Spain secured their second World Cup title with a 1-0 extra-time victory over defending champions Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, as Ferran Torres pounced on a rebound in the 106th minute to settle a tense, attritional final. Argentina had been reduced to ten men midway through the second half when midfielder Enzo Fernández received a second yellow card, forcing Lionel Messi’s side into a rearguard action that held until deep into the additional period. The goal, reminiscent of Andrés Iniesta’s winner for Spain in the 2010 final, sparked jubilant celebrations among the Spanish players and the thousands of red-clad supporters who had made the journey to the United States.

The match, however, was only one element of an event that drew a concentration of global celebrity rarely seen outside awards ceremonies. Tom Cruise delivered a pre-match address calling football “the language spoken around the world,” while Timothée Chalamet carried the official ball onto the pitch before kick-off. In the stands, Matt Damon sat beside his Argentine wife Luciana Barroso, Anya Taylor-Joy — who spent part of her childhood in Buenos Aires — wore a blue-and-white scarf, and David Beckham watched from a suite with his family. Latin American media highlighted the presence of Argentine television personalities Wanda Nara and Pampita, as well as Mexican singer Peso Pluma and actress Danna, while Asian outlets noted the appearance of K-pop group BTS during the halftime show.

That 11-minute interval performance, a first for a World Cup final, was curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin and featured Madonna performing alongside Brazilian icons Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, Shakira singing the tournament’s official song with Burna Boy, and Justin Bieber delivering an acoustic gospel number. A tribute to Pelé, who died in 2022, was displayed on the stadium screens, linking the spectacle to football’s deeper history. The halftime show, combined with the pre-match ceremony in which tennis star Carlos Alcaraz carried the trophy, underscored the tournament’s evolution into a hybrid of sport and mass entertainment.

The 2026 edition, the first expanded to 48 teams and co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, had already blurred the boundaries between athletic competition and cultural showcase. The final drew not only Hollywood actors and music superstars but also business leaders, European royalty and American sports figures such as Tom Brady and LeBron James. Across continents, the event was framed as much as a global gathering of celebrity as a football match, with social media feeds filling with images of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, and Dua Lipa, who interrupted her honeymoon to attend.

When the final whistle blew, Spain’s players collapsed in exhaustion and elation, having added a second star to their crest twelve years after their first. Argentina’s campaign, which had carried the hopes of a nation seeking back-to-back titles, ended in the disappointment of a narrow defeat. As the trophy was lifted, the month-long tournament that had drawn record crowds and television audiences across the world came to a close, leaving the sport to reckon with a final that was as much a red-carpet affair as a contest for football’s greatest prize.