Spain are champions of the world. A single goal, deep into extra time, was enough to beat Argentina 1-0 in the 2026 World Cup final at MetLife Stadium and complete a tournament run that will be remembered for its control, its calm, and one absurd defensive statistic: across eight matches, Spain conceded exactly one goal.
The final followed the script of Spain's whole knockout campaign. Argentina, dangerous and experienced, had their moments, but Spain smothered the game, waited for their opening, and took it. When the goal came in extra time, it felt less like a shock than an inevitability. La Roja had not trailed in a single knockout match all tournament, and they were not about to start in the final.
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Champion
Spain 🏆Third-place game · Jul 18
France vs England
4-6 · England take bronze
A final that mirrored the run
Argentina arrived on the back of a gritty extra-time win over England and a tournament built on winning close games. But they ran into the one team nobody could break down. Spain's back line, marshalled all tournament, gave Argentina's forwards almost nothing, and once the game went to extra time, Spain's composure told. One clinical moment settled 90-plus minutes of chess.
One goal conceded in a whole World Cup
The headline number of Spain's triumph is defensive. Cape Verde: clean sheet. Saudi Arabia: clean sheet. Uruguay: clean sheet. Austria, Portugal, France, Argentina: all clean sheets. The only goal Spain conceded in the entire tournament came against Belgium in the quarter-final, in a game they still won 2-1. Seven clean sheets in eight games at a World Cup is the stuff of legend, and it is why Spain are champions.
Argentina's near miss
For Argentina, it is the cruelest way to fall short. They scored freely all tournament and dug out win after win in the knockouts, but met a wall in the final. Runners-up at a World Cup is a fine achievement; against this Spain side, it may be the best anyone could have managed.
Relive the whole tournament in the 2026 World Cup, wrapped, see where all 48 teams finished, and trace Spain's road to glory.