Spain's defense was the best in World Cup history

The World Cup final might have been a bit of a snoozer, but only because Spain were good enough to make it so. The best defensive run in the history of the World Cup ended in fitting fashion, with La Roja barely letting Lionel Messi and co. get near the box.

Spain suffocate Argentina and earn a second star

As is often the case, there was a lot more football played in the meaningless third-place play-off than in the all-important final.

Defending champions Argentina were expected to try and keep things tight, but they went too far in that direction for their own good as they failed to register a single shot in 90 minutes. Of course, that was in no small part down to Spain’s excellence. They capped off the best-ever defensive campaign at a World Cup with another impressive display in which their attacking versatility also came to the fore, and eventually made the difference in extra time to make them the first nation to simultaneously hold both World Cups.

Spain finished the tournament with a spectacular 0.26 xG per 90 against, and in several categories finished with the best defensive metrics in the 3 World Cups that StatsBomb has collected data for.

La Roja named an unchanged starting XI, while Argentina brought Rodrigo De Paul back for Leandro Paredes, replaced Giuliano Simeone with Nicolás González, and swapped Gonzalo Montiel in at right-back for Nahuel Molina. As is their wont, the Spaniards kept the clear majority of possession from the off, starting brightly with a couple of threatening moments before the match settled into a quiet rhythm.

Argentina, for their part, tried a few different approaches out of possession. They started off in a very player-oriented higher block, but didn’t commit to a press and instead looked to restrict their opponents’ options. After the first hydration break, they dropped back more and looked to stay compact in their 4-4-2 shape. Having perhaps dropped a bit too much, they tried to employ a selective mid press to push Spain back after half-time, but couldn’t sustain it all the way. So, they spent the last period of the 90 sinking into a low block, with Julian Alvarez also dropping to the edge of his own box to form a 4-5-1.

The problem for Lionel Scaloni’s side was that they couldn’t put anything together going forward. Spain’s ever-excellent high block restricted their grounded build-up options, prompting Emiliano Martínez and the centre-backs to regularly go long. The inclusion of Simeone against England made this a somewhat viable approach for that match as Argentina had two runners up top splitting to either side of Lionel Messi, but Nicolás González couldn’t provide adequate support to Alvarez to make it work here. Argentina ended the game with 25/85 long balls completed, mostly just resetting Spain’s possession sequences when they went long.

The European champions weren’t on their A game with the ball either in the first half, only mustering three shots by half-time. They had a couple of odd sloppy moments in the build-up, but mostly just weren’t clicking in the attacking half. Mikel Oyarzabal’s one-touch play helped get the team forward well, but none of their usual tricks worked in the final third. Marc Cucurella’s overlapping runs didn’t yield success, Lamine Yamal was rarely isolated out wide, Dani Olmo wasn’t able to ghost into dangerous pockets too often, and Pedro Porro’s underlapping one-two was also stopped.

What separated Spain from Argentina, though, was that they had the ability to switch things up at the snap of a finger. Having used a staggered midfield setup in the first half in which Rodri sometimes dropped to form a narrow back three with Fabián Ruiz connecting play in the middle before pushing up, they emerged from the extended half-time break with a more symmetric double pivot. This structure served to platform snappier passing play in the opposition half, which was further enhanced by the introduction of Pedri. Still, the challenge of creating chances remained. Luis de la Fuente turned to his bench again to address that, sending on late-winner specialist Mikel Merino as well as lively winger Nico Williams. This was another aspect in which Spain were superior to their rivals — they had game-changers on the bench. Argentina’s options were far more limited, while injuries to both starting centre-backs also weakened them by the 70th minute.

Lamine Yamal grew into the game later on in the second half as Spain tried to unpick a very low block and started to find some joy down the right, but clear-cut chances were at a premium. They were at least getting more shots off, and the pressure ended up paying off in a different direction when Enzo Fernández was sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card after a late challenge while chasing a loose ball.

With a numerical advantage to go with their general dominance, Spain were clear favourites heading into extra time. They had been using maximum width with their two wingers since Williams’ introduction, and could do so even more effectively now as the full-backs had a freer license to push forward. With opposite-footers on either flank, in-swinging crosses aimed in and around the six-yard box became their main source of threat. They created a couple of big chances thus and had a goal disallowed for a contentious foul call, all in the first half of extra time. There was no denying Ferran Torres just seconds after the restart, as he thumped home a well-deserved opener after Williams headed Porro’s far-post cross back across.

