On the grandest of all stages, Lionel Messi conjured up an act of magic for ages. How he won Argentina the World Cup in 2022 will remain one of the greatest stories in sport.

He scored two goals in the final against France in what many regard as the finest World Cup game of all time. That was the game in which Kylian Mbappe performed an unforgettable hat-trick. Only Messi could have made the young Frenchman look the second best on that night in Doha.

That final, which ended 3-3 after extra time and thus went into the shootout, was watched by about 1.5 billion people across the world. Those fans would have felt the match, and the World Cup, was Argentina’s when they saw Messi’s men go 2-0 up after 36 minutes. He had opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Angel Di Maria scored the second.

The Argentines had that two-goal lead late into the game, till the 80th minute. But within a space of a couple of minutes, Mbappe scored twice to force extra time. Messi, though, made it 3-2 with 12 minutes remaining. Mbappe, however, converted the penalty to pave the way for more penalties.

In the shootout, Messi and Mbappe took the first kicks for their teams, and scored, too. But, the misses from Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni proved costly for France. It was only fitting though that Argentina triumphed.

The planet’s most beautiful player deserved to win the biggest prize in the beautiful game. It would have been a great injustice if Messi hadn’t got that opportunity to have that memorable stolen kiss on the trophy. At that time, it wasn’t sure if the living legend would be around for another World Cup.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi kisses the FIFA World Cup trophy after being presented with the Golden Ball award following victory in the FIFA World Cup final at Lusail Stadium, Qatar.
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He stamped his authority on that World Cup in a manner only the most gifted could have. He delivered when his team wanted. And he did it with a touch of genius. Remember how he set up that goal for Julian Alvarez in the semifinal against Croatia?

Qatar 2022 will remain forever a classic example of a rare genius at work, and under pressure.

Spain’s win over Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final might have read a modest 1-0, but the scoreline hid what was in plain sight throughout. Spain smothered the Argentines, denying them the ball and disrupting any fluid move, so that the defending champions ended the full 120 minutes, including extra time with zero shots on target. How did it manage that against a team featuring Lionel Messi?

La Roja has prized possession as a mark of its identity ever since Luis Aragonés took charge in the mid-2000s followed by Vicente del Bosque building around midfielders such as Xavi, Iniesta and Xabi Alonso, and later Sergio Busquets. This style, termed “tiki-taka”, kept the ball as a way of denying it to the opposition and with it, the danger of any attack.

In 2026, Luis de la Fuente’s Spain built on that identity with a sharp second quality: counter-pressing — swarming the ball in compact packs the instant it is lost, to win it straight back. Spain was the tournament’s best at this, and the combination of slick passing and aggressive recovery let it concede just one goal in the whole competition.

In the final, Spain passed and pressed with gusto, denying the Albiceleste any meaningful sequence until deep into extra time. Two metrics capture that grip: possession share per period, and field tilt. Split into 15-minute phases, the game gave Argentina the majority of possession in only two (57% between half-time and the hour mark, and 52% in the second period of extra time). Spain controlled the other six.

Field tilt measures a team’s territorial dominance as its share of both teams’ possession in the final third — the third of the pitch nearest the opponent’s goal. It thus captures which side controlled the ball in the zones that most directly threaten the goal, rather than possession spread across the pitch.

By this measure Spain dominated every phase but one, and did so almost totally — 100% in three periods and above 90% in two more, with Argentina barely reaching the attacking third. The exception came in the second period of extra time, when Argentina, chasing an equaliser after Ferran Torres had put Spain ahead, posted a 95% field tilt.

But this was also after Enzo Fernández had been sent off in second-half stoppage time, leaving Argentina to play all of extra time a man down against a tiring Spain in late game. Spain’s stranglehold was marked throughout regulation as its 100% phases came in open, eleven-a-side play.

The charts show what Spain did. The question is how. Possession football rests on two things: technical command of the ball, evading tackles, passing precisely and positional awareness, with players drifting into space to offer passing lanes and wingers stretching the pitch alongside fullbacks and midfielders.

Spain has long selected for these qualities and drilled them over years, many of its players having come through de la Fuente’s youth sides.

Rodri, named the tournament’s best player with the Golden Ball, led the press with relentless running while distributing from deep. Pau Cubarsí, its Young Player winner, made line-breaking passes from defence and marshalled a high line that let Spain press through tight, compact spacing. At the other end there was little to do: where Emiliano Martínez made a final-record eleven saves for Argentina, Unai Simón’s role was reduced to sweeping behind a line that Argentina rarely breached. 

