Messis Argentina face Spain in todays 2026 World Cup final: Live updates – The New York Times

The Athletic Live Team

July 19, 2026 at 9:40 AM EDT

The 2026 World Cup winners will be crowned today at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Spain and Argentina meet in the final, bringing the curtain down on a 104-match tournament staged across North America.

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Perhaps a little surprisingly — with all due respect to Steve Clarke and company — it was Scotland.

Spain have conceded only once in seven matches at this tournament and are unbeaten in 37 games, equalling the men’s international record set by Italy. That sequence includes their penalty-shootout defeat by Portugal in the 2025 Nations League final, which officially counts as a draw.

Their run stretches back to March 2023, when Scotland beat them 2-0 at Hampden Park. No team has defeated Spain inside 90 minutes since.

Our writers were asked to make some extremely specific predictions before the semi-final between England and Argentina.

This reporter predicted that an Argentina substitute would storm off the bench and onto the pitch to confront the referee over a decision.

I was half-right. Instead, Valentin Barco sprinted onto the field and celebrated in front of several England players after Enzo Fernandez’s equaliser.

John Stones gave him a small shove as he lingered in front of the defender, while Jude Bellingham clipped him around the back of the head after the match.

Spain have also shown a willingness to challenge refereeing decisions, so it would be no surprise to see similar scenes involving either side today.

Argentina president Javier Milei has said he will not attend today’s final because of superstition.

The 55-year-old will instead watch from the presidential residence in Olivos, north of Buenos Aires, where he has watched each of Argentina’s previous matches at the tournament.

Milei said he became too hot while wearing a jacket during the quarter-final against Switzerland and removed it, only for Argentina to concede. He promptly put it back on.

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has also revealed that he steps onto the field with his right foot first.

Do you believe such rituals make a difference? What sporting superstitions can you not let go of? Join the conversation using the tab at the top of the page or email live@theathletic.com.

MetLife Stadium — known as New York New Jersey Stadium during the World Cup — has a charmless exterior, awkward transport links and a playing surface described by players and coaches as “dry”, “hard”, “uneven” and “a bit like artificial turf”.

When The Athletic’s team of football writers ranked all 16 venues a week into the tournament, MetLife finished last. Its aesthetics received a score of 4/10, while its transport and location scored 3/10. A return train ticket from Manhattan for a World Cup match also costs $98 (£73).

Despite those drawbacks, FIFA selected it to stage the most-watched sporting event on the planet, with the global audience expected to exceed one billion. Why?

It may have helped that Robert De Niro, a New Yorker, narrated a three-minute, 20-second video presented to a FIFA delegation.

It began with the Statue of Liberty, her torch reaching towards the sky and described as a beacon shining a light on dreams.

“We dare to dream big, really big, because that is what we do in New York and New Jersey,” De Niro, one of the country’s most celebrated actors, said in a video viewed by The Athletic.

He called the sport football rather than soccer before the video cut to the Empire State Building.

“Are we ready to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup?” De Niro asked. “Come on, baby, we were born ready. Our time is now.”

Credit to Adam Crafton, Henry Bushnell and Dan Sheldon for the reporting.

While Lamine Yamal often dominates the headlines with his attacking displays, Rodri is the player Spain can least afford to be without.

The Manchester City midfielder is a Ballon d’Or winner and has returned to his best after an anterior cruciate ligament injury kept him out for much of 2025.

Expect him to receive and distribute the ball under pressure while dictating the tempo of Spain’s play.

Alejandro Grimaldo is a tenacious, technically accomplished left-back and a set-piece specialist. He could provide an important delivery if Marc Cucurella is booked early or Spain need greater attacking threat from that position.

Mikel Merino’s habit of making an impact from the bench is well documented, while Barcelona midfielder Gavi could also have a role after several injury-disrupted seasons.

Liverpool winger Victor Munoz offers unpredictability, while striker Borja Iglesias provides experience and a physical presence.

The 33-year-old was prolific for Celta Vigo and previously refused to represent Spain while Luis Rubiales remained president of the Spanish football federation. Rubiales had kissed Jenni Hermoso without her consent after Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup and initially refused to resign.

Rubiales later stepped down and was found guilty of sexual assault and fined. Iglesias subsequently returned to the national team.

The experienced Nicolas Otamendi, 38, remains a threat at set pieces and could be called upon if Cristian Romero or Lisandro Martinez encounters difficulties.

Thiago Almada has lost his place in midfield but remains a creative option, while 21-year-old Nico Paz could thrive if given a cameo.

Striker Jose Manuel Lopez has been prolific for Brazilian side Palmeiras but is unlikely to feature, with Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez ahead of him in the pecking order.

Argentina have several players who are stars at club level, including Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez, but nobody has displaced Lionel Messi as the team’s leading figure.

Messi continues to deliver on the biggest occasions, creating and scoring decisive goals. Even when Argentina’s goals come from elsewhere, he is so often involved in their construction.

If anyone can rival his importance, it is goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. But even his match-defining saves tend to be overshadowed by Messi’s contributions at the other end.

We do not know whether this will be Lionel Messi’s final World Cup appearance, but time is clearly against him.

Croatia’s Luka Modric and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo are among the other great players who may have made their final appearances at the tournament.

It seems almost impossible that Messi would return in 2030, when he would be 43, but he has spent his career defying the usual expectations and conventions.

Combativeness, a refusal to accept defeat and, of course, Lionel Messi.