While they were naturally helped by the numbers on the field, Spain crucially did not make the same mistake as those before them in trying to see out a lead against Argentina by sinking deep. They did drop back, but maintained a threat on the break and could have had a second but for a marginal offside. More importantly, that ensured their defence was not being put under relentless pressure. Lionel Messi barely got a look at goal all game, needing 117 minutes to register his side’s first shot. Their best (and only other) chance came after a flurry of corners in stoppage time as the ball dropped to Simeone for a free shot close to the penalty spot, but his effort went over the bar, taking Argentina’s title defence dreams with it. –NS

Rodri’s all-around brilliance propels Spain to glory once again

When Rodri suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in September 2024, there were real doubts as to whether or not he could return to the startling heights he previously reached. After all, he was about to collect the 2024 Ballon D’or only a month later after submitting one of the greatest stretches seen from a midfielder in quite some time (highlighted by him winning the Premier League and European Championship in 2024). He was depended on very heavily by Manchester City, and unsurprisingly, the club suffered in his absence for the rest of the season.

Despite Rodri returning right at the end of the 2024-25 season, it would be some time before we saw him start to become himself again. There were starts and stops in the months after, highlighted by a hamstring injury which effectively sidelined him throughout for the rest of 2025. The fears of him returning too soon from a major knee injury were present, with even his manager Pep Guardiola predicting that it’d take until the World Cup for the world to see Rodri regain his mojo.

Given what’s happened over the past month, Guardiola’s prediction looked to be spot on. While Rodri did show glimpses of his best self upon his return to Manchester City’s starting XI from January onwards, it’s been his performances at the World Cup which have truly impressed. He’s been the metronome in midfield to help keep Spain ticking during possession, which continued in the final against Argentina. In the nervy moments Spain had during buildup, he was there to provide an option, almost like a warm blanket. There were the subtle forward movements as the third man to help move the chains forward, along with forward carries into space. While he’s had more flashy progressive passing performances, Rodri did provide some value there too.

What was arguably most impressive from Rodri was the mobility he showed out of possession. People worried about that aspect of his game not coming back, but it did for Spain throughout the tournament. Blink once, and he was there making opportunistic jumps to press during Argentina’s buildup. Blink a second time, and there he was snuffing out any hints of a counter attack to keep territorial dominance. It felt like Rodri was everywhere at times. This helped fuel Spain’s counterpress, a key reason why they were able to grind out results. Rodri’s defensive action map from the Futi app helps illustrate how valuable he was defensively.

Who knows how much longer Rodri can play at this level for. There are conflicting reports about another surgery he’ll need after the World Cup, which makes it even more impressive what we’ve seen from him over the past month. His presence was a key reason why this iteration of Spain might’ve been the most suffocating side ever seen at the tournament. It remains to be seen if he can still have incredible start to finish league campaigns like he did before the knee injury as Rodri heads into his 30s. What we do know is La Roja got the “real Rodri” at the 2026 World Cup, and won the whole thing for the second time in their history. —MM

Lionel Messi signs off with a brilliant final act

Rodri won the Golden Ball as the best player at the tournament, and deservedly so, but the highlights provided by the 39-year-old Messi might end up the most remembered thing about this tournament a decade from now.

Argentina had to design an entire system around making this version of Messi work, forgoing wingers to play a 4-4-2 diamond with Messi as a right-sided striker, as Alexis MacAllister and Rodrigo De Paul each did the jobs of 1.5 players in midfield. This had its problems, but ultimately enabled their superstar to carry a flawed team to the final.

La Albiceleste repeatedly got off to poor starts and needed to come from behind, and Messi was there to dig them out of their mess over and over again. He did so despite clearly not having the legs to do any out of possession work, and barely running off the ball when his team had possession either. But when he had the ball at his feet, he still found a way to be as productive as peak Messi.

His assists were brilliant, most notably his cross for the winner against England in the semifinal.

But the goals were outrageous. Perhaps the voters wouldn’t have denied him the Golden Ball if he’d made those two penalties and finished as joint top scorer, but they’re more of a funny footnote than anything worth dwelling on. Messi was not a shot volume monster in this tournament; he simply does not have the physical qualities to be that anymore. But he only needed 33 shots and 3.8 xG to score 8 times, with several memorable strikes coming from his signature spot at the top of the 18-yard box.

At the end of a long tournament, with his team playing their least ambitious brand of football yet, and while facing the most difficult opponent of his international career, Messi was shut down in the final. But despite the fact that he was not on an all-time great World Cup winning team, this 2026 run is likely to be remembered similarly to Pele’s in 1970, where one of the greatest players of all time showed everyone what made him the best one last time, even as he lost his once sensational speed.

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