Are Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi playing? Spain vs Argentina lined up for the 2026 World Cup finals

I 2026 World Cup final finally here, with Spain again In Argentina determined to fight for football’s biggest prize after an unforgettable five-week tournament. Before the start of MetLife Stadium, fans are eagerly waiting to see proposed listwhere stars like Lamine Yamal again Lionel Messi may focus on a game that promises to shape soccer history.

After 103 gamesthe tournament came down to one final showdown between the reigning European champion and the defending world champion. Spain enters the final after producing one of the most outstanding campaigns in recent World Cup history, season In Argentina Survive a series of knockout games with endurance, knowledge and moments of brilliance.

Spain is chasing its second World Cup titlewho has already lifted the trophy in South Africa in 2010. Argentina aims to be the first country since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the World Cupadding a fourth star above his crown.

The best attack of the tournament vs the best defense

Spain looked like the bench of the tournament from the opening whistle of the knockout round. La Roja have conceded just one goal in the entire competitioncollecting more clean sheets while beating Austria, Portugal, Belgium, and France.

Argentina vs Spain Statistics	H2H record
Total Games Played	14
Argentina Wins	6
Spain Wins	6
Drawings	2

The semi-final against France further strengthened Spain’s credentials. Luis de la Fuente’s side dominated the game, finished off the strongest attack of the tournament and went ahead with a tie 2-0 victory.

Confidence is boosted by a rare and unbeatable run. La Roja have avoided defeat in regular time in their last 37 games in all competitionswhich gives the team a lot of faith before the big soccer event.

Pedro Porro #12 and Nico Williams #17 of Spain celebrate.

Unlike Spain’s comfortable trip, Argentina once again found themselves facing elimination before making a stunning comeback. The defending champion needed more time against Cabo Verde and Switzerland, recovering from a Egypt lost 2-0and surprised England by scoring two goals in the final minutes of the semifinal.

That victory has cemented the reputation of a growing team under a lot of pressure. Despite being criticized for the management’s decisions during the tournament, Argentina is adamant that its success has been found on the field.

Lionel Messi #10 of Argentina celebrates with his teammates. (Budda Mendes/Getty Images)

Will Yamal and Messi play?

The big selection questions before the games start are centered there Lamine Yamal again Lionel Messibut both stars expected to start the final of the World Cup.

Lionel Messi from Argentina and Lamine Yamal from Spain.

Spain briefly worried fans after Yamal missed part of training and was seen wearing a bandage around his left thigh. At the same time, right back Pedro Porro and trained separately due to muscle mass. However, the manager is Spanish Luis de la Fuente assured fans that Yamal would enter “perfect physical condition,” both players carrying their workload rather than recovering from serious injuries.

Argentina also brings encouraging news. Messi is fully expected to lead the defending champions to the potential the last World Cup game of his illustrious careerwhile coach Lionel Scaloni has a complete squad available to choose from.

The cycle	Argentina results	Spanish results
Group Stage Match 1	It won 3–0 against Algeria	Drew 0–0 competing with Cape Verde
Stage 2 Match	It won 2–0 competing with Austria	It won 4–0 competing with Saudi Arabia
Stage 3 Match	It won 3–1 vs. Jordan	It won 1–0 against Uruguay
Round 32	It won 3–2 (AET) competing with Cape Verde	It won 3–0 competing with Austria
Round 16	It won 3–2 vs. Egypt	It won 1–0 against Portugal
Quarter-final	It won 3–1 (AET) competing with Switzerland	It won 2–1 against Belgium
Semi-finalist	It won 2–1 vs. England	It won 2–0 vs. France

Spain vs Argentina: Proposed teams

Spain revealed XI (4-2-3-1): Simon; Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Olmo, Baena; Oyarzabal.

Argentina fielded XI (4-4-2): Emiliano Martinez; Montiel, Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Enzo Fernandez, Mac Allister; MessiAlvarez.

