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2026 FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina kicks off Sunday

▶ Watch Video: World Cup culminates in Spain-Argentina final

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup final underway at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Spain and Argentina are competing as the last two teams standing in a tournament between 48 nations from across the globe. 

It was the largest FIFA World Cup in history, with the highly anticipated men’s final capping a 39-day whirlwind that saw more than six million fans attend matches in three different host countries, including, for the first time in decades, the United States. The final is taking place as skies began to clear over the Northeast, after several hazy days of wildfire smoke traveled southward from Canada.

Argentina is the defending champion and angling to become the first country to secure two consecutive World Cup wins since Brazil’s back-to-back victories during the tournaments in 1958 and 1962. But Spain is slightly favored to take home the title this year. If they do, it would be the country’s second World Cup title.

Argentina Spain WCup Soccer
Spain fans gather for a rally on the eve of the World Cup final soccer match in New York’s Times Square, Saturday, July 18, 2026.

AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

Sunday’s match comes 60 years after teams representing the two finalists met during the 1966 World Cup, when Argentina defeated Spain in a 2-1 match during the tournament’s group stage. 

This is only the second time Spain has competed in the finals, with the first being the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which was also the country’s inaugural World Cup win. Argentina has reached the finals seven times, previously winning three of them.

Despite Spain’s small edge heading into Sunday’s match, after the team’s exceptional midfield performance throughout the tournament so far and record goalkeeping, allowing just one goal in their first seven matches, Argentina has also been playing to win. Its star player, Lionel Messi, is widely considered the G.O.A.T., or Greatest of All Time, and both he and his teammates have accomplished dramatic last-minute comebacks since the World Cup began.

Argentina Spain WCup Soccer
Argentina fans gather for a rally on the eve of the World Cup final soccer match in New York’s Times Square, Saturday, July 18, 2026.

AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

A who’s who of attendees

As players and crowds geared up for the final, there was a pre-match closing ceremony held at 1:30, featuring musical guests Post Malone and Robbie Williams, with Jennifer Hudson performing the national anthem. Actor Tom Cruise also appeared at the ceremony, while Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, BTS and others performed during the 11-minute halftime show. 

Global figures including President Trump, Spain’s Royal Family and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are in the stands. 

Mr. Trump arrived at the stadium shortly before 2:30 p.m., after a flyover in the helicopter Marine One. He was then spotted in his box with First Lady Melania Trump, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of State Sean Duffy. He was also joined by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who Mr. Trump invited amid trade tensions between the two nations. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday that she was confident in the security measures in place for the tournament, in light of its list of prominent guests.

“We have been preparing for this for, literally, over a year,” said Hochul, noting that federal, state and local law enforcement has coordinated closely on more than “1,000 exercises, table-topping all the scenarios” that could arise. 

“I feel very confident in our security, and we’re so happy to welcome the eyes of the world,” the governor added. “The entire planet is going to be watching what is happening right here in the New York City area. So it’s exciting, very exciting time for us.”

The final match will is airng on FOX and Telemundo.

How scary is a democratic socialist candidate? Apparently not as scary as a MAGA one

(CNN) — The rise of democratic socialists in recent House primaries is certainly posing problems for the Democratic Party.But as Republicans seek to make this a central issue in the 2026 midterm elections, new data indicates it might not be as big a liability for Democrats as one might think.A case in point: A new poll suggests that a democratic socialist candidate is actually less of a liability than being a MAGA supporter or being endorsed by President Donald Trump.The new CNBC poll got at this question in an interesting way. It asked registered voters whether they would be more or less likely to vote for candidates with various associations.While 50% of voters said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who describes themselves as a democratic socialist, just 32% said they would be more likely. That’s not too good.Then we get to the “but.”The numbers were slightly worse for a generic candidate endorsed by Trump. Registered voters said they were less likely to support that candidate, 52%-29%.And the numbers were significantly worse for a candidate who described themselves as a supporter of the MAGA movement. In that case, the margin was 57%-27%.Perhaps even more important than those overall numbers, the Trump-endorsed and MAGA options also engendered more passionate opposition than a democratic socialist did. (That doesn’t bode well for the GOP’s strategy since the idea is generally to scare would-be voters away from democratic socialist candidates.) So, while 42% said they were “much less likely” to back a democratic socialist, that number was 46% for a Trump-endorsed candidate and 50% for a MAGA candidate.The poll also suggested registered voters might becoming more okay with at least a little bit of socialism.While 44% of voters said “some form of socialism” would be bad for the country, 51% of Americans said so in a 2019 Gallup survey.And another 40% of registered voters said some form of socialism was a “good thing.” (The US government already has forms of socialism like social safety net programs. And Trump has pursued some socialistic policies like having the federal government take ownership stakes in various businesses.)Somewhat similarly, the Pew Research Center in a recently released survey found a declining percentage of Americans said they disliked political leaders who identified as democratic socialists.The poll, which was conducted in January, showed 38% said they disliked such leaders. That was down from the mid-40s in 2021 and 2022. And the percentage who said they disliked such leaders “a lot” was 28% — down from 34% earlier this decade.To the extent the percentage of respondents who strongly object to democratic socialists is between 28% (from the Pew poll) and 42% (from the CNBC poll), that might help Republicans motivate some GOP base voters who feel strongly about the subject. And that’s politically valuable, especially in a midterm year in which Democratic voters appear significantly more enthusiastic than Republican ones. One of the most valuable things in politics is an effective boogeyman.But democratic socialism doesn’t seem to be an issue that alienates even close to half the electorate. In other words, it doesn’t seem likely to sway swing voters as much as it did before.So Republicans might want to start worrying that MAGA appears to be an even bigger boogeyman than the big boogeyman they were counting on.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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