Key events

2h agoWorld Cup Daily
2h agoDe la Fuente on the victory
3h agoPreamble

It was, of course, an absolute nonsense; anyone who cares about a half-time show at a World Cup final has no business being there. I can’t, though, deny cracking a smile when Madonna appeared flanked by Ronaldo and Ronaldinho; I’m not sure what that says about me.

To change tack for a moment, he may not have played any soccer, but I’d be surprised if any England player had a Letterboxd top four as eclectic and considered as Kobbie Mainoo. I especially respect his pick of The Prestige, all the more so as conjuring a route out of impossible situations with sorcery, sleight and misdirection is exactly what he does on the pitch – and exactly what his team needed more of, though their manager didn’t know it.

Oh man, these are sensational.

Are you ready for some eyebeall sweating? In the early 90s, Nico Williams’ parents, Maria and Felix, left Ghana and crossed the Sahara barefoot in search of different opportunities – and Maria was pregnant with Iñaki at the time. Now, her younger son is a world champion, so what did he do with his medal?

Another meriting rhapsodising is Pedro Porro, who has worn all sorts of aggravation at Spurs to mature into a fine all-round right-back, physical, technical, positionally disciplined, useful in the tackle, an over and underlapping threat, and a calm finisher. I’m expecting big things from him next season, given Spurs have a high-level manager to whom they’ve provided transfer funds.

To return to the Spanish defence, though, Pau Cubarsi – what a player. I wonder whether, at some point, his relative lack of physicality costs him, but his nous, composure and ability on the ball are exceptional. Generally speaking, centre-backs break through later than players in any other position, so for him to be starting for champion sides, Barcelona and Spain, at 19 having debuted at 16, is extraordinary.

Here’s David Hytner’s match report…

“One goal conceded was it?” asks Gary Naylor. “The best defences tend to win trophies.”

Previous Spain trophy-winners had great defensive records too, but those, I’d argue, were the consequence of the greatest midfield ever – Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta – with Xabi Alonso added to it and sometimes Cesc Fàbregas as well – denying the opposition possession, especially in dangerous areas. And of course that’s still the principal aim, it’s just that the players aren’t quite as good in this era; the defensive record is as it is as much because Porro-Cubarsi-Laporte-Cucurella is a terrific back four in its own right.

Tell you what, bet there’s some regret among that England squad having watched that final. A tiny soupçon of courage – which sounds like a oxymoron but in this case is not, so minute is the amount about which we’re talking – was all it took to stop them losing to a side they ought really to have beaten with something to spare, and they were incapable of finding it. The players will, I imagine, be feeling extremely poorly with it and rightly so – but is the manager still blaming them, or will he have gone under the duvet when the night got dark and accepted his role, first in creating the environment, then making the changes largely responsibly for the subsidence?

Ed Aarons was on player ratings…

Is there a number less than zero to describe Argentina’s collective effort?

And the match in pictures…

Let’s begin by reliving the great Rob Smyth’s MBM report…

Thanks Jo and, for the last time – sniff, snivel – greetings greetings one and all. “Dizguzting” – emphasis mine – is exactly the word I used to describe this abomination to my wife, with particular reference to Argentina spending the first 117 minutes of the final taking a grand total of zero shots at goal – far fewer than the cheap shots they took at the Spanish players. The trophy has gone to the correct place, so I guess we can sort of celebrate that – and, of course, a tournament which, though it phutted at the end, was a ridiculous amount of fun, love and joy. Please feel free to send in your analysis, reflections, best, worst and all of that. It’s over, but it’s in us.

World Cup Daily

I’ll leave you with the latest episode from the team at World Cup Daily. Daniel Harris will be here take you through the rest of the news from the final.

And “it was a disgusting final,” according to Jonathan Wilson.

I think it would have been hilarious if Argentina had equalised and then won it on penalties.

I think Argentina’s performance today was a consequence of the indulgence they’ve been shown throughout the tournament.

