World Champions · FIFA World Cup 2026 · Match 104 of 104

World champions

Spain

Champions · 1 goal conceded all tournament

1–0

After extra time

Argentina

Seven wins — undone in the 106th minute

Full-time

Spain 1–0 Argentina (aet) · 80,663 at MetLife

The goal

Ferran Torres 106′

Venue

MetLife Stadium · East Rutherford, New Jersey

The markets say

ESP 58%ARG 42%Kalshi pre-match — the favorite delivered

Match report The full story ↓

The road to the trophy

Two paths, one champion

Spain went the whole tournament conceding once and never losing. Argentina won seven straight and rescued four of them after the 85th minute — until the final, when the late show finally ran dry.

SpainChampions

ArgentinaFinalists

The full story

39 days. 104 matches. One scroll.

From the first whistle at the Azteca to Spain lifting the trophy at MetLife — every group, every shock and every record of the first 48-team World Cup.

June 11 · Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

It began with a roar

Mexico 2–0 South Africa in front of 80,824 — Quiñones and Jiménez scored, three red cards flew, and Shakira opened the show. The 23rd World Cup was on.

MEX2–0RSAQuiñones ignites the AztecaQuiñones struck on 9 minutes, Jiménez sealed it — and the host nation's month-long party began.

80,824packed the Azteca for the opener

3red cards in the opening match alone

June 11–27 · 72 matches · 215 goals

Twelve groups, zero mercy

All three hosts went through. Two-time champions Uruguay didn't. And debutants Cape Verde drew their way out of Spain's group into history.

GER7–1CUWA seven-goal statementGermany hit debutants Curaçao for seven — the biggest win of the whole tournament.ECU2–1GEREcuador stun GermanyDays after the 7–1, Ecuador beat the four-time champions 2–1 — a warning nobody heeded until the round of 32.TUR3–2USATürkiye silence the hostsThe USA lost a five-goal thriller in their group finale — but had already done enough to top Group D.ARG3–0ALGThe hat-trick that tied KloseMessi's treble against Algeria drew him level with Klose's 16 all-time World Cup goals. Six days later, against Austria, the record fell.CAN6–0QATJonathan David runs riotA hat-trick in Canada's six-goal rout of Qatar — the joint-biggest win of the group stage.URU2–2CPVCape Verde's impossible tableThree draws, zero defeats: the debutants held Spain and Uruguay — and advanced while the two-time champions went home.

Explore every group

Group A — final table

Team	W	D	L	+/−	Pts
MEX	3	0	0	+6	9
RSA	1	1	1	-1	4
KOR	1	0	2	-1	3
CZE	0	1	2	-4	1

advanced to the round of 32

All six results

MEX2–0RSA
KOR2–1CZE
CZE1–1RSA
MEX1–0KOR
RSA1–0KOR
CZE0–3MEX

Top two per group advanced, plus the eight best third-placed teams: DR Congo, Sweden, Ghana, Ecuador, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Algeria, Paraguay and Senegal. Iran drew all three matches and still went home.

June 28 – July 3 · Knockout football begins

The round that ate the giants

Sixteen ties, three penalty shootouts — and Germany and the Netherlands both gone inside four days.

July 4–7

Norway shake the world

Haaland floored Brazil, England survived the Azteca, Belgium ended the hosts' run — and sixteen became eight.

BRA1–2NORThe earthquake at MetLifeHaaland struck twice in the last 11 minutes. Norway — the one nation Brazil had never beaten — reached their first-ever quarterfinal.MEX2–3ENGEngland at the Azteca, 40 years onBellingham's double and a Kane penalty outlasted the hosts in England's first Azteca match since the Hand of God.USA1–4BELThe hosts' run endsDe Ketelaere's double powered a 4–1 Belgium win, days after FIFA's suspension of Balogun's red-card ban sparked the tournament's biggest controversy.POR0–1ESPMerino at 90+1One moment decided Spain–Portugal — and likely closed Ronaldo's World Cup story.

