Preview: Spain vs Argentina – prediction, team news, fixtures | 2026 World Cup Final

Defending royalty meets attacking brilliance at the biggest stage of all, as at 8pm UK time on Sunday evening at the MetLife Stadium, Spain and Argentina will square off in the first-ever men’s World Cup final between two continental champions.

La Roja are seeking only their second men’s Mundial win to complete their European Championship run from 2024, the same year La Albiceleste – bidding to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups – successfully defended their Copa America title.

I 2026 World Cup betting guide he favors Spain to win before kick-off, but since the knockout rounds began, the world champions have shown why they are world champions.

Game preview

Lamine Yamal this, Lamine Yamal that; while the young Spaniard was bright and happy with his performance – even if it only brought him one goal and an illegal assist to win a penalty – Luis de la Fuente’s strong striker stole the World Cup 2026.

Having previously gone 649 minutes without conceding a Mundial goal before Charles De Ketelaere scored Belgium’s equalizer – a no-brainer thanks to late match winner Mikel Merino – Spain found a way to hold off France’s fearsome attack in a deserved 2-0 semi-final victory.

A crowd-pleasing penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal – who refused to stutter – preceded a well-worked second tournament player Pedro Porro, as De la Fuente’s men lived up to the pre-match favorites tag assigned to them by Didier Deschamps.

With Michael Olise sidelined and Kylian Mbappe missing his spark, Spain held France to a paltry 0.31 Goals Expected in the semi-finals, the exact same amount as all La Roja’s World Cup representatives have faced in North America so far.

Recovering from that unbelievable false start against Cape Verde, the European champions head to East Rutherford on a six-game winning streak and automatically maintain an unprecedented six clean sheets at a World Cup; the new best of all time for the male singles genre.

However, the above statistics are nothing compared to this amazing Spanish sequence; La Roja are now unbeaten in 37 matches since losing to Colombia in March 2024, and if De la Fuente’s men go up on Sunday, they will surpass Euro 2020 winners Italy and set a new record for the longest unbeaten run in senior men’s football.

Argentina only need to go back as far as September 2025 for their most recent men’s defeat – a 1-0 loss to Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier – but La Albiceleste are now looking for their own sense of immortality.

Champions of the Copa America in 2021 and 2024 – either side of the inauguration of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – Lionel Scaloni’s charges could become the first country in history to win four major competitions in a row, thus making their case one of the greatest. the biggest football teams.

The hosts have so far been unable to replicate Spain’s masterful defensive style, which allowed Anthony Gordon to sweep England in Wednesday’s semi-final, before a Lionel Messi-inspired Albiceleste used an inspired Thomas Tuchel.

With England inviting a wave after South American pressure, Argentina’s remontada seemed inevitable, and it proved that Messi combined with Enzo Fernandez and substitute Lautaro Martinez to send the reigning champions to their seventh men’s World Cup final.

In Argentina

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A legend for all time

Many now say that Messi has surpassed Maradona as the best player in Argentina. Both have carried the team on their backs for different generations; both brought home World Cup titles that defined the country’s football identity. The debate between them will surpass the works of everyone who writes about them.

We’ll outscore you has been the approach adopted by Argentina throughout the World Cup, with Sceloni’s side now going five games without keeping a clean sheet but scoring at least twice in every game, scoring 19 goals in total.

Never before have Argentina found the net more often in a single World Cup – the 1930 crop managed 18 goals en route to a runner-up finish – and the hosts can now emulate Italy’s 1938 team and Brazil’s 1962 team as the third nation to defend the men’s World Cup title.

However, La Albiceleste have lost three of their four matches against Spain in the 21st century – most recently a 6-1 thrashing in 2018 – but if Sunday’s display is going to be another seven-goal affair, something tells us the aggregate score will be much closer this time around.

Spain’s World Cup form:

Argentina’s World Cup form:

Team News

© Consport / Baptiste Fernandez

Twenty-one seconds was enough to raise concerns for the Spaniard on Thursday, as Yamal was photographed with a bandage on his left leg while the rest of the team took part in a full training session, but there were no major worries about his availability for the final.

The same goes for semi-final goalscorer Porro, who complained of muscle fatigue at the end of France’s win and survived Thursday’s training session, but as a precaution rather than a sign of something worse.

Because of this, De la Fuente should have the luxury of naming an unchanged XI for the championship game, meaning no Pedri in the starting line-up again as Fabian Ruiz and Rodri resume their working partnership.

At the Argentina end, Cristian Romero and Leandro Paredes both overcame cramps after the quarter-final to start the win over England, meaning the manager has a full 26-man squad to use for Sunday’s game.

While Spain are expected to stick to the spin position, Scloni has been given plenty of fodder for thought against England, and few changes should be made in wide areas.

Giuliano Simeone registered more mistakes (5) than shots, dribbles and chances created combined (2) in the semi-final, so Rodrigo De Paul is likely to return to the XI, while Gonzalo Montiel is in the same boat after Nahuel Molina struggled against Djed Spence and Anthony Gordon last week.

However, match-winner Martinez is expected to be confined to the bench again, as Julian Alvarez joins Golden Ball and Golden Boot chasers Messi, who has refused to close the door on a 2030 World Cup appearance at the age of 43.

Spain is likely to start the program:

Simon; Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Olmo, Baena; Oyarzabal

Argentina may start the list:

E. Martinez; Montiel, Romero, L. Martinez, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Fernandez, Mac Allister; Messi, Alvarez

We say: Spain 2-1 Argentina

Argentina won’t know when they’re being beaten, and the goalscoring record speaks for itself, but Scloni’s side will still face a team with the defence, cohesion and intelligence of Spain’s De la Fuente.

As long as the European champions do not follow Tuchel’s plan, they can take advantage of the Albiceleste’s rearguard risk, return the World Cup trophy to Europe, and cause Messi’s tears of tragedy rather than the tears of victory that we are used to in every soccer festival.

For data analysis of the most likely results, score lines and more for this game please click here.

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