Here’s everything you need to know about the World Cup final as FIFA gets ready to change the rules of football.
Argentina is ready to defend their World Cup title this Sunday as they face off against 2010 champions Spain in an exciting final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Lionel Scaloni’s team is just one win away from becoming the first back-to-back World Cup winners since Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962. They secured their spot with late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez in their win over England.
On the other side, Spain comes into the final full of confidence after beating France 2-0. Surprisingly, Spain and Argentina have only met twice in official matches, with Argentina winning 2-1 in 1966 thanks to two goals from Luis Artime. Over the years, they’ve played 13 friendly matches, the latest in 2018 when Spain crushed Argentina 6-1.
This final will also be special because Lionel Messi will face off against the young talent Lamine Yamal for the first time.
Here’s how both teams have done so far:
Argentina:
– Group Stage: 3-0 vs Algeria, 2-0 vs Austria, 3-1 vs Jordan
– Knockouts: 3-2 vs Cape Verde, 3-2 vs Egypt, 3-1 vs Switzerland, 2-1 vs England
Spain:
– Group Stage: 0-0 vs Cape Verde, 4-0 vs Saudi Arabia, 1-0 vs Uruguay
– Knockouts: 3-0 vs Austria, 1-0 vs Portugal, 2-1 vs Belgium, 2-0 vs France
You can watch the final live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 7pm BST on Sunday, July 19, with the game kicking off at 8pm.
For those interested, both BBC and ITV will show the full half-time show along with expert match analysis. Inspired by the Super Bowl’s famous half-time events, FIFA has brought this tradition to the World Cup final in New York.
The show will feature stars like Justin Bieber, Madonna, K-Pop band BTS, conductor Gustavo Dudamel, and Shakira, who sings the official World Cup song ‘Dai Dai.’ The performance will last about 11 minutes but the whole half-time break might stretch up to 20 or even 30 minutes to set up and take down the stage.
This means FIFA is bending the usual 15-minute half-time rule, which can only be changed with the referee’s permission, to make room for this big entertainment event.