July 9–11

Eight became four

France closed Morocco's second miracle run, Merino struck late again for Spain, and England and Argentina both needed extra time.

NOR1–2ENGBellingham ends the fairytaleSchjelderup put Norway ahead; Bellingham answered twice — the winner three minutes into extra time.ARG3–1SUITen-man Switzerland fallLevel after 90, Embolo saw red — then Álvarez and Lautaro struck in extra time.

July 14–15

A masterclass and a heist

Spain dismantled France without conceding. Argentina were losing to England with five minutes left — then weren't.

FRA0–2ESPThe masterclass in ArlingtonOyarzabal from the spot, Porro from open play — France never landed a blow.ENG1–2ARGFive minutes from eliminationGordon had England ahead until Enzo Fernández equalized on 85' and Lautaro turned it around in stoppage time. Buenos Aires erupted.

The bronze final · July 18 · Miami Gardens

FRA 4–6 ENG Saka's hat-trick wins a 10-goal epic

England led 4–0, France clawed it back to 4–3, and Saka's treble — England's first knockout hat-trick since Hurst in 1966 — sealed their best finish since that year. Mbappé's brace made him the all-time World Cup scorer on 22.

The almanac

A World Cup of broken records

The biggest tournament ever played rewrote the attendance books by June 25 — and the all-time scoring charts by the final weekend.

308
goals across all 104 matches: 104
matches — the biggest World Cup ever played: 2.96
goals per match: 6,810,966
total attendance — an all-time record: 65,490
average crowd — also a record: 4
penalty shootouts

The Golden Boot — final standings

Kylian Mbappé★10
Lionel Messi8
Jude Bellingham7
Erling Haaland7
Harry Kane6
Ousmane Dembélé6
Mikel Oyarzabal5

Mbappé takes the Golden Boot with 10. Messi finishes on 8 — with the all-time World Cup assists record as consolation.

Messi, at 39, broke Klose's all-time World Cup goals record and the all-time assists record in the same tournament.
Mbappé sealed the Golden Boot on 10 and leaves as the all-time World Cup scorer on 22 — one clear of Messi.
Ferran Torres' 106th-minute winner echoes 2010 — Spain's only other title was also won 1–0 in extra time.
Emiliano Martínez made 11 saves — the most ever recorded in a World Cup final — and still lost.
Spain finished 38 matches unbeaten in regulation — breaking Italy's all-time record of 37.
All four of Argentina's knockout wins were decided in the 85th minute or later — the final was the night the comeback never came.
6.73M through 103 matches: the 1994 attendance record fell on June 25, with 44 games to spare.
Fastest goal: 65 seconds — Galarza for Paraguay, hours after Morocco's Saibari had scored in 71.
More red cards than the last two World Cups combined — three in the opening match alone.
A record $871M prize pool: Spain take $52.5M — and 30 championship rings.

The knockout tree

Every road led to East Rutherford

Tap any team to trace their run — from 32 survivors down to tonight's two.

Tap any team to trace their path

Round of 32

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

The Final

Champions

July 19 · MetLife Stadium · Match 104 of 104

Spain, champions of the world

Ninety scoreless minutes in which Argentina — for the first time by any team in a World Cup final — did not manage a single shot in regulation. Then Yamal crossed, Nico Williams knocked it down, and Ferran Torres headed home the 106th-minute winner. Emiliano Martínez's record 11 saves and a stoppage-time red for Enzo Fernández told the rest.

ESP1–0ARGTorres at 106' wins it allYamal's cross, Williams' knock-down, Torres' header — the only goal Spain needed. Named player of the match, Torres delivered Spain's second star the same way as their first: 1–0, in extra time.

Champions of the world

104 matches. Answered.

Spain 1–0 Argentina · after extra time · MetLife Stadium

Match report