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<\/p>\n\n After 103 matches and 38 days of action, we\u2019re down to the final game on the last day of the 2026 World Cup.\n <\/p>\n
\n A total of 46 teams have fallen and only two nations remain \u2013 world No. 1 Argentina and world No. 2 Spain.\n <\/p>\n
\n Incredibly, the last time the two teams met on the World Cup stage was back in 1966, but they are set to clash again at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.\n <\/p>\n
\n There are so many storylines and subplots to explore ahead of the final, including half-time shows and President Donald Trump in attendance, so let\u2019s get straight into it.\n <\/p>\n
\n Firstly, this will be a clash of two very opposing styles. To use a phrase coined by former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, it\u2019s heavy metal music versus an orchestra.\n <\/p>\n
\n On the one hand, Argentina is all about aggression and physicality. They do the ugly stuff so well, almost prioritizing that over the obvious quality it possesses. It\u2019s all guns blazing from the opening minute, foot smashed down against the accelerator, hurtling downhill and throwing everything it has in attack.\n <\/p>\n
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\n All that chaos lays the perfect foundation for Lionel Messi to wave his magic wand. His teammates – more akin to bodyguards this summer – do the dirty work, which leaves Messi to focus solely on unlocking the opposition\u2019s defense with his unrivaled quality.\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s a tactic that has worked. A host of late goals and comebacks suggests opponents can\u2019t live with Argentina\u2019s intensity for a full 90 minutes.\n <\/p>\n
\n Then you have Spain. La Roja is a far more patient team, preferring to keep possession and pass their opponent to death, waiting for any momentary lapse of concentration. The philosophy is a simple one: If we have the ball, the opposition can\u2019t score \u2013 and it\u2019s one that\u2019s served the nation well in recent years.\n <\/p>\n
\n Spain last won the World Cup in 2010 off the back of a similar possession-based game, dubbed \u201ctiki-taka\u201d. That style of play defined an era of soccer that has started to be pushed out by a more physical form in recent seasons. Even when Spain won the European Championship in 2022, it did so by utilizing the pace and directness of its wingers.\n <\/p>\n
\n But after several injuries to the squad this summer, manager Luis de la Fuente has reverted to Spain\u2019s trusty trademark, which sees it as the narrow favorite for the title.\n <\/p>\n
\n The aim for Argentina is clear for everyone to see: knock Spain out of its rhythm.\n <\/p>\n
\n With that said, Spanish star Rodri will have a target on his back (or, more appropriately, his ankles). The 30-year-old is often the metronome in that Spanish midfield who keeps things ticking. No player in the tournament has made more passes than him (694<\/a>, over a hundred more than anyone else). Stop him and Argentina takes away Spain\u2019s superpower.\n <\/p>\n \n You won\u2019t be surprised to hear that no team has committed more fouls than Argentina this tournament, so expect tackles aplenty and heated confrontations flaring up both on and off the pitch.\n <\/p>\n \n Spain must remain calm and not rise to the bait if it wants to stick to its game plan \u2013 although that\u2019s easier said than done. One thing\u2019s for sure, referee Slavko Vin\u010di\u0107 will have his work cut out from the off.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI think Sunday\u2019s match will be quite different, as it will be a more physical one and we must be prepared,\u201d Rodri told reporters in the days ahead of the final, saying he\u2019s confident his team can hold its own against any style of play.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe know how to play different games based on the moment. So, we can adapt to having to defend, counterattacking, to attacking. We are a very complete team, and that is why we are here.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The clash of styles is one subplot but arguably not as exciting as the prospect of Messi coming up against Lamine Yamal.\n <\/p>\n \n I don\u2019t need to remind you of Messi\u2019s talents. He\u2019s simply the best and has been for almost two decades. But if one man has the potential to match or even exceed the Argentine\u2019s achievements, it might just be Yamal.\n <\/p>\n \n I say man, but the Spaniard is basically still a boy. He only turned 19 earlier this week but has enjoyed more success than most players experience in their entire careers.