World Cup 2026 Final Recap: Spain Beat Argentina

Spain 1, Argentina 0, after extra time. That is the line that closes the biggest World Cup ever staged, and it is worth sitting with how it was settled: 0-0 through ninety minutes, 0-0 deep into extra time, and then a substitute finishing a substitute’s header roughly 39 seconds into the second period of extra time. Ferran Torres, on for Mikel Oyarzabal in the 62nd minute, struck in the 106th to make Spain world champions for the second time and the first since 2010. For Canadian viewers who watched the whole thing unfold at MetLife Stadium in front of 80,663, here is what happened and how the markets around it resolved.

The short version for the board: the pre-match favourite delivered, but not the way a straight backer would have wanted. Spain were priced around 1.67 to lift the trophy, and they did — yet because the game was scoreless after ninety minutes, the regulation 1X2 market settled on the Draw, not on Spain. Two different tickets, two different outcomes from the same match. The detail below breaks down the goal, the flashpoints and the settlement.

The Only Goal: Two Substitutes Decide a World Cup

For 90 minutes and into extra time, the final was locked at 0-0. The breakthrough came almost immediately after the change of ends in extra time. Pedro Porro delivered to the back post, substitute Nico Williams won the header ahead of Molina, and Ferran Torres — a 62nd-minute substitute — finished first-time with his left foot past Emiliano Martínez. It was Ferran’s first goal of the tournament, and it arrived at the only moment that mattered.

Referee Slavko Vinčić of Slovenia took charge. Attendance was 80,663. Spain’s route to that goal had been the tournament’s most controlled: they conceded only one goal across their eight matches and kept seven clean sheets, numbers we unpack in full on our tournament records page.

Argentina Down to Ten, and a Post-Whistle Flashpoint

The final turned partly on discipline. Enzo Fernández was sent off in the 90+3rd minute for a second yellow — a reckless foul that sent Pau Cubarsí airborne — leaving Argentina to play the closing minutes and all of extra time with ten men. Emiliano Martínez, meanwhile, produced 11 saves, the most ever recorded by a goalkeeper in a World Cup final, and was reportedly playing through a broken finger.

After the whistle there was ugliness. Leandro Paredes grabbed Spain’s Eric García by the throat and wrestled Gavi to the ground before Spain’s players intervened. Several outlets reported Paredes was sent off, but FIFA’s official match report records that he was not — so Argentina’s only confirmed dismissal on the day was Enzo Fernández. On the day, Spain took no cards; Argentina finished with seven yellows plus the Enzo red.

How the Closing Lines Settled

This is where the final rewarded reading the small print. The two headline markets diverged.

The regulation 1X2 closed around Spain 2.25–2.30, Draw 2.95–3.00, Argentina 3.60. Because ninety minutes ended goalless, the Draw (X) settled as the winner of that market. The separate "to lift the trophy" market — which includes extra time and penalties — closed Spain 1.67, Argentina 2.30, and settled on Spain. Anytime-scorer backers who had the listed favourites (Messi 2.50, Oyarzabal 2.60, Yamal 3.30) came up empty; the goal went to Ferran Torres, an unlisted rotation name deep in longshot territory.

The North American Angle

The final was played on North American soil — MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey — the closing act of a tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. For the Canadian audience that followed CanMNT’s home run in Group B earlier in the summer, the tournament ends with the trophy decided a short flight south. Conditions held: the venue reported sunny, dry weather around 27°C at the 15:00 ET kickoff, with no weather impact — the game went to extra time on merit.

For the individual honours that were handed out afterwards, see our World Cup 2026 award winners breakdown, and for how the futures markets resolved across the whole event, our outright odds settlement page. You can revisit the pre-tournament board on our outright winner odds page or the full tournament schedule.

Odds cited are decimal and reflect the pre-final closing lines; the tournament is now complete and these markets have settled. Canadian readers wager these markets in decimal pricing and CAD at partner books including Boomerang Bet and BetiBet.