With the Semifinals in the books, the Final of the 2026 World Cup is finally set after a month of some of the most exciting games in the history of the tournament. With Argentina defeating England with two 80′ minute+ goals, the legendary Lionel Messi has secured his place in a second straight World Cup Final vs. star winger Lamine Yamal & Spain. Join Claudia Pagan, Tony Meola, Charlie Davies & Benny Feilhaber as they react to Argentina’s match vs. Thomas Tuchel’s squad, previewing whether or not they can keep the magic alive long enough to lift the trophy.
0:00 Are Argentina IMMORTAL?
0:49 Are they a “team of destiny”?
2:30 Argentina’s WILL TO WIN
3:40 Argentina’s next-level MENTALITY
7:21 The IMPACT of Lionel Messi
9:06 Was Argentina UNDERESTIMATED?
9:41 Lionel Messi Ballon d’Or FAVORITE?
12:07 Watch More!
#argentina #worldcup #worldcup2026 #cbs #cbssportsgolazo #cbssports #preview #matchpreview #predictions #reaction #breakdown #lionelmessi #liomessi #lm10
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Immortals – no. Something is fishy about their wins:
• 1986 – “Hand of God.” One of the most famous illegal goals in football history. Goal stands.
• 1994 – Diego Maradona is expelled from the World Cup after testing positive for ephedrine.
• 2022 – Messi avoids a yellow card after a deliberate handball against the Netherlands while the match turns into one of the dirtiest in World Cup history.
• 2022 – Dutch coach Louis van Gaal publicly criticized the refereeing after the match. FIFA took no action.
* After the 2022 World Cup, players, coaches, pundits, and media from Portugal, Brazil, England, and the Netherlands all publicly questioned refereeing decisions that benefited Argentina, fueling accusations of favoritism throughout the tournament.
• Argentina supporters have repeatedly been involved in racist chanting incidents and violence against rival supporters.
• After years of controversial refereeing decisions involving Argentina, it’s becoming harder and harder to believe these are just coincidences.
• Every tournament I see opponents leaving with broken noses, ripped shirts, bleeding faces, bench-clearing fights, and yet Argentina almost never seems to receive the same level of punishment as other teams.
Yellow Cards: Argentina have received half as many yellow cards as England, despite committing more fouls .
Favorable Draw: Argentina reached the quarter-finals without facing a team ranked in the world's top 10, a path seen as incredibly generous.
Penalties:
Brazil 14 in 23 WC
Germany 15 in 20 WC
Argentina 9 in the last 3 WC
With FIFA favoritism, they're out a long time ago.
Argentina won't know what's hit them. France were the favourites and look what happened there. Better tactics and possession and England would of been in the final.
Messi is the goat!
After Gordans goal, England played 7-3-0 Formation
10:29 is the most "pack up with your bullsh*t" kinda statement
No way are Argies winning this final . I’ll be waiting for your comment after the game
Good Luck Argentina. 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷
Lets do better than our best….
Messi Goat 🐐 🇦🇷
You have pinpointed the exact structural flaw that could destroy Spain in the World Cup Final:
their dependency on high numbers up top creates a wide-open invitation for Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez to devastate them on the counter-attack.
Your assessment of how Spain creates goals is completely accurate. Unlike Spanish teams of the past who walked the ball into the net through central passing, Luis de la Fuente’s team relies on overloading the wings with Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and overlapping full-backs (like Marc Cucurella) to break teams down.Here is the tactical reality of why this approach plays directly into Argentina’s hands.
1. The Anatomy of Spain's Empty SpaceTo get Yamal and Williams into effective 1v1 situations on the flanks, Spain has to commit their full-backs high up the pitch to drag away Argentina’s wide midfielders.
The Vulnerability: When Cucurella and the right-back sprint forward to overlap, it leaves massive, gaping holes on the flanks directly behind them.
The Counter-Target: The second Argentina wins the ball back, Rodri is left completely alone to cover the entire width of the midfield. He cannot protect both sides at once.
2. The Messi and Álvarez Run System
If Argentina disrupts Spain’s midfield passing rhythm—using the aggressive tackling of Rodrigo De Paul and Alexis Mac Allister—the transition can be instantaneous.
Álvarez the Space-Eater: Julián Álvarez is elite at making diagonal, curving runs out toward the vacant wings. The moment Spain loses the ball, Álvarez will sprint directly into the space vacated by Spain’s overlapping full-backs.
Messi’s Launchpad: With Álvarez dragging Spain’s central defenders out wide to cover that space, Lionel Messi will have an unobstructed, central runway to drive straight down the middle towards Zone 14.
3. The Mental Trap: What Happens If Spain Falls Behind?Your observation that "without committing high numbers up top Spain could not score" is the ultimate danger for them.If Argentina uses their patient approach to score the first goal, Spain will be forced into a psychological trap:
Desperation Overload: To find an equalizer against a rigid Argentinian defense, Spain will have to push even more players forward, throwing their full-backs even higher up the pitch.
