Lionel Messi sat on the pitch at New York New Jersey Stadium, staring blankly at the scenes around him. Moments earlier, the 39-year-old had watched Spain's Ferran Torres score a decisive 106th-minute goal in extra time, sealing a 1-0 victory for Spain and ending Argentina's World Cup title defence. As the final whistle blew, some of his Argentina teammates threw punches, but Messi rose, shook hands with every Spanish player, and then embraced 19-year-old Lamine Yamal. The Barcelona teenager rubbed the captain's back as Messi burst into tears, unable to hold back the emotion after receiving his runners-up medal.
Yamal, who came into the tournament troubled by a hamstring injury, ended it as the youngest player — at 19 years and six days — to win both the World Cup and the European Championship. He has still not lost in 28 competitive matches for Spain, and has started 13 games at major tournaments, winning all of them — the longest 100% win rate of any European player when starting. Along with 19-year-old teammate Pau Cubarsi, he became just the fourth and fifth teenagers to start and win a World Cup final, after Pele (1958), Giuseppe Bergomi (1982) and Kylian Mbappe (2018).
“Messi in tears as 19-year-old Lamine Yamal leads Spain to World Cup victory.”
The image of Yamal consoling Messi was a stark contrast to a viral photo from September 2007, which showed a 20-year-old Messi bathing a six-month-old Yamal for a charity calendar raffle. Now, 19 years later, Messi may have played his final World Cup match. He scored eight goals during the tournament, falling two short of Mbappe's golden boot tally of 10. Spain's Rodri won the Golden Ball for best player, with Messi finishing runner-up.
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente expressed his "sincere gratitude" to Yamal, saying he "has played great football that will help him to mature". Matchwinner Torres dedicated the goal to "47 million people" back home, adding: "Today destiny was written, it was made for us to win." Meanwhile, former England goalkeeper Joe Hart condemned the behaviour of some Argentina players, particularly Leandro Paredes, calling it "disgusting". He said: "There was one man on the pitch who did have class, and that was Lionel Messi." Argentina has since declared a national holiday, allowing players and staff to choose a day of celebration.