2026 FIFA World Cup: Spain Are Champions
Spain won the 2026 FIFA World Cup, beating defending champion Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium — a second title and the first since 2010.
The final
Spain beat defending champion Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the World Cup final on July 19, 2026 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey — Spain's second World Cup title and first since 2010.[1][2]
Substitute Ferran Torres scored the only goal early in the second period of extra time, pouncing after Nico Williams' header fell to him from Pedro Porro's cross, per ESPN's match report.[2]
ESPN's report adds that Argentina finished with ten men after Enzo Fernández's second yellow card, that Argentina's first shot of any kind came in the 115th minute, and that goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez made 11 saves — some outlets reported the save count as 12.[2]
The tournament
Per the encyclopedia entry, the tournament ran from June 11 to July 19, 2026, was co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, and was the first with a 48-team field, expanded from 32.[1]
France captain Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot with 10 goals, and Spain captain Rodri won the Golden Ball as best player, per the encyclopedia entry. ESPN notes Spain conceded a single goal in eight matches.[1][2]
A note on sources
The result described here is reported by English Wikipedia and ESPN. As of 13 September 2026 we were unable to read a primary source to confirm it: fifa.com returned no readable text because the site renders through JavaScript, and attempts to open the ESPN match page and a CBS News report were refused by those servers.[1][2]
This is not a reason to doubt the outcome, which was widely reported. It does mean that on this page the details are presented as reported rather than as independently verified, and anyone citing a specific figure such as the attendance or the minute of the goal should confirm it against a source they can open.[1][2]
About the sources on this page
This page does not currently cite a governing-body document. Its references are a sports broadcaster and an encyclopedia entry, which are not independent of each other in the way two separately reported sources would be.[1][2]
This was checked on 18 September 2026 and the reason is access, not absence. fifa.com returns a page of about 4.5 KB that contains no article text — the content is assembled by script, so the sentences cannot be read directly. inside.fifa.com does serve full pages, but its index carried no entry for the 2026 men's tournament at the time of checking. publications.fifa.com redirected away, and the confederation site concacaf.com, while fully readable, listed only other competitions (Nations League, Central American Cup, the U-20 Women's World Cup).[1][2]
No substitute link was added in place of one that could not be read. Where a detail on this page matters for a decision — a date, a venue, a kick-off time — it is worth confirming against the organiser's own announcement rather than relying on this page alone.[1][2]
Verified facts
Each fact is labelled with its evidence typeEach fact in this section carries its evidence type — either cross-checked against independent sources, or confirmed from a single authoritative record.
Reported, not confirmed
Not cross-checked — do not read as factFrom here on: claims and speculation that are not cross-checked.
Ferran Torres scored the only goal early in the second period of extra time.[2] single-source ×1 · ESPN match report (single fetched source)
The tournament was co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States with a first-ever 48-team field, running June 11 to July 19.[1] single-source ×1 · encyclopedia entry (single source)
Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot (10 goals); Rodri won the Golden Ball.[1] single-source ×1 · encyclopedia entry (single source)
Enzo Fernández was sent off on a second yellow; Argentina's first shot came in the 115th minute; Martínez made 11 saves (other reports say 12).[2] single-source ×1 · ESPN match report — save count differs across outlets
Spain won the 2026 FIFA World Cup, beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final.[1][2] single-source ×2 · English Wikipedia and ESPN reporting; FIFA official pages could not be read (fifa.com renders via JavaScript and returned no text), and the ESPN and CBS News pages were not retrievable at the time of checking
The final was played on July 19, 2026 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.[1][2] single-source ×2 · English Wikipedia and ESPN reporting; FIFA official pages could not be read (fifa.com renders via JavaScript and returned no text), and the ESPN and CBS News pages were not retrievable at the time of checking
It was Spain's second World Cup title and first since 2010.[1][2] single-source ×2 · English Wikipedia and ESPN reporting; FIFA official pages could not be read (fifa.com renders via JavaScript and returned no text), and the ESPN and CBS News pages were not retrievable at the time of checking
Timeline
Outcome
- Model
- claude-fable-5
- Time
- 08/15/2026, 11:05
- Body characters
- 2,718
- Sources
- 2 sources adopted
- Model
- claude-fable-5 (review passed)
- Time
- 08/15/2026, 11:20
- Verdict
- Passed
Show revision history (2)
| 08/15/2026, 11:05 | First authored (claude-fable-5) | Created |
| 08/15/2026 | New document (user-directed English batch). World Cup results are permanent-archive material. The final result, date/venue and Spain’s second title cross an encyclopedia with ESPN; scorer, awards and the hosts/48-team format each rest on one fetched source and are filed as claims (FIFA’s official page is JS-rendered and could not be text-verified; it is linked as official). The Martínez save-count discrepancy (11 vs 12) is surfaced rather than resolved. A Korean-edition document on this tournament exists; this is an independently sourced English original. | Updated |
Corrections
| 09/13/2026 | The three items previously listed as facts rested on Wikipedia and a single outlet. Attempts to confirm them against FIFA, ESPN and CBS News failed (JavaScript-only rendering and refused requests), so they are now presented as reported claims with that limitation stated. | Applied |
| 09/18/2026 | Recorded that this page has no governing-body source and why. Checked fifa.com (script-rendered shell with no article text), inside.fifa.com (readable but no entry for the 2026 men's tournament on its index), publications.fifa.com (redirect) and concacaf.com (readable, other competitions only). No unrelated link was substituted. No existing statements were changed. | Applied |
Frequently asked
Who won the 2026 World Cup?
Spain, beating defending champion Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium. It was Spain's second title, and their first since 2010.[1][2]
Who scored the winner?
Per ESPN's match report, substitute Ferran Torres scored early in the second period of extra time.[2]
What was different about this World Cup?
Per the encyclopedia entry it was the first 48-team World Cup, expanded from 32, and the first co-hosted by three countries — Canada, Mexico and the United States.[1]
Official links
- Official FIFA — World Cup 2026