Spain v Argentina: Can Anyone Stop La Roja’s Unbeaten Run?

This is the one. Thirty-seven games unbeaten, a French side taken apart 2-0 in the semi, and Luis de la Fuente’s Spain arrive as deserved favourites for a World Cup final that’s shaping up to be an all-timer. Standing in their way: Lionel Messi, one game from a second World Cup in four years, and an Argentina side that has made a habit of leaving things stupidly late — comebacks against Cape Verde and Egypt, an extra-time winner over Switzerland, and two goals in the last ten minutes to knock out England. Nobody in this Argentina squad knows how to make it easy.

The Road to MetLife

Spain have been the standout side of the tournament and it isn’t close. The 2-0 semi-final win over France wasn’t just a result, it was a statement — France had scored 16 and shipped 2 all tournament, and Spain shut them out without so much as breaking sweat. That’s a 37-match unbeaten run now on the line, and if this Spain side lifts it in New Jersey, we’re talking about one of the great international teams of the modern era.

Argentina’s route has been messier and more theatrical. Nineteen goals scored, seven conceded, and a habit of finding late goals when it matters most — the 2-1 turnaround against England in the semi being the latest example. This is a team that thrives on chaos, and Messi at the heart of it all, chasing a script that writes itself if he gets his hands on the trophy one more time.

Messi’s Last Dance

Whatever happens Sunday, this is almost certainly Lionel Messi’s final World Cup appearance. Back-to-back titles would put him in a bracket occupied by almost nobody in the game’s history, and there’s a sense that Argentina have been riding that narrative all tournament — conceding freely, but finding a way, again and again, when it counts. Spain, by contrast, look like a team with no reliance on any one individual, which is exactly why the bookmakers have installed them as favourites.

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