Spain finally broke the dogged resistance of 10-man Argentina in extra time to win the men’s World Cup for the second time as a drab final ended in a dramatic fashion.
The Barcelona winger Ferran Torres scored the only goal of a disjointed game in the 106th minute, with Argentina’s cynical approach summed up by a mass confrontation sparked by Leandro Paredes pushing Gavi and Eric García to the ground after the final whistle, which led to the Boca Juniors midfielder following Enzo Fernández in being shown a red card.
The Chelsea midfielder had been sent off for a second yellow card just before the end of the initial 90 minutes, which left Argentina facing an even more difficult task in hanging on against superior opponents in extra time.
Donald Trump was booed when he walked out for the trophy presentation alongside Gianni Infantino, and appeared reluctant to move away from the players’ celebrations after both men handed the trophy to Spain’s captain, Rodri.
In another indication of the way Infantino is positioning Fifa, the trophies for individual awards such as the player of the tournament won by Rodri were handed over by Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund who is also the chair of Newcastle United.
Lionel Messi was applauded by the entire stadium as he collected his runners-up medal in floods of tears, but Argentina’s squad then turned their backs to face their own fans behind the goal as Spain’s players received their medals, an act of petulance that encapsulated their approach.
