Messi sobs as Spain win spiteful final after red card drama

It was the ultimate Spanish inquisition.

For 105 minutes La Roja knocked the ball around, enjoying a staggering 68 per cent of possession.

And for 105 minutes Argentina were like stubborn cockroaches, a band of brothers, refusing to die.

Enzo Fernández’s red card - in the final minute of regular time - wore Lionel Messi’s men down further.

Twenty shots to three: unheard of for a World Cup final as Emiliano Martínez reprised his goalkeeping heroics from 2022.

Conspiracy theorists were licking their lips and reaching for their phones when Nico Williams’ goal was disallowed.

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But fresh legs and law of averages proved telling.

Williams’ head proved telling, as he cleverly directed a cross into the orbit of his fellow substitute Ferran Torres.

The 26-year-old from Barcelona struck sweetly and Martinez was human after all.

It was not a classic final and some petulant Argentina players let themselves down by throwing their toys after the fulltime whistle.

England legend Alan Shearer described the scenes as “terrible,” singling out Leandro Paredes for criticism.

The substitute midfielder was given a post-match red card.

“Paredes threw two or three haymakers into someone’s face. He went for them. There is no place or space for that,” Shearer told the BBC.

“We know how much it means to them, and we know how much it hurts to lose, but there is a way to lose. Too many times we have seen that from Argentina. The reaction after the final whistle is terrible.”

Surgical Spain, 1-0 winners, deserved their moment in the dying New Jersey sun.

Such is the nation’s influence on modern football, it now seems remarkable that it took until 2010 to get a star on their red shirts.

Kings of Europe and now champions of the world as the men joined the women’s heroes from 2023 in Australia.

“We’ve won everything, everything,” Spain manager Luis de la Fuente said.

“And that’s wonderful, with a generation of footballers, I’ll say it again and again, who are an example for Spanish sport, for Spanish youth, for Spain. Together we are stronger, let there be no doubt about that.

“Yes, I think the game should have been decided much earlier. Dibu’s (Martinez’s) great saves prevented us from winning the game sooner. We could have taken a more comfortable lead. But this is a world championship final, and even with 10 men, you have to suffer at the end.

“But since we like to suffer, we’ve shown once again that we’re ready for anything.”

Messi cried as fans chanted his name before Donald Trump hung winner’s medals - ‘beautiful, shiny, gold!’ - over the necks of Spanish players.

“I think that in the end, the goal belonged to 47 million people, not to me or the 26 players here,” Torres said.

“I believe that today destiny was written, it was meant for us to win, far from our fans, but we tried to make them feel as close as possible.

“All finals are difficult, and when you have Messi on the opposing team, you always get nervous. But ultimately, we’ve always depended on ourselves, on playing our style of football, and I think we demonstrated that once again today.”

Messi has not officially retired from international football, but he has hinted that this World Cup would be his swansong in the famous Argentina shirt.

The world’s greatest player of all-time remains under contract with Inter Miami until the end of 2028.

“I feel sad. But I am aware that we played our hearts out,” Messi said.

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni agreed.

“There is sadness, but also the knowledge that we gave it our all,” Scaloni said.

“I could say a lot about how we got here, but it’s not worth it. I am eternally grateful to these guys; they competed right to the end. The other team was better.”

Spain midfielder Rodri won the Golden Ball prize as the tournament’s best player, while France captain Kylian Mbappé won Golden Boot with 10 goals - two more than Messi after his double against England in the wild bronze medal match.

Spain’s Unai Simon won the Golden Glove award as the World Cup’s best goalkeeper - conceding just once in eight games - and teenaged teammate Pau Cubarsí was judged the best young player.

“I think now I’m in a cloud,” Spain captain Rodri said.

The Manchester City midfielder was able to get back to his best after returning from knee surgery last year.

Rodri had no goals or assists in the tournament, but was critical to Spain’s possession-heavy style of play.

He completed more passes than anyone (753) with 94 per cent accuracy.

“For me, it’s been a very tough time. I just want the new generation to see my example as an opportunity to that if you go down, you can rise again,” Rodri said.

“This is my philosophy my entire life. Of course, sometimes things go well, things go wrong. But always the positive.”