Ferran Torres scored a dramatic extra-time winner as Spain defeated holders Argentina 1-0 to win the World Cup on Sunday and shatter Lionel Messi's dreams of a triumphant farewell to football's greatest stage.
Barcelona striker Torres lashed home a thumping finish in the 106th minute to reward a dominant display by Spain against an Argentina team who failed to register a single shot on target in 120 minutes.
Lionel Messi has quite a climb to catch Kylian Mbappé for the Golden Boot.
The Argentina superstar has won just about everything in soccer except for the award for being the leading scorer at the World Cup, and he’s now two behind Mbappé after the France striker upped his total to 10 goals in a wild third-place game.
Even if Messi can’t get there, a record-extending third Golden Ball as the tournament's best player seems well in reach after Sunday's World Cup final against Spain in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
He’s already the only player to win the award multiple times since it was first given in 1978, and sparking Argentina's run to a second straight final at age 39 gives him a strong case for another.
“He is the history. He is the legend,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said.
Lionel Messi will become the oldest outfield player to appear in a World Cup final on Sunday as Spain's Lamine Yamal seeks to join an elite group of teenage winners.
The match at the MetLife Stadium will be the first meeting between Argentina's Messi and the player who has succeeded him as Barcelona's new homegrown idol.
The only player to appear in a final at an older age than Messi is Dino Zoff, the Italy goalkeeper who was 40 in 1982.
Yamal, in sharp contrast, only turned 19 last Monday, the day before Spain beat France 2-0 in their semi-final.
Everything has happened at warp speed for Yamal, who made his Barcelona debut at the tender age of 15.
Yamal was the runner-up to Ousmane Dembele in last year's Ballon d'Or and now has the opportunity to join the select group of players to have won the World Cup as a teenager.
"He is a global icon at the age of 19 and has the chance to do something historic, although we will be doing everything to stop him," said Messi on Friday.
US President Donald Trump arrived on Sunday for the World Cup final at the MetLife Stadium near New York where Argentina will take on Spain at the climax of the 48-team tournament.
Trump's helicopter set down next to the stadium as long lines of spectators waited to enter the venue through enhanced security checks.
This is how good Spain was at the World Cup: Not even Lionel Messi had any answers.
And when it was over, Spain walked off with the trophy. Messi simply walked off in tears.
Spain is back atop the soccer world for a second time, after Ferran Torres’ first goal of this year's World Cup — unquestionably the goal of his life — gave his country a 1-0 win over now-dethroned champion Argentina in the final on Sunday.
“It was a goal scored by 47 million people,” Torres said, referring to Spain’s population.
Maybe not by them — but certainly for them.
The goal came with Argentina down to 10 men after Enzo Fernandez was sent off late in regulation following a reckless tackle. Tempers flared then, and flared again after the final whistle with Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni and players from both sides engaging in what appeared to be some pushing and shoving.
In the end, Spain denied Messi a second straight title in what he has indicated was his final World Cup match. Torres, a second-half substitute, pounced on a bouncing ball in the box and used his left foot to bury a shot just under the crossbar in the 106th minute.