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World Cup 2026
The 2026 World Cup will be held from June 11th to July 19th in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The tournament will feature 48 national teams and will be played in 16 modern stadiums.
Match schedule and times | Draw | England at the World Cup | How to watch the World Cup | Predictions and odds
Live updates
23:13 BST - A Ferran Torres strike deep into ET secured Spain a second World Cup crown, as they overcame Argentina 1-0 and also claimed an all-time European record for the longest unbeaten international run (38 matches).
Read our report: Torres strikes in extra-time as Spain down 10-man Argentina to win World Cup
23:12 BST - Leandro Paredes got a red card for that incident at full-time.
23:11 BST - Emi Martinez kept Argentina in the match for a long, long time:
23:09 BST - Spain have attempted 852 passes in this game, their highest total in a single match in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
23:08 BST - Argentina are the first ever team to fail to have a single shot in 90 minutes in a FIFA World Cup final.
23:07 BST - Argentina attempted just two shots in this game, their lowest total in a single match in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
23:05 BST - A deserved victory for Spain, who dominated the bulk of the match.
23:03 BST - Some unsavoury scenes at full-time, with a few punches being thrown.
Looks like Paredes has landed a few on the pitch at the end.
23:02 BST - FULL-TIME! Spain 1-0 Argentina
SPAIN ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS.
22:58 BST - BIG CHANCE! Simeone blazes a huge opportunity over. Spain holding on now.
22:56 BST - BIG CHANCE! Senesi can't connect with a ball across the box and Argentina can't capitalise.
We have five minutes to play.
22:50 BST - Torres is sent through from a great Yamal ball and thinks he's added a second, but he's offside.
22:49 BST - Ferran Torres has scored his first goal in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, netting for the first time since 2022 against Costa Rica.
Timing.
22:42 BST - GOAL! Ferran Torres hammers home a knockdown to put Spain ahead!
Nico Williams does brilliantly to head the ball down, teeing it up for a rocket from Torres.
22:42 BST - We're back underway.
22:39 BST - HALF-TIME (ET): Spain 0-0 Argentina
22:35 BST - Three minutes added on to the first half of extra time.
Scaloni has been booked after a flare-up on the touchline.
22:33 BST - BIG CHANCE! Mikel Merino - not long on the pitch - has an excellent opportunity, but guides his header wide.
22:30 BST - The goal doesn't stand. Spain get straight back on the front foot.
22:28 BST - Bit sketchy this one, there doesn't seem to be a lot wrong in either challenge to rule it out...
22:27 BST - Nico Williams thinks he's put Spain ahead, but it's ruled out. VAR is checking for a foul...
22:21 BST - Extra time is underway.
22:15 BST - FULL-TIME! Spain 0-0 Argentina
22:15 BST - CLOSE! Emi Martinez saves an excellent free kick from Lamine Yamal.
22:11 BST - Enzo Fernandez has received a red card - Argentina's first sending off in the 2026 World Cup, and their first since 30th June 2006 against Germany
22:10 BST - RED CARD! Enzo Fernandez picks up a second yellow card and is sent off. Argentina down to 10.
22:09 BST - Argentina probe late on but fluff their lines, Williams then stings the keeper's gloves after a counter.
22:07 BST - We have four minutes of added time.
21:58 BST - BIG CHANCE! Emiliano Martinez pulls off a fantastic save! Aymeric Laporte attempts to head home after a precise cross into the box. He aims his header towards the left post, but the effort is kept out.
21:55 BST - CHANCE! Pau Cubarsi tests Emiliano Martinez with a strike from just outside the box, but the effort is saved.
21:51 BST - Seventy-five minutes in and the two men who have defined the subplot of this final have yet to define the match itself. Lamine Yamal has been Spain's most persistent threat throughout, constantly finding pockets and pulling Argentina's defensive shape around, but Emi Martinez has been the answer every time a chance has materialised.
Messi, by contrast, has been peripheral - Argentina's xG in the second half reads 0.00, and that figure reflects how completely Spain have pinned them back since the restart.
21:47 BST - Argentina historically outscore opponents by eight goals in minutes 68 onward in this tournament's knockout stages. Twenty-three minutes of that window remain. For now, though, this is a game being played almost entirely in one half of the pitch.
21:44 BST - Time for a second hydration break.
21:44 BST - BIG CHANCE! Ferran Torres misses from a close-range free header. Let off for Argentina, Spain are dominating the ball.
21:43 BST - Argentina's response to that reality has been to shuffle the deck. Three substitutions already, including Otamendi in for the injured Lisandro Martinez and now Molina introduced at right back, suggest Scaloni is both managing injuries and searching for a shape that can actually threaten Spain. The Paredes yellow card has added another layer of constraint on a midfield that has barely functioned going forward.
21:42 BST - Spain have registered every shot in this game so far - Argentina are yet to test Unai Simon with a single effort on goal - and Spain's xG stands at 0.23 against Argentina's zero. Scaloni's side have been camped in their own half for long stretches, inviting pressure and trusting Emiliano Martinez to deal with whatever comes through.
21:41 BST - CHANCE! Dani Olmo has a pop from distance that swerves in front of Emi Martinez, who parries it away.
21:39 BST - The momentum has certainly been with Spain for the best part of an hour in this World Cup final.
21:31 BST - Leandro Paredes has been shown a yellow card after catching Rodri with an off-ball elbow near the centre circle. Players from both sides clustered around the Spain midfielder, but Paredes was the only one to go into the book.