As Nick Ames writes, after a “tournament that has wrenched, tweaked and torn at the sport’s very fabric, the football itself appeared to be a sideshow for much of the afternoon”.

It concluded with a disorientating fever dream beneath a bright blue American sky … Through it all Infantino and Trump sat abreast, absorbing the spectacle behind reinforced glass.

Back to the action on the field, or rather slightly adjacent to it. A lacklustre “closing ceremony” in which Tom Cruise was drowned out by the crowd got proceedings under way in New Jersey. A half-time show no one asked for filled the gap in the middle that didn’t need to be plugged. And finally, having kept his physical distance all tournament, US president Donald Trump tried to steal the show just as the curtain was falling.

“I think I heard a match commentator say that the last team that beat Spain was Scotland. Does that mean Scotland have won the World Cup?!” asks Peter Oh.

I don’t think that’s how it (unofficially) works sadly. The Knowledge took a look at the old winner-stays-on format earlier in the tournament, when Australia were unofficial world champions. But then the USA beat Australia, and then Turkey beat the USA … so I think it’s Turkey. But I could definitely be wrong.

What happened to Argentina’s talismanic captain? Was that the last we will see of him on the World Cup stage? Quite possibly.

Pablo Iglesias Maurer puts it simply: The world’s greatest player will not see his legacy sullied by this defeat but his team’s display destroyed the game.

With their process and craft, Spain subdued “an Argentina team built on faith, devotional energy and a belief in the frankly irrational magic of your lone scurrying 39-year-old genius,” Barney Ronay writes.

Well, sometimes that magic will forsake you. The deus ex machina will refuse to appear. And he is perhaps gone from this stage now for good, a Prospero giving his final address to the crowd from a clanky metal bowl outside New York.

De la Fuente on the victory

Speaking after the match, Spain’s manager, who is a deeply religious person, said: “It was written, and we deserve it.”

This team and this wonderful fanbase deserve everything. We had a date with destiny and we wanted to make it count.

The players have asked me what we have left to win. Together we’ve figured out that it’s the next match in September [against England in the Nations League] because this team is tireless.

In their calm, Spain were still relentless, Sid Lowe says.

Again and again they had come, again and again they had been halted but they would not be denied. A dozen different players had taken aim at Emi Martínez’s goal but somehow he was still standing and time was slipping away, yet Spain refused to do so, so they came some more.

The post-match altercation was a sad reflection of Argentina’s foiled attempt to use their physicality against a very patient Spain. And that patience ultimately paid off, Jacob Steinberg writes, with Argentina just become more frustrated as Spain refused to take the bait.

The stats tell the story, too: Argentina’s xG was 0.00 until conceding forced a desperate late flurry. Even then, though, the threat increased only to 0.22.

As Spain began to celebrate their second World Cup victory, Leandro Paredes decided to continue his game after the final whistle, making sure the ending was as sour as it possibly could be. The Argentina player initiated a melee just seconds after the whistle blew when he charged at Eric García and pushed him in the neck. Paredes then threw Gavi to the ground, receiving a red card for his troubles.

David Hytner

It was the triumph of an idea, an identity. Of an unshakable and patient faith. And when it was over, Spain’s new generation having emulated the one from the 2010 World Cup, all of those legendary names, there was simply delirium for them.

Preamble

Jo Khan

It’s over. 104 matches later and Spain have been crowned world champions after defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time. In contrast to the goal-fest that was England’s third-place win over France, the final was a somewhat less exciting affair – and that’s with a closing ceremony and half-time show! (That’s another story, we’ll get to it.)

Luis de la Fuente’s side prodded and poked until the reigning champions could hold them back no longer and Ferran Torres slammed it into the net in the 106th minute. The Guardian had a veritable swarm of journalists at New York New Jersey Stadium to cover the final action on the pitch and off.

So, let’s get into it … there’s a lot of it!