Spain 1-0 Argentina [aet.]: La Roja win 2nd World Cup thanks to Torres’ extra-time volley | OneFootball

Spain have been crowned as champions of the world once more, following a 1-0 win over Argentina in New Jersey to lift their 2nd World Cup trophy.

Enzo Fernández grabbed the headlines inside 90 minutes, but for all the wrong reasons after he was sent off having received two yellow cards. Spain finally broke the deadlock in the 106th minute through Ferran Torres, whose volley nearly took the net off from 10 yards.

La Roja dominated throughout the match, with Argentina failing to register a shot until the 116th minute.

As it happened

Spain named an unchanged side for this one, with the same XI having won the last two rounds for La Roja against Belgium and France. Meanwhile, Argentina made three changes, with Giuliano Simeone, Nahuel Molina and Leandro Paredes being replaced by Gonzalo Montiel, Rodrigo De Paul and Nico González.

The first chance of the game fell to Lamine Yamal inside the opening five minutes, but his shot was deflected into the grateful arms of Emiliano Martínez. The first corner of the match also went the way of La Roja; Álex Baena’s delivery found Dani Olmo at the far post, but the midfielder couldn’t quite bring the ball under his spell.

Alexis Mac Allister was very fortunate to avoid the first booking of the game minutes later for a harsh tackle on Olmo. The spark had well and truly been lit by the 20th minute, with multiple fouls coming in from both sides as tensions began to rise.

The next shot didn’t come until the 38th minute, when Mikel Oyarzabal saw his volley well saved by Martínez. Slavko Vinčić did eventually get his cards out, shortly before the break, after a mis-timed sliding tackle from Lisandro Martínez on Oyarzabal.

Martínez was forced off through injury moments later, with Nicolás Otamendi his replacement; the remainder of the half passed both sides by as they headed in goalless at the break.

A groundbreaking half-time for football followed, with it being extended past the usual length of 15 minutes to accommodate the “half-time show”, which included stars such as Justin Bieber and Shakira. Lionel Scaloni made one change at the break, which saw Paredes replace González.

Baena looked to get Spain ahead early in the second half, but could only find the gloves of Martínez from the edge of the area. Tempers flared in the 51st minute, with Paredes picking up a yellow card for a combination of his foul on Rodri that started the melee in which he shoved Olmo to the ground…directly in front of the referee.

Otamendi came up with a superb, potentially goal-saving tackle before the hour mark when Fabián Ruiz broke into the area and looked set to pull the trigger. Spain came again mere seconds later, but this time it was Montiel who came to the rescue and put the ball behind for a corner, before La Albiceste’s third change saw the right-back withdrawn in favour of Molina.

Fouls continued to fly, with Paredes at the heart of it once again when he brought down Oyarzabal in a dangerous area. However, Yamal could only find the wall with his effort. A double change followed from Luis de la Fuente, which saw Oyarzabal and Ruiz make way for Pedri and Torres with half an hour of regular time remaining and Argentina yet to have a shot.

Martínez was incredibly fortunate not to palm the ball into his own net in the 63rd minute, when what should have been a simple save came dangerously close to turning into a calamitous error. He made a much more comfortable save shortly after, catching Torres’ header as Spain continued to push for an opener.

Scaloni turned to his bench for a final time following the second-half hydration break, with Simeone and Facundo Medina replacing De Paul and Cristian Romero, who appeared to be in some discomfort. A double change also came from Spain, with Nico Williams and Mikel Merino replacing Baena and Olmo.

Martínez’s first truly eye-catching save came with little more than 10 minutes of regular time remaining, when he denied Pau Cubarsí’s header. La Roja continued to dominate proceedings as the 90 entered its latter stages, winning another corner, but they were once again stopped by Martínez. Fernández was added to the referee’s notebook in the 82nd minute, becoming the third Argentinian to have his name taken in this match.

Torres came close again with less than five minutes remaining, but his volley flashed wide of the post. Rodri took on a long-range effort a few minutes later, but fired well over the bar. As four minutes of additional time were announced, Messi won a free-kick inside the Spain half, which presented him with a chance to whip the ball into the box. Instead, he opted to play it short, and the chance ultimately came to nothing. Williams led the charge of a rampant counterattack, but saw his powerful strike saved by Martínez.

Fernández flew into a challenge moments later, fouling Cubarsí and receiving his marching orders from the referee for a second yellow card offence. The last chance of regular time came when Yamal won a free-kick from Paredes right on the edge of the area. Yamal and Pedro Porro were the Spaniards lining it up, with the former taking on the effort and forcing the best save of the game so far out of Martínez. They failed to make the resulting corner count, meaning the game headed to extra time.

It looked for all the world that Williams was going to find the net early in extra time when he was picked out by Pedri, but Martínez was quick to react once again, continuing his superb performance. He did put the ball in the net shortly after, but the goal was immediately ruled out after Otamendi was deemed to have been fouled in the build-up.

Two changes followed for Spain, as Eric García and Martín Zubimendi replaced Rodri and Aymeric Laporte for their first minutes of the tournament. Yamal looked to put his name in lights towards the end of the first half of extra time, but his curling effort was well wide. Argentina began to look to close the game out after that, with Marco Senesi replacing Julián Álvarez.

Merino came inches away from the opening goal in the 102nd minute, when his header drifted narrowly wide of the far post. Scaloni was the next Argentine to find his way into the book after tempers flared on the touchline, bringing the first half of extra time to a close.

Inside the first minute of the second half, Spain finally broke the deadlock through Torres, whose volley nearly took the net off from 10 yards. The Spanish forward appeared to have doubled his nation’s lead, and his tally for the night, five minutes later, but he was flagged offside.

Messi came close to a sensational equaliser when his cross had Simón scrambling before seeing it land on the roof of the net as time began to run out for Argentina. The winger took aim again shortly after, this time seeing his fierce volley blocked by Merino’s face. The Spaniard received a short spell of medical treatment before being able to carry on for the remainder of the match.

A free-kick towards the halfway line followed for Argentina, with a clever routine opening up the space for a chance, but some excellent defending from Spain saw the ball go behind for a corner instead of finding the net as five additional minutes were announced. Simeone came dangerously close from the set piece, but his volley flew over the crossbar.

No more chances came the way of either side, meaning Spain were once again the champions of the world – 16 years after Iniesta in Johannesburg, it’s Torres in New Jersey.