Spain are world champions for the second time. Ferran Torres scored 39 seconds into the second half of extra time at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday, breaking the deadlock in a final that Argentina had survived entirely on the heroics of goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. The 1-0 victory gives Spain their first World Cup since Andrés Iniesta’s extra-time winner in 2010, and ends Lionel Messi’s World Cup career without the one trophy that eluded him until the very last.
For 90 minutes and into extra time, Argentina had created almost nothing. No shots on target. No corner kicks in regulation. Just two shots across the entire match, neither on target. Thirty-five percent possession at half-time. Messi, the 39-year-old who had been better than ever at this tournament, was effectively invisible — shut out entirely by a Spanish system that allowed him no space, no ball, no moments. “Lionel Messi and Argentina had no business clinging to hope of a second consecutive championship,” as one reporter put it. And yet they clung, sustained entirely by Martínez, who made 11 saves before the breakthrough finally arrived.
How the Goal Happened
In the 106th minute, Pedro Porro lifted a ball to the back post. Nico Williams beat Nahuel Molina to the header — a contest made harder by Argentina being reduced to ten men after Enzo Fernandez received a second yellow card in stoppage time. Martínez had committed to the flight of the ball. Williams headed it back across goal. Torres was arriving at pace from eight yards and thumped it home. “I just saw the ball coming to me and I just shot with the power of all the Spanish people,” Torres said afterward.
It was the moment Spain had waited for all afternoon — and, in a broader sense, for 16 years. The reigning European champions extended their unbeaten run to 38 matches over more than two years. For Argentina, it was a fourth World Cup final defeat in seven appearances, and the end of what had been Messi’s finest individual tournament performance.
Spain had dominated the statistics throughout: 20 shots to Argentina’s two, 12 on target to nil, 31 touches in the penalty area compared to eight. Martínez’s performance — breaking the saves record for a World Cup final — was extraordinary and ultimately insufficient. Moments before extra time ended, Argentina had multiple chances to draw level and shot off-target. The final whistle was met with Spanish elation, Argentine dejection, and, fitting for the occasion, a couple of scuffles.
The Halftime Show: Muppets, Shakira, and a Staten Island Chorus
The 2026 World Cup final made history before extra time ever became necessary. For the first time ever, the tournament’s title game featured a Super Bowl-style halftime show — and the 11-minute performance was fittingly chaotic, crammed with headliners, Muppets, Sesame Street characters, and an elementary school chorus from Staten Island.
Madonna opened the show by riding into the stadium on a dune buggy, performing her 2000 hit “Music” alongside legendary Brazilian footballers Ronaldo and Ronaldinho — though the opening sequence began with an apparently pre-recorded segment filmed in a roller rink. Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel led an orchestra through the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” with the Muppets house band — including Animal on drums in place of Meg White — providing furry accompaniment in the background.
BTS followed with “Dynamite,” arriving on the field in red and black after a brief tribute to Norway’s tournament run. Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt appeared in character as Ted Lasso and Coach Beard to introduce Justin Bieber — “Alright young man, let’s go! It’s your big shot! Go out there, don’t be nervous, nobody’s watching” — before Bieber performed “Everything Hallelujah” with an acoustic guitar. Shakira and Burna Boy performed “Dai Dai,” the official World Cup anthem heard before all 104 matches of the tournament. Shakira was barefoot in a dress of yellow and pink feathers, surrounded by dancers and a group of children, before the Afrobeats icon joined her on the song’s Italian-language refrain.
The show closed with the PS22 Chorus — an elementary school choir from Staten Island — backed by Dudamel and joined by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who curated the performance, along with Shakira and an extended cast of Muppets and Sesame Street characters including Kermit, Miss Piggy, Count von Count, and Cookie Monster. Dudamel was joined by approximately 40 musicians, roughly half from the New York Philharmonic and half from Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, though the music had been pre-recorded Wednesday at the Manhattan Center.
Trump Booed, Then Tries to Crash the Celebrations
President Trump arrived at MetLife Stadium on Marine One, his helicopter flying over the stadium approximately 45 minutes before kick-off. He watched the match from a glassed-in luxury section alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino, with Spain’s King Felipe VI, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum seated nearby.
Trump’s presence on the scoreboard screen after the US national anthem drew scattered boos but nothing extraordinary. When he and Infantino walked onto the pitch for the trophy presentation, however, the ambient crowd noise rose from approximately 78 decibels to 84 decibels — boos ringing noticeably around the stadium. After presenting the trophy to Spain, Trump attempted to position himself alongside the players at the podium during their celebrations before Infantino quietly guided him away. It was a scene that mirrored almost exactly Trump’s behaviour at the Club World Cup final at the same stadium last summer, when he tried to join Chelsea’s trophy celebrations to the visible bewilderment of the players.
Trump’s relationship with Infantino has been the source of sustained controversy throughout the tournament. Earlier this month, Trump personally called Infantino to lobby for a review of US striker Folarin Balogun’s controversial red-card suspension — a ban FIFA subsequently reversed — before the United States were eliminated by Belgium in the Round of 16. The episode led to formal complaints from human rights groups and European lawmakers about Infantino’s political neutrality.
Trump is the first sitting US president to attend a World Cup final on home soil. When the United States co-hosted the tournament in 1994, Bill Clinton did not attend the final; the trophy was presented by then-Vice President Al Gore instead.
The closing ceremony and pre-match entertainment featured IShowSpeed performing his World Cup song “Champions” and Post Malone debuting new track “Chrome Heartbreaker” before reuniting with Swae Lee for “Sunflower.” Tom Cruise — who also appeared at Paris’s Olympic closing ceremony — delivered a hype speech on the pitch in jeans and a polo shirt. “Today only two teams remain: España! — y Argentina!” he said, before calling on the crowd to celebrate “a tournament that brought the world together.” Jennifer Hudson sang the US national anthem a cappella before being joined by a brass band, while Spain’s instrumental anthem was played by Spanish Brass and Argentina’s was sung by pop star María Becerra.
Among those in the stands celebrating Spain’s victory were Javier Bardem, dancing and pumping his fist in the Spanish supporters’ section. Other celebrities included Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner, and Matt Damon — fresh from the record-breaking opening weekend of The Odyssey — accompanied by his wife Luciana Barroso Damon, who wore the colours of her native Argentina.
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