This time, suffering until the end would not be the same as in previous matches. In a match that was widely dominated, Argentina lost 1-0 in extra time to Spain and fell short of the back-to-back championship.
The match would start with prolonged stretches of possession from both teams, although a bit more on the side of the Spaniards. In this context, the first clear chance would come for their side, with a shot from Lamine Yamal in the area at 4 saved by Dibu Martínez.
From this play, the match would enter a tense calm, marked by a greater presence of the Europeans and not showing any promising situations until the 38th minute, with a shot from outside the area by Mikel Oyarzabal easily handled by the Argentine goalkeeper. Shortly after, Luis de la Fuente's team would try again with a long-range shot from Marc Cucurella, which would go wide.
At the end of the first half, Lionel Scaloni would receive bad news on defense: Lisandro Martínez would get injured in a challenge with Oyarzabal and had to leave. In his place, Nicolás Otamendi would come on.
In the second half, the team would start very imprecisely. At 46, Alex Baena would intercept a weak pass from the recently substituted Leandro Paredes and would try for goal, but his attempt would be saved by Dibu.
Unlike the first 45 minutes, the Iberians would create much more danger and put the Argentine defense and goalkeeper under pressure several times. Proof of this would come at 62 with a left-footed shot from Dani Olmo deflected to a corner by Dibu and later with a header from substitute Ferran Torres that would go straight into the goalkeeper's hands.
When it seemed that Argentina was recovering a bit after the second cooling break, their rival continued to monopolize the dangerous actions. Among them would be a shot from substitute Pedri, another from Pau Cubarsí, and a header from Aymeric Laporte, all saved by the Mar del Plata goalkeeper.
At the end of the 90, in addition to continuing to add saves from Dibu, the Albiceleste would receive another hard blow: a red card. At 92, Enzo Fernández would receive his second yellow for a foul on Cubarsí and would see red. Beyond this, and despite a dangerous free kick from Yamal, once again brilliantly saved by the Aston Villa goalkeeper, the final would go to extra time.
In the first extra time, the pattern would be similar: Spain with the ball and chances, and Dibu Martínez being a hero, for example with a spectacular last-minute save from a header by substitute Nico Williams at 92. In that sense, the Spaniards would achieve the long-awaited 1-0 thanks to Williams himself, but it would be disallowed for a prior foul by the also-substituted Mikel Merino on Otamendi.
Although the Europeans would continue to push for the goal, the Argentine defense, Dibu's saves, and general fatigue would keep the score at 0, however, the story would change as soon as the second extra time began. At 105, Nico Williams would collect a cross from Pedro Porro and set it up for Torres, who would blast the ball into the Argentine net to score, now indeed, the deserved 1-0.
And it wouldn’t end there, as shortly after the second would come, again from Torres, however, this would not be validated due to a millimeter offside from the same No. 7.
With the score against them, Lionel Scaloni's team would try to go for the epic, pushing their lines forward and pressing higher, creating some dangerous plays, but it would not be enough to change the score.
Thus, Spain was crowned world champion for the second time in its history after its title in South Africa 2010. For its part, this defeat in its seventh World Cup final meant the fourth silver medal for Argentina (the previous ones had been in 1930 with Uruguay and 1990 and 2014 with Germany).