!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’, ‘ fbq(‘init’, ‘1324276914788316’); fbq(‘init’, ‘1447352325462177’); fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
var ns1 = document.createElement(‘noscript’);
ns1.innerHTML = ‘‘;
document.body.appendChild(ns1);
var ns2 = document.createElement(‘noscript’);
ns2.innerHTML = ‘‘;
document.body.appendChild(ns2);
self.__next_f.push([1,”e:[“$”,”html”,null,{“lang”:”en-US”,”className”:”__variable_f0f095 “,”children”:[[“$”,”head”,null,{“children”:[[“$”,”meta”,null,{“property”:”fb:app_id”,”content”:”3404408633123352″}],[“$”,”meta”,null,{“property”:”fb:pages”,”content”:””}],[“$”,”link”,null,{“rel”:”amphtml”,”href”:”https://worldsoccertalk.com/amp/world-cup/are-lamine-yamal-and-lionel-messi-playing-spain-vs-argentina-projected-lineups-for-the-2026-world-cup-final”}],[“$”,”meta”,null,{“property”:”push:title”,”content”:”Are Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi playing? Spain vs Argentina projected lineups for the 2026 World Cup final”}],[“$”,”meta”,null,{“property”:”push:description”,”content”:”Before kickoff at MetLife Stadium, fans are eagerly waiting to see the projected lineups, where stars such as Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi could take center stage in a match that promises to shape soccer history.”}],[“$”,”meta”,null,{“property”:”mrf:tags”,”content”:”argentina;lamine-yamal;lionel-messi;spain;world-cup”}],[“$”,”meta”,null,{“property”:”mrf:sections”,”content”:”World Soccer Talk;world-cup”}],[“$”,”meta”,null,{“property”:”og:updated_time”,”content”:”2026-07-19T09:55:02-04:00″}],[[[“$”,”script”,null,{“type”:”text/javascript”,”dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”$15″}}],[“$”,”link”,null,{“rel”:”preconnect”,”href”:”https://cdn.cookielaw.org”}],[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”onetrust-sdk”,”src”:”https://cdn.cookielaw.org/scripttemplates/otSDKStub.js”,”type”:”text/javascript”,”charSet”:”UTF-8″,”data-domain-script”:”019a29ca-4db9-7d2f-a043-a2f00c49f8b4″}],[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”onetrust-optanon-wrapper”,”type”:”text/javascript”,”dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”function OptanonWrapper() {\n var groups = window.OnetrustActiveGroups || ”;\n var hasC0002 = groups.indexOf(‘,C0002,’) !== -1;\n var hasC0004 = groups.indexOf(‘,C0004,’) !== -1;\n gtag(‘consent’, ‘update’, {\n ad_storage: hasC0004 ? ‘granted’ : ‘denied’,\n ad_user_data: hasC0004 ? ‘granted’ : ‘denied’,\n ad_personalization: hasC0004 ? ‘granted’ : ‘denied’,\n analytics_storage: hasC0002 ? ‘granted’ : ‘denied’,\n personalization_storage: hasC0002 ? ‘granted’ : ‘denied’,\n functionality_storage: hasC0002 ? ‘granted’ : ‘denied’,\n security_storage: ‘granted’\n });\n window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent(‘oneTrustConsentUpdated’));\n }”}}]],”$L16″]]}],[“$”,”body”,null,{“className”:”__variable_5a830f __variable_8b4686″,”children”:[[“$”,”$L17″,null,{}],[“$”,”$Lb”,null,{“parallelRouterKey”:”children”,”segmentPath”:[“children”],”error”:”$undefined”,”errorStyles”:”$undefined”,”errorScripts”:”$undefined”,”template”:[“$”,”$Ld”,null,{}],”templateStyles”:”$undefined”,”templateScripts”:”$undefined”,”notFound”:”$L18″,”notFoundStyles”:[]}],[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”WebsiteSchema”,”type”:”application/ld+json”,”dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”{\”@context\”:\” Soccer Talk\”,\”url\”:\”https://worldsoccertalk.com\”,\”inLanguage\”:\”EN\”}”}}],[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”NewsMediaOrganizationSchema”,”type”:”application/ld+json”,”dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”{\”@context\”:\”http://schema.org\”,\”@type\”:\”NewsMediaOrganization\”,\”name\”:\”World Soccer Talk\”,\”url\”:\” #1 Source for Soccer TV Schedules, Streaming Links, Cord Cutting Reviews, Soccer News and Interviews With Broadcasters.\”,\”address\”:{\”@type\”:\”PostalAddress\”,\”streetAddress\”:\”61 W 23rd Street, 2nd Floor\”,\”addressLocality\”:\”New York\”,\”addressRegion\”:\”NY\”,\”postalCode\”:\”10010\”,\”addressCountry\”:{\”@type\”:\”Country\”,\”name\”:\”United States of America\”}},\”sameAs\”:[\”https://www.facebook.com/worldsoccertalk\”,\”https://twitter.com/worldsoccertalk\”,\”https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-soccer-talk/\”,\”https://worldsoccertalk.com/rss/feed\”]}”}}],[[“$”,”$L19″,null,{“id”:”gtm-script”,”strategy”:”beforeInteractive”,”children”:”\n (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({‘gtm.start’:\n new Date().getTime(),event:’gtm.js’});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],\n j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!