They came to New Jersey as history makers. They walked away as world champions.Ferran Torres’ second-half goal separated Spain 1-0 in a tense and dramatic World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Sunday night as Spain claimed their second World Cup title, 16 years after first winning it in South Africa in 2010.But the trophy wasn’t the only history made Sunday night. The Spanish team won the final and extended its unbeaten streak in all competitions to 38 games, surpassing the Italian team’s 37-game unbeaten record and becoming the team with the longest unbeaten record in the history of European and South American international football. No team from any continent has ever gone undefeated for a longer period of time.Torres had endured a difficult match by his own high standards before this final and ended up scoring the most important goal of his career. In the 67th minute, the Manchester City forward received a perfect pass from Pedri on the edge of the Argentina penalty area, controlled the ball with one touch, and fired a precise low shot past Emiliano Martinez and into the bottom corner of the goal. MetLife Stadium erupted in red and yellow.Argentina attacks. Lionel Messi, playing the final game of his international career, was, as always, pushing forward, creating chances and demanding the ball. But Spain’s defense, which had kept six clean sheets in the previous six games, had the best defensive record in World Cup history was not broken on the most important night. Unai Simon made two crucial saves in the final ten minutes to keep the clean sheet and hand Spain the trophy.For Messi, it was a painful end to a career of extraordinary beauty. He finished the 2026 World Cup with eight goals and four assists, one of the greatest individual tournament statistics in World Cup history. But Argentina failed to win a second consecutive title.For Spain, which is undefeated in 38 games, European champion in 2024 and world champion in 2026, the record belongs entirely to them.Italy’s record stood for five years. Spain broke that record on the biggest stage and lifted the World Cup trophy.
