Spain is the 2026 World Cup champion, defeating Argentina

VPM | By Michel Martin and Jasmine Garsd

Published July 20, 2026 at 8:42 AM EDT

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Spain are World Cup champions once again. Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in New Jersey to claim their second title. NPR’s Jasmine Garsd was at the game and is with us now to tell us more about it. Good morning.

JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE: Good morning.

MARTIN: OK. You watched so many matches this World Cup. Was this what you were expecting for this final one?

GARSD: I’m going to be totally honest with you here. It was a little bit of a very slow sizzle between these two powerhouses. You know, there’s that saying when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Argentina’s notoriously intense attack was stymied over and over and over again by Spain’s impenetrable defense. It was a rowdy game. There were several yellow cards. Argentina player Enzo Fernandez got a red card. He left Argentina playing with just 10 men.

The game went into 30 minutes of extra time, and by the end, Spain had dominated completely. They made 20 shots on goal, compared to just two by Argentina. And one of those shots was the game-winner. Spain’s Ferran Torres made a goal at the minute 106. Overall, I would say Spain was the better team, but Argentina really made them work for it.

MARTIN: You know, Argentina came in with so much hype. The defending champion. They’ve won World Cup three times. They were runner-up three times. Why do you think they fell short this time?

GARSD: I think Spain was just better. And, you know, listen, let’s face it, Argentina had a tough go during the knockout games of this tournament. After the game, Argentina’s coach, Lionel Scaloni, was asked what’s next for him. He got really emotional.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LIONEL SCALONI: (Non-English language spoken, crying).

GARSD: He said forming another group like this would be hard to recreate, and he says it just hurts his soul. And then he apologized and left the news conference in tears.

MARTIN: I have to say, though, Argentina provided some thriller moments with these come-from-behind victories, even if they didn’t dominate throughout anyway. It was exciting. OK. Tell us more about Spain and this winning squad.

GARSD: Well, you know, Spain hasn’t been as showy as other teams. They’ve been playing, like, this quiet, relentless tournament. They only gave up one goal across all their eight matches. That set a World Cup record, and it is a testament to just how solid that defense was. Here’s Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente about what he told his players right before kickoff.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LUIS DE LA FUENTE: (Non-English language spoken).

GARSD: He said, “there is a phrase we’ve used – gentlemen, we have a date with history. Let’s be the first to arrive.” I think Spain’s story is really one of, you know, mind your own business. By that, I mean, don’t be too flashy. Just do good work quietly, and it’s going to pay off.

MARTIN: You know, if you follow the post-game analysis, a lot of the discussion was about how Spain has really managed to turn into a global force on the soccer field. Say more about that.

GARSD: Well, yeah. I mean, not only is the men’s team now ranked No. 1, also they’re joining the Spanish women, who are also ranked No. 1 and are the defending World Cup champions. This is the first time a country has held both titles simultaneously.

MARTIN: OK, Jasmine. Just give us a couple of words about Argentine superstar Lionel Messi. You followed him for years. What’s next for him?

GARSD: He’s been – he’s hinted that he’s going to be retiring. I mean, by the next World Cup, Messi is going to be 43. In soccer, that’s getting up there. But Messi remains one of the greatest players in the world. Who knows? Maybe now he goes on to coach.

MARTIN: That is NPR’s Jasmine Garsd in New York. Jasmine, thank you.

GARSD: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Michel Martin

Michel Martin is the weekend host of All Things Considered and host of the Consider This Saturday podcast, where she draws on her deep reporting and interviewing experience to dig in to the week's news. Outside the studio, she has also hosted "Michel Martin: Going There," an ambitious live event series in collaboration with Member Stations.

Martin came to NPR in 2006 and launched Tell Me More, a one-hour daily NPR news and talk show that aired on NPR stations nationwide from 2007-2014 and dipped into thousands of important conversations taking place in the corridors of power, but also in houses of worship, and barber shops and beauty shops, at PTA meetings, town halls, and at the kitchen table.

She has spent more than 25 years as a journalist — first in print with major newspapers and then in television. Tell Me More marked her debut as a full-time public radio show host. Martin says, "What makes public radio special is that it's got both intimacy and reach all at once. For the cost of a phone call, I can take you around the world. But I'm right there with you in your car, in your living room or kitchen or office, in your iPod. Radio itself is an incredible tool and when you combine that with the global resources of NPR plus the commitment to quality, responsibility and civility, it's an unbeatable combination."

Martin has also served as contributor and substitute host for NPR newsmagazines and talk shows, including Talk of the Nation and News & Notes.

Martin joined NPR from ABC News, where she worked since 1992. She served as correspondent for Nightline from 1996 to 2006, reporting on such subjects as the congressional budget battles, the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, racial profiling and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At ABC, she also contributed to numerous programs and specials, including the network's award-winning coverage of Sept. 11, a documentary on the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas controversy, a critically acclaimed AIDS special and reports for the ongoing series "America in Black and White." Martin reported for the ABC newsmagazine Day One, winning an Emmy for her coverage of the international campaign to ban the use of landmines, and was a regular panelist on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. She also hosted the 13-episode series Life 360, an innovative program partnership between Oregon Public Broadcasting and Nightline incorporating documentary film, performance and personal narrative; it aired on public television stations across the country.

Before joining ABC, Martin covered state and local politics for the Washington Post and national politics and policy at the Wall Street Journal, where she was White House correspondent. She has also been a regular panelist on the PBS series Washington Week and a contributor to NOW with Bill Moyers.

Martin has been honored by numerous organizations, including the Candace Award for Communications from The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Joan Barone Award for Excellence in Washington-based National Affairs/Public Policy Broadcasting from the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association and a 2002 Silver Gavel Award, given by the American Bar Association. Along with her Emmy award, she received three additional Emmy nominations, including one with WNYC's Robert Krulwich, at the time an ABC contributor as well, for an ABC News program examining children's racial attitudes. In 2019, Martin was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in journalism. She is the 2021 recipient of PMJA's 2021 Leo C. Lee Award.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Martin graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College at Harvard University in 1980 and earned a Master of Arts from the Wesley Theological Seminary in 2016.

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