Torres sinks 10-man Argentina and sends Messi out in tears
Ferran Torres struck in the 106th minute to beat 10-man Argentina 1-0 and deny Messi a farewell title in his last World Cup match.
Spain are world champions again.
Ferran Torres — a second-half substitute who had not scored all tournament — pounced on a loose ball in the box in the 106th minute and drove it under the crossbar with his left foot to beat Argentina 1-0 in the final, a second title to go with 2010.
By the time Torres struck, Argentina were down to ten.
Enzo Fernandez had already been booked when a reckless challenge minutes into extra time drew a second yellow, and he walked barely a minute before Torres won it.
Tempers flared at the final whistle, with coach Lionel Scaloni, his players and Spain's bench shoving and jostling in a knot that took officials to break up.
Emiliano Martinez did everything a goalkeeper could to keep Argentina in it.
The keeper they call Dibu made a hatful of saves — a final-record haul on any count — and for long stretches he was the only reason the scoreline stayed survivable.
Spain took the game's first 20 shots before Argentina managed one on target.
They finished with 68 per cent of the ball, nine corners to four, and the same suffocating grip that let them concede only once across eight matches — a record for the fewest goals allowed by a champion.
“I feel pride, to be honest,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, who at 65 becomes the oldest man to win the World Cup.
“Accompanying them on this journey is an honour.”
Torres framed the goal in national terms.
“It was a goal scored by 47 million people,” he said.
Spain have now gone 38 matches unbeaten — 29 wins, nine draws — the longest such run by any European men's side, past the 37 Italy managed before Spain themselves ended it.
Add the 2023 women's title and Spain hold both World Cups at once, the first nation to do it.
Scaloni refused to let the defeat swallow what came before it.
“We lost the game, and we accept that,” he said. “I can tell them that we played our hearts out.”
Messi indicated before the tournament this was his last World Cup match.
He walked off it in tears, watching another country lift the trophy he could not defend.