Until now, Spain and Argentina were essentially business partners in professional soccer, not fierce rivals.
For decades, the South American nation provided a strong recruiting pipeline for players and managers to top European clubs.
The late, great Diego Maradona rose to greatness in Barcelona, as did Lionel Messi three decades later. Both strikers led their nations past England to get to the World Cup finals.
Seven players on Argentina’s roster currently play for top-tier teams in Spain, and some others had in the past before transferring to other leagues.
Argentina’s prior World Cup team, which won the title in 2022, boasted nine players in La Liga.
Argentina also won the World Cup in 1986 and 1978.
Spain won its first and only World Cup in 2010, two years after winning the Euros (tournament of European nations).
Spain won the Euros again in 2024, setting itself up to hopefully repeat a history of its own as Argentina seeks to become the first team since Brazil (1958 and 1962) to win two consecutive World Cups.
While Argentina has more global titles, Spain has outperformed the rest of the world at the club level.
The UEFA Champions League, a season-long annual tournament that features only the top professional teams in Europe and usually the best South American players, is considered the highest-level soccer in the World. Spanish teams have won it 20 times, more than any other nation, including 11 since 2000.
Players on both teams in this World Cup final, not just Messi, have won Champions League titles, including Spanish captain Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante, also known as Rodri.
Argentina could be favored because of Messi alone.
He now leads the Golden Boot award race, something he’s never won before, with eight goals and four assists. He scored the tying goal against Egypt in the round of 16, but the X factor has been his passing in close games. He notched a key assist against Switzerland in the quarterfinals and, in the semi-finals, provided the cross for the game winner against England in the 92nd minute.
“When the best player in the world plays for the best team in the world, there’s not a lot the rest of the world can do,” legendary Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said of Messi and Barcelona in 2012, as written in “Inverting the Pyramid” by Jonathan Wilson.
Other than its goalkeeper, Unai Simón, who has only conceded one goal in seven games, Spain doesn’t have a definitive star player with the accolades of Messi.
Forward Mikel Oyarzabal leads the team in scoring with five goals, and he netted the winning goal against England in the 2024 Euros final. Super substitute Mikel Merino, who plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League, scored game-winning goals in two knockout-round games despite playing limited minutes.
Nineteen-year-old forward Lamine Yamal might be the most popular young player in the world because of his accomplishments with Barcelona this year, but in this tournament, he has yet to score a goal and instead served as a creative playmaker, drawing away defenders to open up space for teammates, making smart passes, and drawing fouls in the offensive third.
Spain’s coach has repeatedly commended his players for their talent, their positive, unselfish play, and their commitment to the collective instead of personal glory.
“If you have all of that, you get a competitive, fantastic team that fights to the very end,” he said at the post-game press conference after Spain defeated Portugal 1–0 on July 6.
While Spain is touted for stellar defense in this World Cup, the two sides employ similar offensive tactics that are common in La Liga: More short-passing possession instead of long balls, taking chances with nine or 10 players in the final third at times instead of hanging back on defense, and a mixed attack that doesn’t rely on supplying balls to a striker in front of goal.
Argentina Coach Lionel Scaloni, who played for three different La Liga teams between 1997 and 2009, called Spain a fantastic team and coach Luis de la Fuente a mentor and a friend.
“On Sunday, I’m very, very sorry, but I’m going to try to beat him,” Scaloni said during a post-game press conference.
In addition to the Golden Boot award, several players on both teams are in the conversation for the Golden Ball award, given to the tournament’s best player regardless of goals.
Messi, who previously won two Golden Balls, could become just the third player in history to win both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball. Simon, who also plays in La Liga, is in consideration because of his stellar goalkeeping. Rodri might be recognized for outstanding leadership, defense, and midfield play that have propelled Spain this far.