21:30 BST - Sloppy play from the defending champions at the back has gifted possession to Alex Baena twice inside the opening minutes of the half, with his second opportunity drawing an easy save from Emiliano Martinez - Argentine keeper bailing out the Argentine defence, which is a sentence that tells you something about how this second 45 is starting.
Spain were dominant throughout the first half - 65 per cent possession, Argentina with an xG of 0.00 and zero shots attempted. De la Fuente's side have carried that momentum directly into the second period. Argentina need to find their feet, and fast.
21:23 BST - The second half is underway after a 25-minute show.
20:55 BST - HALF-TIME! Spain 0-0 Argentina
Spain have controlled possession and created the more meaningful chances, with Emi Martinez called into action early and Cucurella going close from distance in first-half stoppage time. Argentina have been restricted to long balls and have found no way through a composed Spanish defence.
20:51 BST - It's not the highest quality final, to be brutally honest.
Looking at a 30-odd minute half-time show coming up after four minutes of added time.
20:30 BST - Time for the first hydration break, and it is a warm one. Will allow.
21:21 BST - Spain have had 68 per cent possession over the opening 15 minutes of this game.
20:10 BST - CLOSE! Emi Martinez recovers a scramble in front of goal.
Spain are looking dangerous.
20:06 BST - We are underway in the World Cup final!
20:05 BST - Michael Buffer is giving us a rumbler...
And Bruce Buffer! The boys. Ok I enjoyed that.
19:59 BST - Anthems!
Lionel Messi, 39, takes the field as the oldest outfield player in World Cup final history. Lamine Yamal, 19, starts at the opposite end of the age spectrum. Football occasionally arranges itself rather neatly.
19:54 BST - Ok it looks like the players are on their way out...
19:52 BST - Here's Tom Cruise set to some dramatic, tension-building music. He looks very small.
19:50 BST - Robbie Williams with a nice song for us there for some reason.
19:06 BST - The man of the moment, or many moments, has arrived.
Lionel Messi will become the oldest ever outfield player to appear in a World Cup final at 39 years and 25 days old.
18:54 BST - As promised, here are the official and confirmed Spain and Argentina starting lineups.
Spain are unchanged; Argentina bring in Rodrigo De Paul, Nicolas Gonzalez and Gonzalo Montiel for Giuliano Simeone, Leandro Paredes and Nahuel Molina.
18:47 BST - The closing ceremony is underway on the MetLife Stadium field, with streamer IShowSpeed performing his World Cup song 'Champions' to a half-empty ground.
Post Malone is up next with what should be a better performance, in truth.
18:35 BST - The stars have descended into New Jersey for the final. Here's Brazil legend and two-time World Cup champion Ronaldo...
...another Brazil icon in Roberto Carlos is here...
...and Spain's 2010 World Cup-winning defender Carles Puyol has arrived.
18:18 BST - And Argentina's starting side has also been revealed, this time via Argentinian journalist Gaston Edul.
Lionel Scaloni makes three changes from the team that beat England last time out, with Rodrigo de Paul, Nicolas Gonzalez and Gonzalo Montiel replacing Giuliano Simeone, Leandro Paredes and Nahuel Molina.
We will, of course, bring you the official lineups shortly.
18:10 BST - Less than two hours to go until kick-off and interestingly, Spain have already revealed their starting lineup on social media.
Luis de la Fuente has stuck with the same team that impressed against France in the semi-final.
18:06 BST - This is just the second meeting between Spain and Argentina at a World Cup, with the only match coming in 1966 during the group stage. Argentina won that 2-1.
They have met several times this century, though, with Spain winning three of the four encounters.
Both teams were actually supposed to play each other in March this year in Finalissima – a match between the Copa America and European Championship winners.
However, the clash in Qatar was cancelled due to conflict in the Middle East.
17:30 BST - Today's venue is New Jersey's massive MetLife Stadium, standing at more than 80,000 in capacity five miles outside of New York.
It is the home to NFL teams New York Giants and New York Jets and it hosted last summer's Club World Cup final.
16:25 BST - We briefly mentioned that viral photo of the great Lionel Messi with a baby Lamine Yamal... and we caught up with the man who captured it all.
Catalan photographer Joan Monfort was the man at that photoshoot 19 years ago and not even he could have imagined he was capturing a modern-day relic.
But he believes fate is the reason they are set to come together again on the World Cup stage in an incredible, almost scripted full-circle moment.
Read more: Photographer gives story behind viral Messi and baby Lamine Yamal image
13:41 BST - The head-to-head isn't just reserved for on the pitch, as both coaches have special links too, in a teacher-against-student type of battle.
In 2017, now Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni was studying for his UEFA coaching badges in Spain and was mentored by Luis de la Fuente, who was then in charge of Spain's Under-19s.
Now, the pair come back together to lead their respective nations for football's biggest prize.
Read more: Student faces master as Scaloni and De la Fuente meet in World Cup final
12:34 BST - Spain against Argentina means we will be treated to an instalment of Lamine Yamal versus Lionel Messi, who will reunite 19 years after a peculiar first encounter.
In 2007, Messi, then of Barcelona, took part in a charity photoshoot with UNICEF in which he bathed an infant Yamal, and the photo has since resurfaced.
The two Barcelona favourites clash on the world stage in a coincidental narrative that dominates a match of two contrasting teams.
Read more: Is Spain v Argentina final more than just Lamine Yamal versus Messi?
12:00 BST - The pinnacle of football is here – 48 teams have been whittled down to just two... It's 2026 World Cup final day!
Argentina will look to defend their crown and become just the third nation to win back-to-back titles when they take on the current European champions Spain.
Kick-off at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey is at 20:00 BST and we'll be building up to it throughout the day.