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How do Spain and Argentina stack up? World Cup final teams by the numbers.

▶ Watch Video: Fans elated for Argentina and Spain to face off in World Cup final

As Spain and Argentina headed into the 2026 men’s World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, soccer fans have already experienced heartbreak, pure joy and controversy during the historic 39-day tournament.  

Forty-eight nations competed in the largest FIFA World Cup in history, leaving just two left standing, with Spain in search of its second World Cup title and Argentina shooting for back-to-back championships.

“Spain came into the tournament as the favorite,” Paul Tenorio of The Athletic told CBS News. “This is a team that now is riding a 37-game unbeaten streak going into the finals.” But on the other side, he said, “Argentina is Argentina. They’ve won three consecutive international tournaments going into this World Cup, and they’ve done it with the best player of all time, [Lionel] Messi being kind of the heartbeat of the team. You can tell that the Argentina players are playing for Messi.” 

Here’s what to know about the World Cup final teams, players and their records so far: 

Spain looks for its 2nd World Cup title

Spain v Belgium: Quarter Final - FIFA World Cup 2026
Spain’s starters pose for a team photo before the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarterfinal match against Belgium at Los Angeles Stadium on July 10, 2026.

Liza Rosales/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images

Despite being one of Europe’s top teams, the first and only time La Roja lifted the World Cup trophy was on July 11, 2010, in Johannesburg, South Africa, after a team of superstar Spanish players defeated the Netherlands 1-0.

Spain is one of just two teams ever to lose its World Cup opening match and go on to win the title — the other, ironically, being Argentina. It is also the first European nation to win a World Cup played outside Europe.

Without the likes of Gerard Piqué, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas, Spain’s lineup at the 2026 World Cup signifies a passing of the torch to a new generation.

Coach Luis de la Fuente took over the reins of Spain’s national team after Luis Enrique exited following Spain’s disappointing World Cup round of 16 exit in Qatar in 2022. 

De la Fuente chose several young players for his World Cup roster, including 19-year-old Pau Cubarsi and 21-year-old Dean Huijsen, some of whom he worked with when he was in charge of the U-19s and U-21s.

At just 19 years old, Lamine Yamal has been one of Spain’s breakout stars. He helped lead the team to the 2024 Euro title, and Spain’s World Cup squad includes 15 other players from the Euro roster.

“I think that I have very high expectations,” Yamal told CBS News’ Jon Wertheim in a “60 Minutes” interview last year. “I think it’s been a long time since Spain was a serious contender to win the World Cup. I see that the country is excited. I am very excited…. I feel good. I’m really looking forward to it, and I’m going to enjoy it a lot.”

France vs Spain, 2026 FIFA World Cup
Spain’s Lamine Yamal during the semifinal match against France at Dallas Stadium in Texas on July 14, 2026.

Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images

Spain is entering the final with a 37-match unbeaten run in regulation time, matching Italy’s all-time world record. 

In its seven World Cup matches before the final, Spain has conceded only one goal, against Belgium (2-1) in its quarterfinal. Goalkeeper Unai Simón had kept a clean sheet for a record 650 minutes, the longest scoreless streak at the tournament.

Another player to watch is 29-year-old Mikel Oyarzabal, who has netted five goals since the start of the World Cup and matched David Villa’s record for the most goals scored by a Spaniard in a single tournament.

Oyarzabal and Yamal are neck and neck in their attempts on goal at the World Cup, with 22 and 23 attempts, respectively. But Spain’s defense has a lot of work to do against Argentina’s superstar Lionel Messi.

Back-to-back World Cup victory on the line for Argentina

Argentina v Switzerland: Quarter Final - FIFA World Cup 2026
Argentina’s starters pose for a photo before the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarterfinal match against Switzerland at Kansas City Stadium on July 11, 2026.

Fernando Leon/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images

Coming into the World Cup as the defending champions, La Albiceleste are looking to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Brazil achieved the rare feat in 1958 and 1962. The only other nation to have done so is Italy in 1934 and 1938.

With Messi leading the charge, Argentina’s victory over France at the World Cup final in Qatar gave the team its third title and ended a 36-year drought.

During this year’s tournament, Messi further cemented his legacy by becoming the all-time leading scorer in men’s World Cup history. The 39-year-old has scored 21 goals across six World Cup tournaments, and he headed into the final with eight goals in this World Cup. (Kylian Mbappé of France edged ahead with 10.) Messi also has the most attempts on goal, 34, at the tournament.

Messi also holds the record for the most FIFA World Cup appearances, with 32 matches. He is one of only two players, the other being Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, to play in six World Cups. 

Argentina's forward #10 Lionel Messi
Argentina’s forward #10 Lionel Messi reacts during the 2026 World Cup semifinal match against England in Atlanta on July 15, 2026.

ROBERTO SCHMIDT /AFP via Getty Images

Another player to watch is Enzo Fernández. In 2022, the then-21-year-old became the youngest Argentinian to score a goal for Argentina at the World Cup since Messi, who was 18 at the time. In the semifinal against England, Fernández scored a masterful equalizer on a pass from Messi.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni left out nine players from the 2022 winning squad and added several fresh faces who could help support Messi while protecting the defensive line, including Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez.

It was Martinez who headed in a goal on a pass from Messi in the semifinal to give Argentina the stoppage-time win it needed to advance into the final. Argentina is making its seventh World Cup final appearance.

Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is regarded as one of the best keepers in the world, known for his distraction tactics and intimidating opponents, and he’s returned to the World Cup final as the reigning Golden Glove winner. Martinez is also the only goalkeeper to win the Best FIFA Goalkeeper twice, in 2022 and 2024.

This story has been updated with Mbappé’s total of 10 goals in the tournament.

Liberia once offered Black Americans a new home. Decades on, it is receiving migrants the US wants out

By CNN
(CNN) — Is Liberia an American dumping ground — or a place where a new generation of arrivals can build a new life?That’s the question Liberians are asking themselves after the first people to be deported to the West African country from the United States arrived in the capital, Monrovia.The 20 people on the flight from Louisiana were the first to be sent under an agreement that could see up to 1,200 people transferred to Liberia, a country of less than 6 million people, many of them descendants of formerly enslaved Black Americans.Liberian officials said the new arrivals were from “African and western hemisphere countries.”Liberia is one of several countries that have agreed to take migrants being deported from the US under the Trump administration’s anti-immigration crackdown. The arrivals are coming to a nation whose history is deeply tied to migration from the US.Nearly two centuries ago, free and formerly enslaved Black Americans crossed the Atlantic to settle in what would become Liberia – a name that translates as “land of the free.”Now, a country shaped in part by that migration is accepting people the US wants to remove.For Liberians, that has thrown up a mix of feelings in a country still recovering from a long and bloody civil war.“This country is going through a lot, and having more people come in — can we handle all of this?” said Pheta Morris, 48, a descendant of the Black Americans who settled in Liberia.But she said she sees the new arrivals through the lens of Liberia’s history and is struck by the contrast.“I think about the Americo-Liberians — people who were rejected where they were and needed somewhere to go, and Liberia opened its arms to them,” she said.“Back then, people needed somewhere they could be free, accepted and welcomed. Now, people are being rejected from the US, and Liberia is opening its doors to them.”The first transfer has already faced complications.Reuters reported that five migrants who refused to disembark after arriving in Monrovia were flown instead to Equatorial Guinea in Central Africa, where they are held with more than 30 other migrants previously sent there by the US.A US State Department spokesperson said implementing the Trump administration’s immigration policies was a “top priority,” adding that the department generally does not comment on private diplomatic communications with other governments.CNN has contacted Liberia’s information ministry for more details about the agreement and its terms.A country shaped by AmericaThe first group of free Black Americans arrived in Liberia in the early 1820s.Over the following decades, thousands more made the journey, with the American Colonization Society helping to establish settlements along the West African coast. The US State Department says about 16,000 Black Americans migrated to Liberia during the 19th century.The migration was complicated. Some Black Americans saw Liberia as a chance to escape racism and build a new life, while others opposed the colonization movement and rejected the idea that free Black people should leave the US.Africans rescued from slave ships by the US Navy were also brought to Liberia. The settlements eventually formed the Republic of Liberia, which declared independence in 1847.The American influence remains visible today. Liberia’s flag resembles that of the US; its capital was named Monrovia after America’s fifth President James Monroe, and its early institutions were heavily influenced by Washington.Conmany Wesseh, a former Liberian lawmaker and member of the ruling Unity Party who was nominated as Liberia’s ambassador to the United Nations and later the European Union under former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, said that history continues to shape how Liberians view the US.For Wesseh though, the arrival of the deportees raises a more immediate question: Can Liberia, a country still struggling with basic infrastructure and services, accommodate more people?The cost of taking them inLiberia began rebuilding after a 14-year civil war ended in 2003, but Wesseh said the country still needs major investment. Poverty levels remain high and youth unemployment stands at 40%, according to African Development Bank data.“Our country needs a great deal of support,” he said. “We are short on medical facilities, and we have problems with education.”He questioned how the country would manage an influx of people from abroad.“They will have to go to the same hospitals. You won’t create a new hospital for them,” he said. “There’s no spare housing. We don’t have existing housing to put new people in.”Wesseh said Liberia’s development needs may have influenced the government’s decision, with officials hoping the agreement would bring support from Washington.Liberian authorities described the arrangement as humanitarian and said the deportees will be treated as guests who can seek asylum or leave the country.Asked whether he viewed the deal as humanitarian assistance, a diplomatic arrangement or the US outsourcing its immigration enforcement, Wesseh chose the latter.“I think (the administration of US President Donald Trump) just sees this as a place to dump people,” he said. “They want to take them off their hands and dump them in this country.”A chance for a new startFrancis Dennis had long known that his family had roots in the migration of Black Americans to Liberia in the 19th century. But just a few weeks ago, he became curious about his family’s past and began using AI genealogy tools to dig deeper into that history.The 71-year-old former president of the Liberia Chamber of Commerce told CNN he traced his great-great-great-grandfather to Snow Hill, a town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the US, using the technology and notes left by his father.He said the research also pointed him to the name of the vessel that carried his ancestor across the Atlantic to Liberia, along with a list of its passengers.Generations later, Dennis is watching another group arrive in Liberia from the US. But he does not believe their circumstances have to define what comes next.“People may have their apprehension about a new life, but it’s also an opportunity,” he said. “Some may be happy, some may resent it, but it opens a new window, a new opportunity.”His own ancestor crossed the Atlantic generations ago and became part of the community that helped shape modern Liberia.Now, he hopes those arriving under very different circumstances will also see the country as a chance for a fresh start.“The ball will be in their court,” Dennis said. “Are they going to seize it as an opportunity for a new start, a fresh start, a new life? Or will they be thinking about the past?”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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