Ferran Torres spent most of this World Cup as a punchline. On Sunday night, in the second period of extra time against Argentina, he became a World Cup champion instead.
Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the 2026 World Cup final, with Torres scoring the winning goal in the 106th minute. The victory gave Spain its second World Cup title and closed out a tournament that had, for long stretches, been unkind to the 26-year-old forward.
The goal itself came from a well-worked move. Pedro Porro lifted a cross to the back post, and Nico Williams rose above Nahuel Molina to win the header. Emiliano Martinez had already committed to that header and was left stranded. Williams nodded the ball back into the box, and Torres finished from close range, sending Spain’s bench sprinting toward the corner flag.
“I just saw the ball coming to me and I just shot with the power of all the Spanish people,” Torres said. The quote was reported by Yahoo Sports.
A tournament that turned on him early
Torres had gone six goals in 20 matches for club and country since the start of 2026, a barren run by his own standards. That form followed him into the World Cup, where he started Spain’s opener against Cape Verde in place of the injured Lamine Yamal. He came away without a goal.
A disallowed effort against Saudi Arabia in the group stage added to the frustration. Video footage circulating during the tournament showed Torres visibly emotional as the video assistant referee reviewed the goal, before the flag for offside stood.
He kept starting in place of five-goal top scorer Mikel Oyarzabal, and he kept coming up without a finish. The one exception was an assist to substitute Mikel Merino in the round of 16 win over Portugal.
Delivering when Spain needed it most
Argentina made Spain work for every inch of the final. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez finished the match with 11 saves. That is a men’s World Cup final record, breaking the previous mark of eight set in the 1994 final between Brazil and Italy. Yahoo Sports first reported the mark.
Torres had already been denied once in extra time, heading a Yamal cross straight into Martinez’s grasp from the edge of the box. Two minutes into the second period of extra time, the opening arrived and he did not miss it.
Lamine Yamal, just 19 years old and playing through the effects of a pre-tournament injury, was central to the build-up play throughout the final. He became the third-youngest player to feature in a men’s World Cup final, behind only Pele and Giuseppe Bergomi, according to Al Jazeera.
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has coached much of this core group since their under-19 and under-21 days. His faith in Torres never wavered publicly, even as criticism mounted, and that trust paid off in the biggest moment of the tournament.
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Final score | Spain 1-0 Argentina |
| Winning goal | Ferran Torres, 106th minute (extra time) |
| Spain manager | Luis de la Fuente |
| Argentina manager | Lionel Scaloni |
| Martinez saves | 11 (World Cup final record) |
A respectful nod to Messi
Argentina’s run through the tournament was built partly around Lionel Messi, and it ended in extra time heartbreak. Martinez’s record-setting performance in goal was not enough to overcome a Spain side that controlled long spells of the match.
Messi, now 39, played his sixth World Cup, a span that stretches back to his debut tournament in 2006. He already had his signature moment, lifting the trophy in 2022 and becoming the first player to win the World Cup Golden Ball twice.
He has not said whether the 2026 final was his last World Cup appearance, and Argentina’s federation has made no announcement either way. What is certain is the level he played at throughout the tournament. He was still directing Argentina’s attack with the vision that has defined two decades on the sport’s biggest stage.
Whatever comes next for him, his 2026 final performance added another chapter to a World Cup career few players will ever match.
For Torres, the goal capped a personal turnaround that had played out publicly and painfully across social media for weeks. He had leaned on a tattoo on his ankle, an anchor paired with the words “I refuse to sink,” through the roughest stretch of criticism.
“A huge relief,” Torres said of the moment, crediting his faith and persistence through the tournament’s toughest weeks.
Spain’s second World Cup title arrives 16 years after their first, in 2010. It completes a golden run for a generation de la Fuente has developed from the youth ranks up. For Torres, it settles a personal score no scoreline alone could capture.
