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At the World Cup of superstars, a team take home the trophy | Sid Lowe
Spain won the 2026 World Cup, beating 10-man Argentina 1-0 in extra time in the final at New York New Jersey Stadium, with substitute Ferran Torres scoring the decisive goal. The victory capped an near-flawless tournament for the European champions, who conceded just a single goal throughout the competition, and is being framed as vindication for Spain's collective, system-driven style of football rather than reliance on individual stars.
Torres struck 37 seconds into the second period of extra time, converting Spain's 20th shot of the match from a knockdown following Pedro Porro's cross and a Nico Williams header, with the ball travelling at 102km/h into the net. He became the seventh different Spain player to score at the tournament, underlining the squad's strength in depth, and the goal arrived after Torres had earlier had a strike controversially disallowed by VAR against Saudi Arabia and hit the woodwork in matches against Cape Verde and Uruguay.
In short
- Spain beat 10-man Argentina 1-0 in extra time to win the World Cup.
- Ferran Torres scored the winner, 37 seconds into extra time's second period.
- Spain conceded only one goal all tournament, with seven different scorers.
Explained simply
The FIFA World Cup is the world's most prestigious international football competition, held every four years and contested by national teams from countries across the globe. The tournament represents the sport's ultimate stage, where nations compete for global supremacy.
Spain became famous in the 2000s and 2010s for a distinctive style of play that prioritised how the team moved together and controlled possession rather than depending on the brilliance of individual players. This approach brought them success, including winning the European Championship twice (in 2008 and 2012) and the World Cup in 2010, a golden period when many thought this kind of football represented the future.
In recent years, many of the world's top teams have moved away from this philosophy, instead building squads around their most talented individual players. Spain's victory in this World Cup is being framed by observers as evidence that the collective, team-first approach can still triumph at the highest level of the sport.
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