There are finals and there are finals where one team’s path to the match included a Falklands banner, a diplomatic protest from the British government, a VAR controversy that introduced a rule never previously applied, a stamp by Messi that the referee missed, a nickname coined by the entire internet, and eight Lionel Messi goals, while the other team scored 14 and conceded exactly one, and Sunday’s World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is the second kind.
Argentina beat England 2-1 in Atlanta Wednesday in stoppage time, per confirmed HuffPost reporting, with Enzo Fernandez equalizing and Lautaro Martinez scoring the winner, in a match whose final whistle was followed by Argentine players holding a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” while English players were still on the pitch, a sovereignty claim about the Falkland Islands that the British government formally demanded FIFA investigate Thursday morning. FIFA has not announced an investigation. Argentina have announced a World Cup final.
Spain beat France 2-0 on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas, and have conceded one goal in six World Cup matches, a defensive record that belongs to the team built around 19-year-old Lamine Yamal, veteran midfielder Rodri, and a back four that has treated opposing attacks with the patience of a team that has already seen every variation. Their single conceded goal was from Morocco in the quarterfinal. Everyone else got nothing. Argentina have scored 21 goals in six matches and conceded six, which means the final is the tournament’s best attack against the tournament’s best defense, in the configuration that World Cup finals are supposed to produce and frequently do not.
Messi is 39. He said before the Egypt match that he was “running on fumes.” He then scored from 2-0 down to pull Argentina level before they won in stoppage time. He is now in the final. He has eight goals. He missed a penalty against Egypt. He scored his 21st all-time World Cup goal. Both of these things are true about the same player in the same tournament, which is the specific kind of statistical tension that makes watching Messi in 2026 different from watching him at any earlier point.
The final is Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, temporarily renamed New York New Jersey Stadium under FIFA commercial regulations. Spain’s King Felipe said “We’re on it” when asked if the royal family would attend. Argentina’s government is awaiting FIFA’s response to Britain’s complaint about the Falklands banner. Messi will play.
When the final is Argentina against Spain and the path to it included a Falklands banner, a British government complaint, eight Messi goals, one Spanish conceded goal, and a 39-year-old running on fumes, what exactly is Sunday settling?
Sources
HuffPost: Argentina vs Spain World Cup final preview
HuffPost: Argentina Returns To World Cup Final
GB News: Argentina’s controversial run to World Cup semi-finals
