Heavy metal vs. an orchestra: What to expect from the World Cup final

By Ben Church, CNN

(CNN) — After 103 matches and 38 days of action, we’re down to the final game on the last day of the 2026 World Cup.

A total of 46 teams have fallen and only two nations remain – world No. 1 Argentina and world No. 2 Spain.

Incredibly, the last time the two teams met on the World Cup stage was back in 1966, but they are set to clash again at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

There are so many storylines and subplots to explore ahead of the final, including half-time shows and President Donald Trump in attendance, so let’s get straight into it.

Styles make fights

Firstly, this will be a clash of two very opposing styles. To use a phrase coined by former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, it’s heavy metal music versus an orchestra.

On the one hand, Argentina is all about aggression and physicality. They do the ugly stuff so well, almost prioritizing that over the obvious quality it possesses. It’s all guns blazing from the opening minute, foot smashed down against the accelerator, hurtling downhill and throwing everything it has in attack.

All that chaos lays the perfect foundation for Lionel Messi to wave his magic wand. His teammates – more akin to bodyguards this summer – do the dirty work, which leaves Messi to focus solely on unlocking the opposition’s defense with his unrivaled quality.

It’s a tactic that has worked. A host of late goals and comebacks suggests opponents can’t live with Argentina’s intensity for a full 90 minutes.

Then you have Spain. La Roja is a far more patient team, preferring to keep possession and pass their opponent to death, waiting for any momentary lapse of concentration. The philosophy is a simple one: If we have the ball, the opposition can’t score – and it’s one that’s served the nation well in recent years.

Spain last won the World Cup in 2010 off the back of a similar possession-based game, dubbed “tiki-taka”. That style of play defined an era of soccer that has started to be pushed out by a more physical form in recent seasons. Even when Spain won the European Championship in 2022, it did so by utilizing the pace and directness of its wingers.

But after several injuries to the squad this summer, manager Luis de la Fuente has reverted to Spain’s trusty trademark, which sees it as the narrow favorite for the title.

The aim for Argentina is clear for everyone to see: knock Spain out of its rhythm.

With that said, Spanish star Rodri will have a target on his back (or, more appropriately, his ankles). The 30-year-old is often the metronome in that Spanish midfield who keeps things ticking. No player in the tournament has made more passes than him (694, over a hundred more than anyone else). Stop him and Argentina takes away Spain’s superpower.

You won’t be surprised to hear that no team has committed more fouls than Argentina this tournament, so expect tackles aplenty and heated confrontations flaring up both on and off the pitch.

Spain must remain calm and not rise to the bait if it wants to stick to its game plan – although that’s easier said than done. One thing’s for sure, referee Slavko Vinčić will have his work cut out from the off.

“I think Sunday’s match will be quite different, as it will be a more physical one and we must be prepared,” Rodri told reporters in the days ahead of the final, saying he’s confident his team can hold its own against any style of play.

“We know how to play different games based on the moment. So, we can adapt to having to defend, counterattacking, to attacking. We are a very complete team, and that is why we are here.”

The King vs the Prince

The clash of styles is one subplot but arguably not as exciting as the prospect of Messi coming up against Lamine Yamal.

I don’t need to remind you of Messi’s talents. He’s simply the best and has been for almost two decades. But if one man has the potential to match or even exceed the Argentine’s achievements, it might just be Yamal.

I say man, but the Spaniard is basically still a boy. He only turned 19 earlier this week but has enjoyed more success than most players experience in their entire careers.

He’s already a three-time La Liga winner for Barcelona, a European champion with Spain and he’s now just one game away from adding a World Cup to his trophy cabinet, in what is his debut at the tournament.

It’s no wonder then that he’s being compared to Messi. They both broke through at the same club, both play on the same wing and both possess the same unearthly talent to beat their defenders with such ease.

Yamal has always played down the comparison, focusing instead on being the best version of himself. And while his form this summer has been hampered by an injury he was recovering from coming into the tournament, he’ll be a big focus of Argentina’s attention.

Much has once again been made of that famous 2007 photoshoot in which Messi was pictured bathing a young child, which turned out to be Yamal.

Whether or not you believe it’s some divine intervention or an early passing of the baton, it will feel like a bizarre full-circle moment on Sunday when the pair face each other for the first time.

Given the way the tournament has gone so far, you’d imagine Spain will be more concerned about Messi than Argentina is about Yamal. But underestimate the teenager at your peril.

How form compares

Argentina is the only team to have won all its games this tournament, with Spain also unbeaten but having drawn its opening group game.

But that winning record masks the fact that this Argentina team has flirted with elimination on more than one occasion.

Cape Verde took it to extra time in the Round of 32, while Egypt was 11 minutes away from victory before a Messi-shaped miracle turned the Round of 16 match on its head. A red card then helped it sneak past Switzerland in the quarterfinal and a late comeback against England capped off a ridiculously dramatic knockout phase in the semifinals.

Argentina just seemed destined to progress.

But it’s picked up some enemies along the way. La Albiceleste’s physical style of play isn’t for everyone and the team also became the subject of an unfounded conspiracy that FIFA was somehow helping it get to the final.

Love it or hate it, you have to respect Argentina’s hustle.

“Once again, we’ve established ourselves among the top two teams in the world. That proves that everything we’ve done is no fluke and that nothing was handed to us,” Messi hit back earlier this week.

As for Spain, it’s grown into this tournament after a tricky start. The 2-0 win against France in the semifinal was by far its best performance and one that caught the attention of the world.

Before that, much like Argentina, La Roja had relied on some late goals to get through the latter stages – mainly from Mikel Merino, who struck the winner in both the Round of 16 and quarterfinal after coming on as a late substitute.

But to sum up the difference between these two sides, I’ll leave you with one stat.

No team has scored as many goals as Argentina at this tournament (19) and no team has conceded fewer than Spain (1).

It’s all set up to be a battle for the ages.

All the other stuff

This year’s World Cup final is so much more than a soccer match. It’s the end of a summer of soccer love, a massive party over more than a month that brought The Beautiful Game to a new level in America. It’s been a tournament that’s been fully embraced by its hosts, and that’ll be on display in the final.

After all, we’ll have the very first halftime show.

Shakira, Madonna, BTS and Justin Bieber are all expected to perform in a show that is expected to last 11 minutes. In recent days, though, broadcasters have predicted the spectacle will cause the regular half-time break to be extended, much to the annoyance of soccer purists.

According to the laws of the game, the break between halves should be no longer than 15 minutes but FIFA has been quite vague about the rules for this particular tournament. Reports suggest that installing and taking down the stages will inevitably cause the break to stretch way longer than normal.

And then, given it’s the final, Trump is also set to attend. The president won’t just be a spectator, though. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has previously stated that Trump would hand the trophy to the eventual winners, much like he did at the Club World Cup last summer.

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