Spain and Argentina will play for the World Cup title on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, putting the reigning European champion against the reigning World Cup champion in the tournament’s last match. For Lionel Messi, 39, it is one more shot at history in a final that could make him only the second player ever to appear in three World Cup finals.
The setting fits the scale of the game. A record 48 teams began this tournament 39 days and 103 games ago, and now the field has been narrowed to two powers with very different paths. Spain has not lost in 37 games over 27 months and has given up just one goal in the tournament, while Unai Simón has shut out opponents in seven of his last eight World Cup games dating to 2022. Argentina comes in with the most goals in the event, 19, and Messi has been at the center of nearly all of it, finishing the semifinals with eight goals and four assists for a tournament-leading 12 goal contributions.
That is why the search around this final is really about whether Spain can keep the game from reaching the areas where Messi decides matches. Rodri, Spain’s captain and the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner, said the simplest answer is to keep Messi out of the box, but Argentina has already shown how hard that can be. Messi’s two decisive assists in Argentina’s semifinal comeback against England came from outside the penalty area, a reminder that he does not need a clean lane to change the game.
Argentina’s case for repeating is also less smooth than the numbers suggest. Twelve of its 19 goals have come in the 75th minute or later, and in all four knockout-stage wins the go-ahead goal arrived in stoppage time or extra time. That is the mark of a team that keeps finding the finish, but it is also a warning that the margins have been thin. If Argentina wins again, it would become the first team to repeat in 64 years, a run that would deepen Messi’s place in the sport’s history and put a third Golden Ball within reach.
The final also comes after weather and smoke briefly pulled the game into question. Heavy thunderstorms hit East Rutherford on Saturday and helped knock down hazardous smoke from Canadian wildfires that had blanketed the tri-state area for days. Poor air quality led FIFA and the White House to hold informal discussions about moving the final, although the match remains set for Sunday with a forecast calling for temperatures in the mid-80s and 55% humidity at kickoff. President Trump is expected to attend, but the biggest figure in the stadium will still be Messi, who made his World Cup debut in 2006, when Pau Cubarsí and Lamine Yamal had not yet been born. If he plays Sunday, he will stand alongside Cafu as the only players to appear in three World Cup finals, with one more night left to decide whether that becomes the detail everyone remembers or the start of a new one.
