Spain won their first World Cup in extra time in 2010 and they did the same on Sunday against Argentina to become world champions for a second time.
The substitute Ferran Torres was Spain’s hero, shooting past Emiliano Martinez in the 106th minute of the game to break Argentina hearts and stop Lionel Messi and his team from winning back-to-back World Cups.
The 39-year-old Messi had his quietest game of the tournament, with just a single touch in the opening 15 minutes and that was from the kick-off. Argentina didn’t have a shot in the first half and struggled to test Spain, who were the better team throughout but failed to find a breakthrough until Torres finished off an excellent move.
The stop-start nature of the game was not helped by a 27-minute half-time show featuring Madonna, BTS, Justin Bieber and Shakira, among many, many others.
Argentina were already second-best in the game when, as proceedings were heading for extra time, they had Enzo Fernandez sent off for a second yellow card after he sent the young Spain defender Pau Cubarsi catapulting into the sky at MetLife Stadium in New York, New Jersey.
And with a player advantage in the 30 extra minutes, Spain began to exert even greater control, and after having one goal ruled out for a soft foul on the Argentina centre-back Nicolas Otamendi, Torres’ goal was enough to win the World Cup.
