Messi and his heir: Argentina and Spain meet in the World Cup final

The 2026 World Cup ends where the sport hoped it might: with Lionel Messi one match from immortality and the game's next great talent standing in his way. Argentina meet Spain at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, the reigning world champions against the champions of Europe, in a final that doubles as a generational handover.

For Argentina, history is the prize. Lionel Scaloni's side can become the first nation to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962. They have taken the hard road to get here, winning all four knockout ties late: extra time against Cape Verde and Switzerland, stoppage-time comebacks against Egypt and England. Messi, now 39 and widely expected to be playing his last World Cup match, has dragged them through it, arriving at the final level at the top of the Golden Boot race on eight goals.

Spain have travelled a smoother road. Luis de la Fuente's team dismantled a favoured France 2-0 in the semi-final and reach their first final since winning the trophy in 2010, imperious and unbeaten. Their calling card is a defence that has conceded just once all tournament, marshalled in front of goalkeeper Unai Simon.

The subplot writes itself. Lamine Yamal, the 19-year-old who has become Spain's talisman, was a baby in Barcelona when Messi held him for a charity photograph in 2007. On Sunday the two Barcelona icons meet as opponents with the biggest prize in the game between them: an in-form Argentine attack against the most miserly defence in the competition, an almost cartoonish clash of force and object.

Bookmakers make Spain narrow favourites, and their control of a match can be suffocating. But few will bet against Messi writing one more chapter, and Argentina have made a habit of finding a way when the clock is against them. Read ESPN's full preview.