The Spanish national team entered the 2026 World Cup final with the goal of raising the world cup for the second time after winning the championship in 2010. Coach Luis de la Fuente's team is in very impressive form with a 6-game winning streak after a draw with Cape Verde in the opening match.
La Roja" successively overcame Belgium in the quarterfinals and defeated France 2-0 in the semi-finals to win a ticket to the final match. The defense is Spain's biggest strength when they only conceded 1 goal from the beginning of the tournament and kept a clean sheet for 6 matches - the best achievement in World Cup history.
In the final, De la Fuente is likely not to change the squad that defeated the French team. Lamine Yamal is still the biggest hope in attack after recovering from a minor problem on his left foot, while Rodri continues to play the role of regulating play in midfield.
On the other side, Argentina is facing the opportunity to successfully defend their World Cup title after overcoming England in the semi-finals. Coach Lionel Scaloni's team has scored 19 goals since the beginning of the tournament - the best achievement in the tournament.
The reigning world champion successively overcame Australia, Colombia and England in the knockout round to advance to the seventh final in history. Although the defense is not really solid when only keeping a clean sheet in 2 matches, Argentina always knows how to make a difference thanks to the strength of the attack.
In the match against Spain, Scaloni is likely to make some personnel adjustments to increase the balance between attack and defense. Cristian Romero and Leandro Paredes have both fully recovered to be ready to start.
In attack, Lionel Messi will definitely continue to be in the starting lineup. The 39-year-old superstar has scored 8 goals and had 4 assists at the 2026 World Cup, being the leader helping Argentina get closer to the goal of defending the throne.
Besides Messi, Julian Alvarez is expected to continue to play in attack, while Enzo Fernandez, Rodrigo De Paul and Alexis Mac Allister create a quality framework in the midfield.
Expected lineup:
Spain: Unai Simon, Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsi, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Cucurella, Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Alex Baena, Mikel Oyarzabal.
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez, Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico, Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez.
