Spain are world champions for the second time, defeating Argentina 1-0 in a tense final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday to complete an unprecedented treble of men's World Cup, European Championship and Olympic gold simultaneously held by one nation. The only goal came in the 106th minute of extra time, when Barcelona winger Ferran Torres pounced on a Pedro Porro cross kept alive by Nico Williams to fire past goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez and send Spain's supporters into raptures. Torres was later spotted at the victory parade through Madrid wearing a red cap reading "Make Spain great again" — whether in admiration of Donald Trump or in ironic jest at the US president who has repeatedly disparaged Spain, observers could not agree.

The match was a study in contrasting ambitions. Spain dominated throughout, registering 20 shots to Argentina's extraordinary two — both coming only as the South Americans chased a late equaliser. Argentina, aiming to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win consecutive World Cups, relied on dogged defensive resilience and the brilliance of goalkeeper Martínez, who produced a string of superb saves to keep the score level through 90 minutes. Their resistance was ultimately undone when midfielder Enzo Fernández was dismissed for two yellow cards, leaving Argentina to defend extra time with ten men. Lionel Messi, 39, making what may prove his final World Cup appearance, was largely shut out by Spain's disciplined midfield and managed only a single effort, in the 115th minute, heading the ball straight at Mikel Merino. Ugly scenes followed the final whistle, with Leandro Paredes shoved Gavi to the ground and was sent off. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni, who later broke down in tears at his press conference, acknowledged plainly: "They were the better side — that's the truth."

Spain's campaign across the expanded 48-team tournament — held across the United States, Canada and Mexico — was statistically remarkable. Luis de la Fuente's side conceded only one goal in eight matches, with opponents generating a combined expected-goals figure of just 2.31 across the entire tournament. They eliminated Portugal, Belgium, France and defending champion Argentina in successive knockout rounds. Against France in the semi-final, one of the tournament's most feared attacking lines — Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise — was reduced to almost nothing, with Mbappé failing to register a single shot on target. Captain Rodri, who lifted the trophy and was named Player of the Tournament for both this World Cup and Euro 2024, anchored the midfield alongside Fabián Ruiz, while 17-year-old Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams caused persistent problems for opposing defences despite both being hampered by injury at various stages.

Analysts and commentators have pointed to the structural roots of Spanish football's dominance, tracing it to the influence of Dutch coach Johan Cruyff at FC Barcelona between 1988 and 1996, who fused Catalan creativity with the principles of Dutch positional play. That philosophy was subsequently embedded across all levels of Spanish youth football and has proved remarkably durable — surviving years of turbulence at the top of the Spanish Football Federation, which saw seven presidents in a decade, several removed by courts. De la Fuente's achievement is to have reinvented the style for a new generation, making it more defensively secure and vertically aggressive than the tiki-taka possession game that defined Spain's earlier golden era of 2008–2012. Spain's 38-match unbeaten run under de la Fuente shows no clear sign of ending, with key players Yamal, Williams and centre-back Pau Cubarsí, 19, still at the beginning of their international careers. Prime minister Pedro Sánchez, speaking at the welcome ceremony in Madrid attended by around two million people, voiced the question now on many minds: "Why not dream that in 2030, good things come in threes?" — a reference to the 2030 World Cup, which is partly to be staged in Spain itself.