Spain are the 2026 World Cup champions, defeating Argentina 1–0 after extra time in the final at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19, 2026.
The trophy ceremony featured:
Spain receiving their winners' medals before captain Rodri lifted the FIFA World Cup Trophy. FIFA President Gianni Infantino and U.S. President Donald Trump participating in the medal and trophy presentation.
Spain has won the FIFA World Cup 2026, defeating Argentina in the final. The victory marks a historic achievement for Spain, who dominated the tournament with a formidable defense and a cohesive team strategy. The event concluded with an awards ceremony honoring standout individual performances and the crowning of the Spanish squad as world champions.
Here we go for the awards. The World Cup is on its way out.
You see members of the 2010 Spain World Cup winning team all around the stadium.
Sergio Ramos with a hug for Luis De La Fuente.
The President of the United States on the field alongside Gianni Infantino of FIFA.
Plenty of awards to give out. The Fair Play Trophy, the Young Player Award, the Golden Glove, the Golden Ball, the Golden Boot and then the ultimate prize in world football.
FIFA will now present commemorative medals to the match officials for today's FIFA World Cup 2026 final.
The match officials receiving their medals first. President of FIFA first in the line there, Gianni Infantino.
Next to President Donald Trump of the United States, the President of Mexico, Claudia Scheinbaum.
And Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, all in the receiving party.
The FIFA Young Player Award presented by Aramco.
FIFA Young Player Award is up next. You have to be born on or after the 1st of January 2005.
We're looking at Pau Koubasi, the centre-half Thierry Henry focused on before the game.
It looks like he's going to receive the award. What a player, we've got our hands on him.
Well, it's been for a long time and you have to give Xavi Hernandez a lot of credit also.
Because he trusted him right from the start, he trusted Lamin Yamal right from the start.
And those guys are proven to be what he thought they were going to be.
And this kid, well this kid is a world champion.
But he's still a kid at the end of the day compared to my age.
But you have to give him a lot of credit, he's so calm, he does about it the right way.
He's getting a warm welcome I guess now to go and get his trophy.
But I'm very happy for him, he deserves it.
Zlatan, in that position as well on the field at centre-half, 19 years of age, what can you say about this player?
I mean he's a world champion, what more is there to say?
He had an amazing tournament, he had an amazing season also with Barcelona.
They played the way they play in Barcelona, they played the way they play in Spain.
The best defence in the tournament, obviously he's not alone.
But he had a big, big impact and today he was outstanding.
And this is why he got the prize also.
The best young talent in the tournament, not because of today but because of the whole tournament.
So congrats to him, great future.
It also shows the faith that they have in these players and these players regardless of what age.
If you're good enough, you're good enough.
It doesn't matter how old you are and if you've grown up in the system and you understand, they'll put you in.
They'll start you in a World Cup.
Adidas Golden Glove winner, best goalkeeper at the tournament.
He also has the most clean sheets.
What a performance from him and from the players in front of him, Lex.
I mean sometimes goalkeepers don't get the attention that they deserve.
Sometimes they say, oh you're not facing enough shots, you're not saving the ones that you should save.
The mental fortitude that it takes, especially when your team has a lot of possession to be ready to make that save.
And maybe it's the one or two saves.
Don't for a second think that that is not quality and that is not important.
So I'm glad that he is being recognized and I think his players in front of him recognize that if and when they make a mistake,
there is someone back there that's going to save him.
Also interesting Thierry, because there was a discussion before the World Cup about which one should start.
The coach answered it straight away.
He said a nice man will be first and that's about it.
He ended the debate straight away.
Well deserved, well deserved.
This is a player, we talk about the stars, they scored the goals, they got their assists.
But this player here, I enjoy him every time he's on the pitch.
He plays a fantastic game, he's a genius.
He always takes the right decision.
Today he changed him, but Thierry had a point there.
When they went one guy up, they didn't need him anymore on the pitch.
Because they didn't need a defensive player when he defends.
And to take those balls, because it was all about the attack.
So well deserved, I enjoyed this guy.
He's a Ballon d'Or winner also and now he gets the best player in the World Cup.
And that's my third example of don't give up.
He had a rough season, it is precious.
People thought he couldn't be the player he was going to be.
He looks slow, CT are not the same, he's not the same.
And that's the answer, you lift the world cup.
In a tournament where we talk so much about the stars, and rightfully so.
While he's a star, it's a different type of star.
And so I'm glad that he's being recognized because a lot of the stuff that he does sometimes can go unseen.
Here we go, Lionel Messi.
Alexey leading up Argentina as runners-up at this tournament.
In this moment, he's a champion.
Champions want to win and they want to win everything.
And he has won everything, so he'll be disappointed.
But my goodness, I think we can very, very quickly turn it to how important he is.
How iconic he is.
And how amazing he is, regardless of what the score was today.
And Zlatan, how lucky we are to have seen him play for the last 25 years.
I mean, we have enjoyed him.
We have enjoyed him during this world cup.
I know he's sad he didn't win the world cup.
But listen, he had an amazing world cup.
He kept this team alive.
He did some amazing stuff.
He had moments where he was human.
He had moments where he was not a human.
And I hope he can continue to play as much as possible, so we can enjoy him even more.
Will we see him in another world cup?
I don't know. You never know.
But we have enjoyed him and we're happy he plays the game.
Because we're going to be very sad when he stops playing.
What we have learned, Thierry, is to never bet against him.
No, no. It takes a team like Spain to be able to beat Argentina.
