Who is Favoured to Win in 2026 World Cup Final Clash
Opta’s supercomputer forecasts a Spanish victory in the upcoming 2026 World Cup final with a 56.05% probability, leaving defending champions Argentina with a 43.95% chance of retaining their title.
The teams will face off on July 20 at midnight Tashkent time. Argentine forward Lionel Messi acknowledged the difficulty of the impending fixture, noting his familiarity with the European squad as many of its members play for Barcelona.
The nations last met in a major international tournament 60 years ago when Argentina secured a 2-1 victory. Their historical rivalry also includes 13 friendly encounters, resulting in six wins for Spain, five for Argentina and two draws.
Contrasting paths to the championship match
According to Vedomosti, this marks Spain’s second World Cup final appearance following their maiden 2010 victory over the Netherlands. The European side enters the championship match after a dominant tournament run. Following a scoreless draw against Cape Verde in their opening fixture, Spain secured six consecutive victories.
They defeated Saudi Arabia 4-0 and Uruguay 1-0 during the group stage before eliminating Austria 3-0, Portugal 1-0, Belgium 2-1 and France 2-0 in the knockout rounds. The semi-final victory over France proved particularly decisive as the Spanish side dictated play and neutralised their opponents’ attacking threats.
Conversely, Argentina arrives at the final riding a formidable streak. Since a September 2025 defeat to Ecuador, the South American squad has won 14 consecutive matches while maintaining eight clean sheets.
Despite this overall record, their journey through the 2026 tournament featured several narrow escapes. They required an own goal in extra time to overcome tournament debutants Cape Verde 1-0 in the round of 32. The team then narrowly avoided elimination against Egypt in the round of 16.
Trailing 2-0 and weathering a missed penalty from Messi, Argentina netted three late goals to complete a 3-2 comeback. The defending champions then needed extra time to dispatch Switzerland 3-1 in the quarter-finals before staging another late revival in the semi-finals, overturning a 1-0 deficit in the final 10 minutes to defeat England 2-1.
