Public viewing at Glacis Square;
Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu
On Sunday 19 July 2026, Spain were crowned FIFA World Cup 2026 champions after defeating defending champions Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final at New York/New Jersey Stadium.
Chronicle.lu has prepared an overview of the World Cup final and third-place play-off, which concluded the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. While Spain ended Argentina's reign as world champions, France and England produced the highest-scoring match of the competition in the third-place play-off. France's Kylian Mbappé also finished the tournament as its leading goalscorer, earning the FIFA Golden Boot after another prolific display.
Spain End Argentina's Reign After Extra-Time Drama
Spain dominated much of the FIFA World Cup final against Argentina, controlling possession and creating the overwhelming majority of the scoring opportunities throughout the match. The South Americans attempted to disrupt La Roja's rhythm with a physical approach, repeatedly resorting to robust challenges as they struggled to contain Luis de la Fuente's team. Chronicle.lu witnessed the final during the public viewing at Glacis Square in Luxembourg City, where around 2,000 spectators, the vast majority supporting Spain, gathered to watch the tournament's showpiece.
Spain finished the match with 60% possession and a remarkable 20 attempts at goal, twelve of them on target, while Argentina failed to register a single effort on target and managed only two shots throughout the 120 minutes. Despite Spain's dominance, Argentina's disciplined defending kept the match scoreless throughout normal time.
Argentina's task became even more difficult three minutes into stoppage time when midfielder Enzo Fernández was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge, forcing the South Americans to play the entirety of extra time with ten men.
Spain finally found the breakthrough in the 106th minute. Pedro Porro delivered a cross towards the far post, where Nico Williams headed the ball back into the centre of the penalty area. Ferran Torres met the knockdown from around ten metres and fired a powerful first-time effort under the crossbar to give La Roja the lead.
Argentina were unable to respond, as Spain controlled the remainder of extra time to secure a 1-0 victory and lift the FIFA World Cup trophy for the second time in their history.
Spain also finished the tournament with one of the most impressive defensive records in FIFA World Cup history. Goalkeeper Unai Simón was named the recipient of the adidas Golden Glove after keeping seven clean sheets and conceding just one goal throughout the tournament, which came in Spain's 2-1 quarter-final victory over Belgium.
His seven clean sheets set a new FIFA World Cup record, surpassing the previous mark of five jointly held by Jan Jongbloed (Netherlands, 1974), Walter Zenga (Italy, 1990), Cláudio Taffarel (Brazil, 1994), Fabien Barthez (France, 1998), Oliver Kahn (Germany, 2002), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, 2006) and fellow Spaniard Iker Casillas (2010).
Spain's victory also extended the nation's unbeaten run to 38 consecutive international matches between 2024 and 2026, setting the longest active unbeaten streak in men's international football. Combined with their FIFA World Cup triumph, the run underlined La Roja's dominance on the international stage.
England Edge Ten-Goal Thriller to Claim Third Place
England defeated France 6-4 in the third-place play-off at Miami Stadium, producing the highest-scoring match of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa gave the Three Lions an early advantage before Bukayo Saka completed a hat-trick, including a late penalty, and Jude Bellingham added a sixth deep into stoppage time.
France responded after the interval through Bradley Barcola, two goals from Kylian Mbappé and a late Ousmane Dembélé strike, but were unable to complete the comeback. The result saw both France and England finish the tournament with 20 goals, the joint-highest total among all participating teams.
Mbappé's brace took his tally to ten goals at the FIFA World Cup 2026, earning the France captain the adidas Golden Boot as the tournament's leading scorer.