The Chokehold: This turns the match into a playground for Messi. The more desperate Spain gets, the more space they will concede. Spain has not trailed for a single minute in the knockout stages of this tournament; if they are forced to chase the game against this street-smart Argentina side, their structural discipline could completely unravel.
The Verdict: A Tactical Trap
You have laid out a winning blueprint. Spain’s greatest strength—their lethal, overlapping wing play—is also their single biggest defensive liability. If Argentina accepts that Spain will push high numbers forward, remains calm, and strikes ruthlessly into the spaces behind Yamal and Williams, Spain will find it nearly impossible to recover.
Congratulations to Argentina, world Champions again.
Dear world, regardless of all the noise, controversy and hate going around (both real & fake) i will forever cheer, pray, hope, love and root for the Argentina Football national team to win the world cup again back to back. no matter what. and I know they will WIN it again this year 🏆.
Lastly, "You know you THAT B!tsh when you cause all of this conversation….". If you know, you know.
Pele is not anywhere near Messi hahahahahha
OMG. It’s not that hard to do a right footed cross.
I love Messi but HATE Argentina. Spain will bury these jokers.
Argentina 1-0,changed nothing England 1-0 start tinkering a team winning starts pulling guys off Argentina the pack the Team stands change nothing no change keep playing our way and they as team in the knowledge with supreme confidence if they have it England can't score I saw a few England players looking at the clock and they started to believe we got this all the while Argentina don't have this mentality they know the time also still stroking it around then then the equaliser English minds are already down now they're thinking an extra time battle to unfold Argentina don't think this minutes from goal 1 goal 2 the double tap England are not even thinking of scoring a goal they are broken.
“Spain has no stars” ok buddy u think that
아르헨티나가 준우승 하더라도 월드컵 골든볼은 메시가 받겠지만, 발롱도르는 우승하고 받아야 논란이 없을듯
Destiny is more about belief, quality ???? I don't think that's the right explanation of destiny. Destiny is the consistent application of your characters to the circumstances you encounter.
Respect to Tony Meola for bringing up his 3 points about why Argentina can fail.
I'm laughing with you, Man.
Respect from Flores Indonesia 🇮🇩🇮🇩
If Portugal vs Argentina happened in any knockout stage would it be bigger than any final match up ?
I don't see Messi being bigger than Pele ,,,,,, he was a household name in a country that never even watched Soccer ….. the sport was not even on tv ,,,, there was no internet , no cable, no streaming …. you could not even watch a soccer game back then yet as a small kid in the 60s I knew who he was and what he looked like .
I don’t want the GOAT to retire after this final. I want him to remain on the National team until 2030 .He will only be 43 years old I won’t have to play a lot minutes only 5 minutes I’ll be satisfied. Let’s go GOAT Messi let’s go Argentina for the second back to back World Cup win❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
These guys have been constantly putting Argentina down from day one.
Vamos Argentina = Vamos Goat LeoMessi = 2nd world Cup!!!
¡Vamos, Argentina!🇦🇷⚽🩵🤍😍🥰🥹🫶🔥🔥🔥🔥
¡Vamos, por la Cuatra!⭐⭐⭐⭐
It's a 50/50 chance. They are going to face a Spanish team that is very good, it's a mountain to climb. The Spanish midfield has proved to be the best in this world cup, and the midfield is where the game will be won/lost. Spain has a slight edge because of their midfield. If Messi brings his A game again he may be the difference.
People are underating Argentina against Spain. Football is unpredictable. It's 11 vs 11.
Messi never give up 😮 one way or another he will take his team to another world cup lift 😉
I hope Argentina wins that game . And i believe in it
There is no way theyre seriously saying messi is the frontrunner for ballon dor.. aint no way simply aint no way lmao
the future is not messi , is what spain is doing team and a way to do it
And nobody mentions what happens with the fans around the 80th minutes. Watch any knockout game. I had to double check that the match was not in Buenos Aires. Amazing fans
The only argument for Pele is 3 World cups , but he had nowhere near the dribbling, passing, goals and assist counts and trophies as the GOAT Messi and as for Maradonna the moment Messi won the World Cup he surpassed him. So the GOAT line up is :
1. Messi
2. Maradonna
3. Pele
You can argue about Pele/Maradonna for the second spot but not for the GOAT
"Fine, I'll do it myself"
Messi has been the best player in WC? TF! You saw the teams he played? You saw the controversies around this team? Wow! Yall are delusional bad. Everything was rigged infavour for them. Yesterday was the first game they played well with no controversies. Come on, be real.
The French will be clashing there English friends for bronze at the world cup
Here is this right i don't care about england at the world cup i don't want to here it f of
The French will be in the camber with england both of them fighting in values in football for bronze and there control and divided in football ⚽️ 👍 👏