For Messi, in what was surely his last World Cup, it made for a quiet farewell. His team was not merely beaten so much as suffocated.

Somewhere between Ferran Torres’ extra-time winner and the trophy lift, 12 club badges got to claim a piece of history. Spain’s second World Cup title was stitched together by clubs, its academies and leagues spread across Europe, and the breakdown tells a story as interesting as the triumph itself.

LaLiga dominated the numbers, with 17 of the 26 players coming from the Spanish top division, a figure league president Javier Tebas was quick to hold up as proof of its strength. The Premier League supplied seven, while the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 contributed one each, reflecting how Spanish football has kept its biggest talents close to home even as the English top flight’s financial gravity pulls them elsewhere.

Barcelona led individual club representation with nine players, from Lamine Yamal and Pedri to Pau Cubarsi, underlining a squad heavily shaped by La Masia’s production line. Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, and Arsenal each sent three players. Mikel Merino, coming fresh off a Premier League title with the Gunners, carried that winning momentum into the World Cup as he scored the game-clinching goals against Portugal and Belgium.

Perhaps the most striking detail, though, was who was missing. For the first time in Spain’s World Cup history, not a single Real Madrid player featured in the squad, a remarkable absence for the nation’s most successful club. Marc Cucurella’s move to Real from Chelsea, confirmed during the tournament, only added to the irony.

Football has a way of humbling even its grandest institutions, and Real’s absence is proof enough. Spain didn’t need its most decorated club to become the champion again; it just needed 26 players from a dozen different dressing rooms.

The FIFA’s World Cup has increasingly become a celebration not just of football but of football as entertainment.

So, on the eve of the final, the governing body transformed the Javits Center beside the Hudson into a fan park. Hundreds queued for hours and paid between USD 60 and 80 to watch Argentina skipper Lionel Messi, coach Lionel Scaloni, Emiliano Martinez, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente and captain Rodri share a stage with Novak Djokovic, Tom Brady and Kevin Durant, who swapped their sporting greatness for the role of celebrity interviewers.

Rio Ferdinand and comedian Kevin Hart played masters of ceremony, filling the gaps with jokes and banter to ensure that the crowd felt their tickets were worthwhile.

For FIFA — which has spent this tournament monetising almost every available minute from sponsored water breaks to introducing a 30-minute halftime for Sunday’s Super Bowl-style show — it was another reminder that the World Cup has become as much about the spectacle as it is about the sport.

Messi, who skipped the official FIFA press conference upstairs where Emiliano represented Argentina, answered questions from Brady and Djokovic. The loudest laughs came when Brady brought up the famous photograph of a 20-year-old Messi bathing an infant Lamine Yamal during a Barcelona charity photoshoot.

“Lamine is truly amazing,” Messi said. “I’ve followed him a lot because he plays for a club I love so much. He has a chance to achieve something historic. We’re going to try to make sure that it doesn’t happen this time. We’ll try to put on a good match, but I hope he and his team don’t put on a good one,” the 39-year-old added with a smile.

The most memorable moment, though, came after the microphones were switched off. Scaloni walked over to de la Fuente, his former coaching instructor, and embraced him warmly. Later, the Argentina coach laughed about the unusual setting. “I told Luis that I came because of him. I came to this event because Luis was there. I respect and admire him so much.” It was a fitting line for an afternoon that felt surreal.

Messi chatted with Brady, Djokovic and Durant downstairs while, two floors above, the accredited media — many of whom had travelled almost as extensively as the finalists themselves across this World Cup — were denied the opportunity to question the captain of an Argentina side standing one victory away from becoming only the third nation to successfully defend the crown.

Spain’s historic 2010 FIFA World Cup triumph was built on the brilliance of legendary midfielders Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

Sixteen years later, Spain is back in the summit clash of the quadrennial event. While the spotlight has rightly been on the team’s young stars — Rodri being an exception — Dani Olmo has gone about his business quietly.

Olmo has been the connecting thread between defence and attack for Luis de la Fuente’s side. Operating between the lines, he has seamlessly orchestrated Spain’s free-flowing attacks.

The 28-year-old’s smart movement drags defenders out of position and creates passing lanes for his teammates, while his relentless pressing perfectly reflects Spain’s identity. The Barcelona man has produced two assists in this edition, created 10 chances and has a 90% passing accuracy across seven matches.

The semifinal against France showcased how vital Olmo is to de la Fuente’s set-up.

He dragged both centre-backs, Maxence Lacroix and Dayot Upamecano, out of their area, creating the space for Pedro Porro to find the back of the net.