Lionel Scaloni’s side have laboured through long stretches of matches before coming alive late on, with 12 of their 19 goals arriving after the 75th minute of normal time.

Sit off them, as England fatally did late in the semi-final, and they possess enough midfield quality to circulate the ball comfortably and create a steady stream of chances. Their tournament-high average of 5.4 passes per possession sequence reflects that patience and composure.

Those combinations are concentrated through the middle, where Messi generally operates. Argentina have directed a smaller proportion of their passes towards the flanks than any other team at the tournament.

Control, cohesion and dogged intensity without the ball.

Spain’s identity as a possession-dominant, short-passing side is well established. They have remained true to those principles throughout this tournament, averaging 63.7 per cent possession across their seven matches.

That dominance is physically and mentally exhausting for opponents, who are left chasing shadows as Spain’s technicians pass around them with precision. But their approach is not simply about grinding teams down and waiting for gaps to appear.

Spain’s movement is dynamic, with players exchanging positions and making surging runs that pull defensive structures apart.

Two names stand out when looking through the team sheets from the sides’ only previous competitive meeting, at the 1966 World Cup.

For Argentina, there was captain Antonio Rattin, the powerful Boca Juniors midfielder.

For Spain, there was outside-left Paco Gento, the diminutive Real Madrid great.

And today? Argentina are again led by an influential captain, while one of Spain’s greatest threats is a brilliant winger.

Some things never change.

There is nothing to separate these teams historically.

Spain have won six of their 14 meetings, Argentina have also won six and the other two ended in draws.

It is worth noting that 13 of those matches were friendlies. In their only competitive meeting, Argentina beat Spain 2-1 in the group stage of the 1966 World Cup.

Somewhat surprisingly, given that it took place between Spain’s two golden eras, the most recent meeting between these sides ended in a 6-1 Spanish victory.

Argentina had reached the 2014 World Cup final and the friendly formed part of both teams’ preparations for the 2018 tournament.

Lionel Messi missed the game through injury, while Isco scored a hat-trick for Spain. Both countries were subsequently eliminated in the round of 16 in Russia.

Argentina’s road to a second consecutive World Cup final has been anything but smooth. But boy, it’s been entertaining.

The reigning champions breezed through the group stage, unfurling a team that defended tenaciously and was built to get the best out of a 39-year-old Lionel Messi, whose intelligence, passing and finishing ability has made up for his inability to run like he used to.

Messi scored his first World Cup hat-trick in the opener against Algeria, broke the World Cup all-time scoring record against Austria and scored a vintage free kick against Jordan.

But then the knockouts came, and the road suddenly became much tougher. Messi scored the opener in the round of 32 against Cape Verde, but the underdog African side kept fighting back, first by equalising late in the first half, then, after Argentina retook the lead at the beginning of extra time, leveling the score again thanks to an absolute stunner from right-back Sidny Lopes Cabral. It took a Cristian Romero header to create an own goal off a Messi corner kick for Argentina to finally put away Cape Verde for good.

Then Argentina appeared on the ropes again, down 2-0 against Egypt with a third goal from the Pharaohs controversially ruled out due to a foul in the build-up. Yet they waged a stunning comeback with three goals from the 78th minute to win in normal time.

They did, however, need extra time to get past 10-man Switzerland, with late goals from Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez to avoid penalties. And lastly, another shock comeback against a stunningly tentative England side, with an 85th-minute equaliser from Enzo Fernandez and a stoppage-time winner from Lautaro Martinez — both assisted by Messi — for a 2-1 win to return to another World Cup final.

Spain were quickly put on notice in a 0-0 draw against minnows Cape Verde in their tournament opener, the game which made Vozinha, 40, a household name for keeping Spain’s talented attack at bay.

That turned out to be more of a sign of things to come for Cape Verde than Spain, though. Luis de la fuente’s side righted the ship with a 5-0 drubbing of Saudi Arabia in their following match and closed off the group stage with a 1-0 win against Uruguay in Mexico.

They breezed past Austria in the round of 32 but needed late winners from substitute Mikel Merino in the round of 16 against Portugal and quarter-final against Belgium respectively.

But Spain saved their best performance for when they needed it most, dominating fellow heavyweights France in a 2-0 semi-final victory.

After today, the World Cup jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico will be complete.

Fear not – more World Cup action is on the horizon next year.

Brazil will host the Women’s World Cup in 2027, and another group of countries — Morocco, Portugal and Spain — will follow North America with a joint hosting of the 2030 Men’s World Cup.

The 2030 edition, held 100 years after the first tournament, will also see special centenary matches take place in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Excellent goalkeeping performances are essential in launching a nation’s run into World Cup contention, as reflected by the recent run of winners of the Golden Glove award.

Four of the past five Golden Glove winners played on the World Cup-winning squad. Which goalkeeper will join this fine company?

• 2022: Emiliano Martinez, Argentina
• 2018: Thibaut Courtois, Belgium
• 2014: Manuel Neuer, Germany
• 2010: Iker Casillas, Spain
• 2006: Gianluigi Buffon, Italy

The leading goalscorer at each World Cup receives the Golden Boot — and this year’s race has been historic.

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have not only emerged as the leading contenders for the award but have also become the two highest goalscorers in World Cup history, surpassing Miroslav Klose’s previous record.

Here are the Golden Boot winners from the past five tournaments:

• 2022: Kylian Mbappe (France)
• 2018: Harry Kane (England)
• 2014: James Rodriguez (Colombia)
• 2010: Thomas Muller (Germany)
• 2006: Miroslav Klose (Germany)