Spain Win the World Cup – The Three Points News Summary: 

• Spain edged 10-man Argentina 1-0 after extra time to be crowned World Cup champions at the New York New Jersey Stadium.

• Substitute Ferran Torres pounced in the 106th minute to break a stubborn deadlock, with Emi Martínez keeping Argentina alive almost single-handedly until then.

• Enzo Fernández's late second yellow and a post-match red for Leandro Paredes capped a cynical Argentine display, as Rodri lifted the trophy and claimed player of the tournament

Ferran Torres Seals Spain's World Cup Final Glory

For 105 minutes, this World Cup final looked like it might slip away from the better side. 

Spain racked up 20 shots to Argentina's zero (until the 115th minute), monopolised possession, and battered a back line that dropped deeper by the minute. 

Standing in their way was Emi Martínez, pulling off save after save to keep La Albiceleste in a contest they had no business still being in.

The dam finally burst in the 106th minute. Pedro Porro whipped a cross to the back post, Nico Williams somehow kept it alive on the byline, and Barcelona winger Ferran Torres arrived off the bench to fire beyond Martínez. 

Cue Spanish raptures at the New York New Jersey Stadium – and a coronation that had felt inevitable from the moment Enzo Fernández trudged off just before the end of normal time.

The Chelsea midfielder's second yellow card left Argentina a man down for the whole of extra time, and Lionel Scaloni's side never really recovered. 

Lionel Messi, making his farewell World Cup appearance, was reduced to a heavy header into the arms of Mikel Merino as Argentina belatedly threw bodies forward.

Cynical Argentina lose their heads

Argentina's approach was built on delay, disrupt and frustrate – and it very nearly worked. 

But once Torres struck, the mask slipped completely. The final whistle sparked a mass confrontation after Leandro Paredes shoved Gavi and Eric García to the turf, earning the Boca Juniors midfielder a red card of his own to follow Fernández's dismissal.

Messi, in floods of tears, was applauded by the entire stadium as he collected his runners-up medal. 

His teammates were less gracious, turning their backs on Spain's medal ceremony to face their own supporters – a petulant coda to a petulant performance.

Spain's Second Star and Rodri's Crowning

This victory writes another remarkable chapter in Spain's modern football history. La Roja now add the World Cup to the European Championship they lifted two years ago – the second time they've held both trophies simultaneously, mirroring their 2010 triumph in South Africa when they arrived as European champions.

Manager Luis de la Fuente's side had already dismantled tournament favourites France in the semi-finals, and the final continued the theme: Spain dominant, ruthless in territory if not always in the final third, and utterly deserving. 

Captain Rodri lifted the trophy from FIFA president Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump – the latter roundly booed as he emerged for the presentation – before collecting the player of the tournament award.

The pre-match razzmatazz, the 27-minute half-time show featuring Madonna and Justin Bieber, the celebrity-stuffed VIP box – none of it mattered by the time Torres wheeled away in celebration. 

This World Cup final belonged to Spain, and to a generation of tiki-taka heirs who've now stamped their own legacy on the international stage.

Argentina came to spoil. Spain came to conquer. Only one of those plans held up.