{"id":557904,"date":"2026-07-19T19:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/557904\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T19:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:27:13","slug":"spain-v-argentina-live-updates-follow-the-action-from-world-cup-final-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/557904\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain v Argentina live updates: Follow the action from World Cup final \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Cup final: Spain 0-0 Argentina<\/p>\n

14 mins: Good game on a poor pitch (MetLife had one job).Alexis Mac Allister lucky to avoid a yellow card for swiping the legs of Dani Olmo.<\/p>\n

6 mins: Messi peels away from Laporte but Unai Sim\u00f3n rushes out of the Spanish goal to recue the situation. Chances at either end. <\/p>\n

4 mins: Lamine Yamal – so dangerous off the right – almost opens the scoring but Emi Mart\u00ednez matches two jabs on the Argentine goal. <\/p>\n

Kick-off 8.06pm. <\/p>\n

If anyone is tuning in for an 8pm kick-off, sorry, FIFA decided Robbie Williams and Secret Service security checks were more important. Still, New Jersey is blue and white. Electric atmosphere. <\/p>\n

While football icon Tom Cruise is selling his latest flick, here\u2019s the teams. <\/p>\n

Spain: Simon; Porro, Cubaris, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Olmo, Baena; Oyarzabal.<\/p>\n

Argentina: E Martinez; Molina, Romero, L Martinez, Tagliafico; Enzo; De Paul, Mac Allister, Gonzalez; Messi, Alvarez. <\/p>\n

\"SupportersSupporters of Argentina cheer in the stands ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 final match Spain against Argentina, in New Jersey, USA, 19 July 2026. <\/p>\n

This is tight. 7 minutes to kick-off and Robbie Williams is parading around in a tinsel-blue tracksuit. <\/p>\n

\"ArgentinaArgentina fans cheer during a watch party at Rockefeller Center ahead of the 2026 World Cup Final between Spain and Argentina in New York on July 19, 2026. (Photo by Ryan MURPHY \/ AFP via Getty Images) <\/p>\n

The Argentinians are the best fans I\u2019ve experienced on my travels (honourable mentions for Brazilians and Moroccans). Heating up around New Jersey for a 3pm kick-off (8pm Ireland). <\/p>\n

BBC showing a list of Messi achievements at World Cups: he is second on 21 goals behind Mbapp\u00e9 (after two strikes last night v England) but 1st on assists, chances created, shots, shots on target, expected goals (19.6), expected assists, passes played into box, successful crosses, ball carry distance and dribbles completed. <\/p>\n

\"Argentina'sArgentina’s Lionel Messi warms up ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 final at the New York-New Jersey Stadium. Picture date: Sunday July 19, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Bradley Collyer\/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder. <\/p>\n

Ken Early<\/a>: \u201cAnd so to win this ultimate victory, Messi must overcome what amounts to the living ghost of his old Barcelona team, complete with his own reincarnation and heir.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LamineLamine Yamal of Spain before the FIFA World Cup 2026 final match Spain against Argentina, in New Jersey, USA, 19 July 2026. <\/p>\n

Reports of delays at MetLife as stadium employees and volunteers are forced to queue for hours. Never mind the ticket holders who are facing technical glitches. <\/p>\n

Teams are in… <\/p>\n

Spain unchanged: <\/p>\n

Simon; Porro, Cubaris, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Ruiz; Yamal, Olmo, Baena; Oyarzabal.<\/p>\n

Argentina replace Giuliano Simeone and Leandro Paredes with Rodrigo De Paul and Nico Gonzalez:<\/p>\n

Martinez; Molina, Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Tagliafico; Enzo; De Paul, Mac Allister, Gonzalez; Messi, Alvarez.<\/p>\n

Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)<\/p>\n

Oh no. Rob Harris, reporting live from the MetLife Stadium for Sky News, is suggesting that the 8pm kick-off could be delayed. <\/p>\n

World Cup final delays already. Closing ceremony was due to start now 90 minutes before kickoff but hasn\u2019t started.
Secret service at entrances on security due to Donald Trump being due here<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rob Harris (@RobHarris) July 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Argentina – route to the final:<\/p>\n

Group J Algeria 3-0, Austria 2-0, Jordan 3-1.<\/p>\n

Last 32 Cape Verde 3-2 (AET).<\/p>\n

Last 16 Egypt 3-2.<\/p>\n

Quarter-final Switzerland 3-1 (AET).<\/p>\n

Semi-final England 2-1.<\/p>\n

Spain – route to the final:<\/p>\n

Group H Cape Verde 0-0, Saudi Arabia 4-0, Uruguay 1-0.<\/p>\n

Last 32 Austria 3-0.<\/p>\n

Last 16 Portugal 1-0.<\/p>\n

Quarter-final Belgium 2-1.<\/p>\n

Semi-final France 2-0.<\/p>\n

Golden Boot race: After Kylian Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s brace against England in last night\u2019s third-place play-off brought the France captain\u2019s World Cup tally to 10 goals, Lionel Messi needs a hat-trick against Spain to win the golden boot.<\/p>\n

The single-tournament record belongs to French striker Just Fontaine who scored 13 at Sweden \u201858 (Messi is unlikely to score five goals tonight). <\/p>\n

The Irish Times view on the World Cup<\/a>: \u201cDespite the crass commercialisation, and political meddling, the finals retain the sense of magic that makes football the world\u2019s most popular sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Argentina has carried the shade of Diego Maradona on its quixotic adventure through the United States this summer, then the elegant silhouette of Johan Cruyff lingers over Sunday\u2019s World Cup final,\u201d read Keith Duggan\u2019s in an interesting piece on first World Cup final between Spain and Argentina even has a Thomas Tuchel cameo. <\/a><\/p>\n

Just other two hour before kick-off, there is still time to hear Ken Early in conversation with Paul Howard on the America 2026 podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World Cup final: Spain 0-0 Argentina 14 mins: Good game on a poor pitch (MetLife had one job).Alexis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557905,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2956,61,60,112,4018],"class_list":["post-557904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-fifa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}