We take a look at five key aspects that led to Spain securing their second FIFA World Cup title following the 1-0 victory over Argentina in New York on Sunday.
Ferran Torres scored the only goal of the match after coming on as a second half substitute in the World Cup 2026 final, a match which the Spaniards dominated from start to finish.
We look at the key points for Spain’s success at the global showpiece.
Ball possession recovery speed
The Spanish side did not allow Argentina or any other team to keep the ball for long, with the high-press not affording opposition time to build their moves, leading to few goalscoring threats.
Argentina were not afforded a shot on target in the final, with the Spaniards keeping them busy in their own half for large periods of the match, starving them of the ball.
Resolute combined defensive effort
Spain only conceded one goal in the tournament, with particularly impressive performances from Young Player of the Tournament Pau Cubarsi in his first World Cup.
The overall collective effort from Spain without the ball was a big difference, with their players willing to run to close down possible pockets of space.
Argentina could only manage three shots at goal in the final as they struggled to deal with the hard running opposition.
Tactical superiority
Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente was able to get the team to dominate all their matches in the competition, making numerous timely substitutions which influenced their results.
The likes of Mikel Merino, Ferran Torres and Nico Williams were highly effective following their introduction in most matches including the final, with the latter combining to provide the winner in extra-time.
Winning mentality
The Spanish side have won the 2024 European Championship and the World Cup under de la Fuente, with most of the squad having featured regularly under his tenure.
Individually, most of the players in Spain’s squad had already tasted success at club level, despite their relatively young age and showed no fear against any opposition leading up to their second World Cup title victory.
Squad depth and quality
Spain showed that they have an excellent pool of players, which could afford them to win without fielding talented stars like Gavi as their preferred midfield trio [Rodri, Dani Olmo and Fabian Ruiz] controlling midfield battles.
The young players played with a collective purpose and provided coach de la Fuente with many options in attack when required, with the team managing to win all their knockout stage matches without needing penalties.
