet to register a single attempt and found it difficult to displace possession from their technically superior Iberian opponents.

That challenge persisted at full strength and intensified when Argentina were reduced in numbers; Enzo Fernández’s late foul on Pau Cubarsí forced referee Slavko Vinčić to issue a second yellow card just before the end of normal time.

Spain remain the only nation to have won a European Championship and World Cup in consecutive tournaments, now achieving the feat a second time. They are also the first World Cup winner to concede just once across an entire tournament.

Lionel Messi’s Argentina missed out on silverware for the first time in three major events, having claimed the 2021 and 2024 Copa Américas around their 2022 World Cup success.

The 39-year-old, eight-time Ballon d’Or recipient finished with eight goals and four assists but saw little of the ball until Spain’s late opener, never truly threatening the decisive moment he has so often produced in recent World Cup campaigns.

Emi Martínez made 11 saves for Argentina, who fell short of becoming the first back-to-back World Cup champions since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

What had proved arduous across the opening 105 minutes appeared straightforward just 37 seconds into the second extra period.

Pedro Porro swung an outswinging cross from the left to the back post, Nico Williams won the header and nodded it into space, and Torres fired a half-volley beyond the sprawling Martínez. It was his sole goal of the tournament, making him the seventh player to score in a competition where his side never trailed.

Source link