\n <\/p>\n \n He\u2019s already a three-time La Liga winner for Barcelona, a European champion with Spain and he\u2019s now just one game away from adding a World Cup to his trophy cabinet, in what is his debut at the tournament.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s no wonder then that he\u2019s being compared to Messi. They both broke through at the same club, both play on the same wing and both possess the same unearthly talent to beat their defenders with such ease.\n <\/p>\n \n Yamal has always played down the comparison, focusing instead on being the best version of himself. And while his form this summer has been hampered by an injury he was recovering from coming into the tournament, he\u2019ll be a big focus of Argentina\u2019s attention.\n <\/p>\n \n Much has once again been made of that famous 2007 photoshoot in which Messi was pictured bathing a young child, which turned out to be Yamal.\n <\/p>\n The story behind Messi’s baby photoshoot with Lamine Yamal in 2007\n <\/p>\n The story behind Messi’s baby photoshoot with Lamine Yamal in 2007<\/p>\n 4:18<\/p>\n \n Whether or not you believe it\u2019s some divine intervention or an early passing of the baton, it will feel like a bizarre full-circle moment on Sunday when the pair face each other for the first time.\n <\/p>\n \n Given the way the tournament has gone so far, you\u2019d imagine Spain will be more concerned about Messi than Argentina is about Yamal. But underestimate the teenager at your peril.\n <\/p>\n \n Argentina is the only team to have won all its games this tournament, with Spain also unbeaten but having drawn its opening group game.\n <\/p>\n \n But that winning record masks the fact that this Argentina team has flirted with elimination on more than one occasion.\n <\/p>\n \n Cape Verde took it to extra time in the Round of 32, while Egypt was 11 minutes away from victory before a Messi-shaped miracle turned the Round of 16 match on its head. A red card then helped it sneak past Switzerland in the quarterfinal and a late comeback against England capped off a ridiculously dramatic knockout phase in the semifinals.\n <\/p>\n \n Argentina just seemed destined to progress.\n <\/p>\n \n But it\u2019s picked up some enemies along the way. La Albiceleste\u2019s physical style of play isn\u2019t for everyone and the team also became the subject of an unfounded conspiracy that FIFA was somehow helping it get to the final.\n <\/p>\n \n Love it or hate it, you have to respect Argentina\u2019s hustle.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cOnce again, we\u2019ve established ourselves among the top two teams in the world. That proves that everything we\u2019ve done is no fluke and that nothing was handed to us,\u201d Messi hit back earlier this week.\n <\/p>\n \n As for Spain, it\u2019s grown into this tournament after a tricky start. The 2-0 win against France in the semifinal was by far its best performance and one that caught the attention of the world.\n <\/p>\n \n Before that, much like Argentina, La Roja had relied on some late goals to get through the latter stages \u2013 mainly from Mikel Merino, who struck the winner in both the Round of 16 and quarterfinal after coming on as a late substitute.\n <\/p>\n \n But to sum up the difference between these two sides, I\u2019ll leave you with one stat.\n <\/p>\n \n Before yesterday\u2019s third-place playoff, no team had scored as many goals as Argentina at this tournament (19) and no team has conceded fewer than Spain (1).\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s all set up to be a battle for the ages.\n <\/p>\n \n This year\u2019s World Cup final is so much more than a soccer match. It\u2019s the end of a summer of soccer love, a massive party over more than a month that brought The Beautiful Game to a new level in America. It\u2019s been a tournament that\u2019s been fully embraced by its hosts, and that\u2019ll be on display in the final.\n <\/p>\n \n After all, we\u2019ll have the very first halftime show.\n <\/p>\n \n Shakira, Madonna, BTS and Justin Bieber are all expected to perform in a show that is expected to last 11 minutes. In recent days, though, broadcasters have predicted the spectacle will cause the regular half-time break to be extended, much to the annoyance of soccer purists<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n![\"Spanish](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-14t190858z-106253137-up1em7e1h6xji-rtrmadp-3-soccer-worldcup-fra-esp.JPG\")
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