World Cup: Spain Win 2nd Trophy Setting All-Time Unbeaten Record, Overcoming Messi And Argentina 1-0
After a 16-year wait, Spain has claimed a second men’s World Cup.
Ferran Torres scored the winner in a deserved 1-0 victory over Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
In its victory, Spain set a new mark for an undefeated run in men’s international football after beating Argentina 1-0 in Sunday’s World Cup final.
The win extends Spain’s unbeaten run to 38 matches without losing, breaking a tie with Italy. The shutout win over Argentina was Spain’s seventh clean sheet of the 2026 World Cup, and they become the first team to win the tournament while only conceding one goal.
Patience proved the critical virtue for Spain. The players had to wait for a kickoff delayed by, among other things, a Tom Cruise speech. They had to wait twice as long as usual at halftime. And they had to wait for 106 minutes of play and their 20th shot before Ferran Torres lashed home the goal that would win them a second men’s World Cup.
Since then, Spain went on this stretch that includes the entirety of their Euro 2024 winning campaign, as well as this World Cup.
Just as they did in their impressive semifinal display against France, Spain dominated the ball early and their teenage superstar, Lamine Yamal, came close to opening the scoring in the fifth minute.
Seconds later, at the other end of the pitch and the age scale, Lionel Messi was beaten to a through ball by Spanish keeper Unai Simon.
It was as close as Messi, 39, got to a significant impact on the game, which may well be his last at a World Cup.
“They were better, to be honest,” Messi said postgame. “We lost the game, and we accept that. That doesn’t mean that we will forget everything we’ve done so far, so I’d like to thank my people, my players and the country.”
As the first half wore on in the New York New Jersey stadium, Spain dominated the ball, but Argentina held firm, with a smart save from goalkeeper Emi Martinez save on a shot from Spanish striker Mikel Oyarzabal, as close as either side came before the elongated interval.
“I’m very moved. Looking back and thinking about them, we’ve won everything, absolutely everything, with this generation of players,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente. “The match should have been decided much earlier … but this is a World Cup final, and you have to dig deep even against ten men, and we’re prepared for anything.”
Spain’s captain and player of the tournament, Rodri, lifted the trophy, but not before Donald Trump made his presence known.
The US president was booed when he entered the pitch with FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, and appeared keen to stay for the trophy lift, just as he had in the Club World Cup final last year.
Rodri appeared to subtly attempt to usher Trump off the stage before Infantino jogged over to join Trump on the sidelines of the celebrations.
Spain pulled clear of the unbeaten run of Italy, who had previously gone on a 37-game unbeaten run between 2018 and 2021 — a span which saw the Italians beat England in the final of Euro 2020.
By overcoming France last Tuesday in the World Cup semifinal, Spain drew level with that Italian side on 37 matches unbeaten.
Spain are no strangers to lengthy unbeaten runs having avoided defeat for a 35-match span between 2007 and 2009, a stretch that saw them win the Euro 2008 crown.
Now, though, by winning a second World Cup title, Luis de la Fuente’s side stand alone with the longest international run without losing a game.
This current run started after a 2024 friendly defeat to Colombia. They did lose to Portugal on penalties in the Nations League final, but defeats via a shootout count as draws for the purposes of unbeaten runs.