And like I mentioned before, if they won today,
they would have done something that I don't know if it would have been possible to do,
to win four major competitions in a row.
They were very short and close, sorry, to do it.
And look at what it means to him.
If you ever have any doubt of it, this guy still has some fire in his belly.
Look at him. Look at what it means.
Look at this. Everyone is clapping.
Because you're looking at him and this is what it means to him.
He won already, well, everything.
And look at the guy.
Look at the passion, the desire, the love that he has for his country.
And how much he puts into it.
And you have to give a lot of credit also to Scaloni.
Because when he arrived in the national team,
he didn't look like he was going to be that way.
And they did it all together with their fans.
They came short today.
But thank you, Argentina, once again.
And Leo, I don't know what to say anymore about this guy.
You know, he came short.
Yes, let's just listen to this.
A moment in history as he takes the love from the crowd.
Let's take you back to John Strong and Stu Holden for the lifting of the World Cup.
Rebecca, the frightening thing isn't just that Spain have won the World Cup
without trailing at any point, while only conceding one goal,
while already being the European champions.
Really, the frightening thing is the fact that Spain were already world champions.
A lot of us were in Sydney three years ago as their women won the World Cup.
And now their men have won the World Cup.
Something like that has never happened before.
What sort of odds would you put on them winning the Euros in two years' time?
You spent time in Spain.
How would you explain this country and what they have been able to build,
certainly with this team, but just with everything?
In Spain, it's not just a game.
It's a way of life.
They live it, they breathe it,
and clearly they play it in just such a beautiful way.
It's fun to watch.
It's a joy to watch.
We should all enjoy this type of football.
Hearing Zlatan and Thierry Alexey talk about it,
the best team won, the best team throughout the tournament.
I don't think we'll ever see a scenario again where just one goal against seven clean sheets.
The best defense is a good offense.
And the way in which they keep the ball, they break you.
But then as soon as you get the ball, they win it back within just a couple of seconds.
It's a commitment.
Every single player to a man is so comfortable with the ball at their feet.
You have 19-year-olds that look like 35-year-olds
that are not by the moment.
And even in a day where we talk so often about stars,
this is just the best example of a team.
It is a team sport.
And the best team won,
and the best team showed it throughout this entire tournament.
It's incredible what they do.
You saw Ferran Torres a moment ago.
He adds his name to the list of players to have scored the winning goal
in a World Cup final alongside Andres Iniesta.
Last time Spain won the World Cup in 2010,
they took advantage of a red card for the opponent,
and they won by a 1-0 scoreline in extra time.
And yet so many players have made plays.
Mikel Moreno coming off the bench to score
a pair of game-winning goals during the tournament.
Emre Klipport has been a starting center back
at four tournaments now,
with four different partners next to him
as part of the Spanish team
that only allowed one goal.
Alex Baena, who would have put him on the list of a guy
to be a consistent starter?
But a perfect example, again,
of a guy that had so many important contributions
for this group.
And in a rare occasion where we think about
history many, many years from now,
about this World Cup, this edition,
and who knows how many Lamin Yamal is going to win,
wearing the number 19 shirt at 19 years old,
the number 19 throughout the tournament,
and yet scored one goal.
That's the scary thought,
that he's a World Cup winner
on a day where he wasn't the star.
But he understands what his role
and what his importance is to this team,
and he is willing to play that role
for the betterment of the group.
And I think when we look back,
there's his brother Kane in the crowd,
and he's been fun to watch him throughout the tournament.
His just joyous big smile
as his brother goes on to win a World Cup.
But we will think about
not just what they did,
but how they did it.
And this team will be remembered
for so many, many years
about just how dominant they were.
Thinking back to that opening day
when they drew against Cape Verde.
Scoreless draw, you ask me.
Are you worried about Spain?
I wasn't.
But I didn't know they were going to go
and win in this dominant fashion.
There are now in the history of the Men's World Cup
five teenagers to have won the World Cup
and two of them are on this Spanish team.
Lamine Yamal and Jael Cubarcy
who, as you saw earlier,
received the award for the best young player
at the tournament.
And Luis De La Fuente is the great example
as his predecessor as World Cup winning coach
was Lionel Scaloni of the Federation Man.
He was the youth national team coach.
He didn't coach at a high profile club.
He wasn't a big star manager.
He has done nothing but win
and he becomes now
at the age of 65
the oldest coach to win
the FIFA World Cup.
He said it best
in his post-match interview.
He said this has been coming.
We've won at every level and they have.
They win at youth national team levels.
He manages this team at the U21s
then gets the senior job
and the most important one of all
he is now a World Cup champion as well.
And here comes Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante
better known as Rotary
better known as Golden Ball winner
for most outstanding player
at this World Cup.
Former Ballon d'Or winner
as World Player of the Year
either side of a torn ACL.
A man who has done so many things
and really a guy that makes
being a defensive midfielder cool
because he wins the most outstanding
player of the tournament
not by scoring and assisting
and doing all these things
but by doing all of the other things.
And now it will be the job
of Rotary
for the better part of two months now
here in North America.
And they traveled from Atlanta
to Guadalajara
to L.A. to Dallas
and here to New Jersey.
One final act of this incredible
summer of soccer
for Rotary to lift the trophy
and for the celebrations to begin
both here and overseas.
And when Rotary is ready
here we go.
Spain have won
the World Cup!
For those of us that have
gotten to do this three times
for those of us who go back
to 2015 in Canada
what a blessing it is
to be a part of these moments
and to bring them to all of you home.