What sets Olmo apart is his selflessness. Rather than chasing individual moments of glory, he consistently makes the right decisions in the middle of the pitch — he initiates Spain’s high press, keeps the ball rolling, tracks back to recover possession and makes off-the-ball runs that allow those around him to flourish.

His influence is measured not by numbers but in the way he elevates the team.

If Spain goes on to lift the coveted title, Olmo deserves to be remembered not simply as another member of the squad but as the unsung hero whose intelligence helped power La Roja to football’s ultimate prize.

Spain’s historic 2010 FIFA World Cup triumph was built on the brilliance of legendary midfielders Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

Sixteen years later, Spain is back in the summit clash of the quadrennial event. While the spotlight has rightly been on the team’s young stars — Rodri being an exception — Dani Olmo has gone about his business quietly.

Olmo has been the connecting thread between defence and attack for Luis de la Fuente’s side. Operating between the lines, he has seamlessly orchestrated Spain’s free-flowing attacks.

The 28-year-old’s smart movement drags defenders out of position and creates passing lanes for his teammates, while his relentless pressing perfectly reflects Spain’s identity. The Barcelona man has produced two assists in this edition, created 10 chances and has a 90% passing accuracy across seven matches.

The semifinal against France showcased how vital Olmo is to de la Fuente’s set-up.

He dragged both centre-backs, Maxence Lacroix and Dayot Upamecano, out of their area, creating the space for Pedro Porro to find the back of the net.

What sets Olmo apart is his selflessness. Rather than chasing individual moments of glory, he consistently makes the right decisions in the middle of the pitch — he initiates Spain’s high press, keeps the ball rolling, tracks back to recover possession and makes off-the-ball runs that allow those around him to flourish.

His influence is measured not by numbers but in the way he elevates the team.

If Spain goes on to lift the coveted title, Olmo deserves to be remembered not simply as another member of the squad but as the unsung hero whose intelligence helped power La Roja to football’s ultimate prize.

Ask Unai Simon about his World Cup and he’ll tell you it’s been easy and that the shots simply haven’t come, that his defence has done the work. Ask Kylian Mbappe, sprinting clear with the ball at his feet and the Spanish ’keeper somehow already there to deny him, and you’ll get a very different answer.

Simon’s tournament has been defined by one number: 650. That’s how many consecutive minutes he went without conceding a goal across this World Cup and the last before letting in a header from Belgium’s Charles De Ketelaere in the quarterfinal on July 11. This fantastic feat put to shade Italy’s Walter Zenga’s record of 517 set in 1990.

The run was not just a statistical quirk; it was a competitive advantage. Spain could attack with more freedom knowing the last line was secure, while opponents were forced to press harder, take more risks, and still find almost nothing to show for it. He downplayed it himself afterwards, insisting the low shot counts meant Spain’s back line deserved the credit.

Downplaying is easy in hindsight. It’s harder to explain the split-second decision that stood between France and an equaliser. Spain needed him for one sequence: sprinting off his line to beat the charging French captain to a loose ball, only to find himself stranded as it fell to Desire Doue with the goal wide open behind him before somehow scrambling back into position to smother the shot.

Ninety percent-plus save rate, one goal conceded in seven matches and a record that took 36 years to fall. Simon stood between Spain and danger and rarely let danger win.

Ask Unai Simon about his World Cup and he’ll tell you it’s been easy and that the shots simply haven’t come, that his defence has done the work. Ask Kylian Mbappe, sprinting clear with the ball at his feet and the Spanish ’keeper somehow already there to deny him, and you’ll get a very different answer.

Simon’s tournament has been defined by one number: 519. That’s how many consecutive minutes he went without conceding a goal across this World Cup and the last before letting in a header from Belgium’s Charles De Ketelaere in the quarterfinal on July 11. This fantastic feat put to shade Italy’s Walter Zenga’s record of 517 set in 1990.

The run was not just a statistical quirk; it was a competitive advantage. Spain could attack with more freedom knowing the last line was secure, while opponents were forced to press harder, take more risks, and still find almost nothing to show for it. He downplayed it himself afterwards, insisting the low shot counts meant Spain’s back line deserved the credit.

Downplaying is easy in hindsight. It’s harder to explain the split-second decision that stood between France and an equaliser. Spain needed him for one sequence: sprinting off his line to beat the charging French captain to a loose ball, only to find himself stranded as it fell to Desire Doue with the goal wide open behind him before somehow scrambling back into position to smother the shot.

Ninety percent-plus save rate, one goal conceded in seven matches and a record that took 36 years to fall. Simon stood between Spain and danger and rarely let danger win.