The perfect offense. The perfect protection.
The World Cup ultimate is ready, and fittingly, a conflict of kinds awaits. Lionel Messi — essentially the most prolific aim scorer within the event’s historical past — and defending champion Argentina will tackle Spain’s defensive juggernaut on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Spain beat France in a single semifinal on Tuesday; Argentina, the comeback king of this event, rallied to beat England 2-1 within the different semifinal on Wednesday.
Argentina is looking for its fourth title and is seeking to change into the primary back-to-back World Cup champion since Brazil pulled off the feat in 1958 and 1962. Spain is on the lookout for its second title, after successful in 2010.
Argentina leads the event in targets scored — 19.
Spain leads the event in fewest targets allowed — one.
One thing must give on Sunday, when the most important World Cup ever — a 48-team, 104-match extravaganza unfold out over the U.S., Canada and Mexico — involves an finish.
It is not Finalissima. It should be higher.
South American champion Argentina and European champion Spain have been supposed to satisfy in Doha, Qatar, in late March in Finalissima, a showdown between the groups led by Messi and Lamine Yamal in a prequel of the World Cup.
That recreation by no means occurred. Safety grew to become a difficulty due to unrest within the Center East, with Iran intensifying its assaults on neighboring international locations at the moment in retaliation to the aerial assaults by United States and Israel in a conflict that’s nonetheless ongoing. The sport was referred to as off.
So, as an alternative of enjoying at Lusail Stadium, the positioning of the epic 2022 World Cup ultimate the place Messi and Argentina gained on penalty kicks over France and Kylian Mbappé, they’re going to play simply exterior of New York in soccer’s largest recreation.
It will be a showdown of soccer’s current versus soccer’s future, to not point out a showdown of the groups that held the highest two spots in FIFA’s world rankings getting into the World Cup — Argentina at No. 1, Spain at No. 2.
There was a well-known picture taken in 2007 when Messi was a part of a UNICEF program and posed with a child.
Yamal was that child. Like Messi (who now performs for Inter Miami), Yamal would change into a left-footed star for Spanish membership Barcelona. It’s the most unbelievable of tales: From a photograph collectively 20 years in the past, the 2 stars are set to be collectively once more to finish this yr’s World Cup.
An image-perfect end.
— File: Six wins, one draw, zero losses.
— Targets for: 13.
— Targets towards: 1.
— Group stage: drew with Cape Verde 0-0, beat Saudi Arabia 4-0, beat Uruguay 1-0.
— Knockout stage: beat Austria 3-0, beat Portugal 1-0, beat Belgium 2-1, beat France 2-0.
File: Seven wins, zero attracts, zero losses.
Targets for: 19.
Targets towards: 7.
Group stage: beat Algeria 3-0, beat Austria 2-0, beat Jordan 3-1.
Knockout stage: beat Cape Verde 3-2, beat Egypt 3-2, beat Switzerland 3-1, beat England 2-1.
Each groups enter the ultimate with spectacular unbeaten streaks.
— Spain is carrying a 37-match unbeaten streak throughout all competitions and friendlies into the ultimate, having gained 28 of these matches with 9 attracts. Its final loss was 1-0 to Colombia in March 2024.
— Argentina is unbeaten in its final 13 World Cup matches, with 11 victories and two attracts since falling to Saudi Arabia to open group play on the 2022 event.
Spain (+120) has been put in because the early favourite over Argentina (+275). Odds for a draw have been rapidly set at +200, and it is affordable to suppose all these numbers may change significantly earlier than the title matchup.
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