Spain Break Messi's Heart: La Roja Clinch Second FIFA World Cup Crown While Argentina Crumble
Spain Break Messi's Heart: La Roja Clinch Second FIFA World Cup Crown While Argentina Crumble Published By, Last Updated: July 20, 2026, 03:38 IST A
Spain Break Messi's Heart: La Roja Clinch Second FIFA World Cup Crown While Argentina Crumble Published By, Last Updated: July 20, 2026, 03:38 IST A Ferran Torres winner in extra time sealed a 1-0 victory over Argentina, earning La Roja a second FIFA World Cup title and denying Lionel Messi a fairytale farewell. Rapid Read Ferran Torres celebrates after scoring Spain's first goal in FIFA World Cup 2026 final. (Picture Credit: AP) Sixteen years after conquering South Africa, Spain have done it again — only this time, they had to rip the trophy from Lionel Messi’s grasp. Ferran Torres’ extra-time winner crowned Spain as two-time FIFA World Cup champions, while Argentina’s dream of becoming the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the trophy went up in smoke.
The irony? Argentina came into the final as the tournament’s most feared attack. They left it without a single goal. Spain, meanwhile, stuck to the blueprint that got them here. Suffocate. Control. Wait. Punish. After spending 90 minutes knocking relentlessly on Argentina’s door, La Roja finally smashed it down in the 106th minute. Pedro Porro delivered, Nico Williams flicked it on, and Torres made no mistake. Game over. The numbers only make Spain’s triumph even sweeter. Luis de la Fuente’s side finished the tournament with just two goals conceded and six clean sheets, proving that defence still wins World Cups. Argentina, on the other hand, spent the closing stages hanging on for dear life after Enzo Fernandez’s reckless red card left them down to ten men before extra time.
Emiliano Martinez delayed the inevitable with save after save. Nico Williams thought he’d scored. VAR disagreed. Ferran Torres had another ruled out for offside. Spain simply refused to stop coming. Messi almost had one final Hollywood ending. With virtually the last kick of the game, the Argentine captain carved open Spain’s defence with a trademark pass for Marcos Senesi, whose point-blank effort was blocked in dramatic fashion. One final chance. One final heartbreak. Instead of a fairytale farewell, Messi’s last World Cup ended watching Spain celebrate. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit About the Author Siddarth Sriram After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas.
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