THE 2026 World Cup final is edging closer, and it promises to add another chapter to one of sport’s great rivalries for the trophy. Before a new name gets added to the roll of honour, anticipation for fans looking to place a Spain vs Argentina bet is already building among fans debating who can go all the way. First, a look back at how the last five finals actually played out, and what made each one memorable.
2022: Argentina 3-3 France (Argentina won 4-2 on penalties)
The 2022 final saw Lionel Messi’s Argentina face reigning champions France, in what turned out to be one of the most exciting World Cup finals of all time. Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute, and Angel Di Maria doubled Argentina’s lead in the 36th.
France looked out of it until Kylian Mbappe struck twice in the space of a minute, in the 80th and 81st, to level at 2-2. Messi restored Argentina’s lead in extra time, in the 108th minute, only for Mbappe to convert a second penalty in the 118th to force a shootout, also becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966.
Argentina held their nerve to win 4-2 on penalties, lifting the trophy for the first time since 1986. Mbappe won the Golden Boot as top scorer, while Messi was named the tournament’s best player.
2018: France 4-2 Croatia
The 2018 final was played between France and Croatia, who had sensationally defied the football betting odds and knocked England out in the semi-final. Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic put through his own net in the 18th minute, and Ivan Perisic equalised in the 28th. Antoine Griezmann converted a penalty in the 38th, awarded after the first VAR review to decide a final, which confirmed Perisic’s handball. Paul Pogba made it 3-1 in the 59th minute, and Mbappe added a fourth in the 65th, before Mandzukic scored at the right end in the 69th to make it 4-2.
Mbappe, aged 19, became the second-youngest scorer in a final after Pele. Didier Deschamps became only the third man to win the World Cup as both player and manager, after Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer, while Croatia’s Luka Modric won the Golden Ball despite finishing on the losing side.
2014: Germany 1-0 Argentina (after extra time)
During the 2014 final, neither Germany nor Argentina found a breakthrough in 90 minutes. Mario Gotze, on as a substitute, controlled a cross on his chest and volleyed home in the 113th minute to win it. It gave Germany their fourth World Cup and their first since reunification. Messi won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player, a decision that surprised both Sepp Blatter and Diego Maradona, despite Argentina’s captain going without a goal in the final itself.
2010: Spain 1-0 Netherlands (after extra time)
A bad-tempered final between Spain and the Netherlands in 2010 produced a record 14 yellow cards from referee Howard Webb, still the most shown in any World Cup final.
Andres Iniesta broke the deadlock in the 116th minute, four minutes from the end of extra time, controlling a Cesc Fabregas pass and finishing low into the corner. It remains Spain’s only World Cup win, arriving at the height of the country’s dominant international spell.
2006: Italy 1-1 France (Italy won 5-3 on penalties)
Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring with a chipped penalty in the 7th minute. Marco Materazzi headed in an equaliser from an Andrea Pirlo corner in the 19th. The match is remembered above all for Zidane’s headbutt on Materazzi in the 110th minute, which ended his career with a red card in the last match he ever played. Italy won the shootout 5-3 for their fourth World Cup. Zidane still collected the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player, one of the more contentious individual awards in the competition’s history.
Article by George Stanford