=’dataLayer’?’u0026l=”+l:”‘;j.async=true;j.src=\n ‘ })(window,document,’script’,’dataLayer’,’GTM-W2D8T2H’);\n “}],[“$”,”noscript”,null,{“dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”u003ciframe src=\” height=\”0\” width=\”0\” style=\”display:none;visibility:hidden\”u003eu003c/iframeu003e”}}]],[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”marfeel”,”className”:”optanon-category-C0002″,”type”:”text/plain”,”dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”function e(e){var t=!(arguments.lengthu003e1u0026u0026void 0!==arguments[1])||arguments[1],c=document.createElement(\”script\”);c.src=e,t?c.type=\”module\”:(c.async=!0,c.type=\”text/javascript\”,c.setAttribute(\”nomodule\”,\”\”));var n=document.getElementsByTagName(\”script\”)[0];n.parentNode.insertBefore(c,n)}function t(t,c,n){var a,o,r;null!==(a=t.marfeel)u0026u0026void 0!==a||(t.marfeel={}),null!==(o=(r=t.marfeel).cmd)u0026u0026void 0!==o||(r.cmd=[]),t.marfeel.config=n,t.marfeel.config.accountId=c;var i=\” n=arguments.lengthu003e2u0026u0026void 0!==arguments[2]?arguments[2]:{};t(e,c,n)}(window,294,{adsTrackingFromClient:true}/*config*/);”}}],[[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”custom-scripts”,”type”:”text/javascript”,”dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”\n window.futbolSites = window.futbolSites || { cmd: [] }\n window.googletag = window.googletag || { cmd: [] }\n window.marfeel = window.marfeel || { cmd: [] }\n window.vfQ = window.vfQ || [];\n window.opta_settings = {\n subscription_id: ‘6540a023842af2c9d54a808a66d7e401’,\n language: ‘en_US’,\n timezone: ‘user’\n }\n “}}],[“$”,”$L1a”,null,{}],[[[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”gpt-lib”,”className”:”optanon-category-C0004″,”type”:”text/plain”,”src”:”https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js”,”async”:true}],[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”relevant-lib”,”className”:”optanon-category-C0004″,”type”:”text/plain”,”src”:”https://futbol-cdn.relevant-digital.com/static/tags/62b24652ca3bd41063b67f8c.js”,”async”:true}]],[“$”,”$L1b”,null,{“section”:”articles”}]]],[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”facebookPixelBc”,”className”:”optanon-category-C0004″,”type”:”text/plain”,”dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’, ‘ fbq(‘init’, ‘1324276914788316’); fbq(‘init’, ‘1447352325462177’); fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);\n var ns1 = document.createElement(‘noscript’);\n ns1.innerHTML = ‘u003cimg height=\”1\” width=\”1\” style=\”display:none\” src=\” /u003e’;\n document.body.appendChild(ns1);\n var ns2 = document.createElement(‘noscript’);\n ns2.innerHTML = ‘u003cimg height=\”1\” width=\”1\” style=\”display:none\” src=\” /u003e’;\n document.body.appendChild(ns2);\n “}}],[“$”,”script”,null,{“defer”:true,”id”:”gravitec”,”className”:”optanon-category-C0002″,”type”:”text/plain”,”src”:”https://cdn.gravitec.net/storage/85b129ed6cef770e3208a20c277c6b58/client.js”}],[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”twitterPixelBc”,”className”:”optanon-category-C0004″,”type”:”text/plain”,”dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”!function(e,t,n,s,u,a){e.twq||(s=e.twq=function(){s.exe?s.exe.apply(s,arguments):s.queue.push(arguments); },s.version=’1.1′,s.queue=[],u=t.createElement(n),u.async=!0,u.src=” a=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0],a.parentNode.insertBefore(u,a))}(window,document,’script’); twq(‘config’,’o403j’);”}}],[[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”comscore”,”className”:”optanon-category-C0002″,”type”:”text/plain”,”dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”$1c”}}],false],[“$”,”script”,null,{“id”:”adm-pixel-smart”,”className”:”optanon-category-C0004″,”type”:”text/plain”,”dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”!function(a,e,d,m,t){a.adm={};a.adm.pixid=153623;var o=e.getElementsByTagName(\”head\”)[0],c=e.createElement(\”script\”);a.adm.json=\” (function() { var img = new Image(); img.src=” })();\n “}}],[“$”,”script”,null,{“defer”:true,”id”:”viafoura-entry”,”className”:”optanon-category-C0002″,”type”:”text/plain”,”src”:”https://cdn.viafoura.net/entry/index.js”}],[“$”,”style”,null,{“dangerouslySetInnerHTML”:{“__html”:”.isSpecialHubEvent .special-event-hero-title { color: #B80F0E; }”}}]]}]]}]n”])