Poise versus passion for historic World Cup final

All things considered, and despite the howls of partisan rivals and conspiracy theorists, Sunday’s World Cup final is probably the right World Cup final, and for all the right reasons.

Never before have the reigning champions of Europe and South America gone head-to-head for global football supremacy. Never, that is, until Sunday. Only twice before has each finalist featured a previous Ballon d’Or winner. Sunday will be the third.

Spain, the European champion captained by Rodri, who won the Ballon d’Or two years ago, enters the final without a defeat over 90 minutes in 37 matches. Argentina, the South American champion captained by Lionel Messi — who boasts of a record eight Ballons d’Or — enters the final with 14 straight wins.

We could go on, but pretty much any way we’d slice it would leave us with Spain and Argentina. They are the best teams in the world in this moment, the most worthy World Cup combatants.

And they could hardly be more different.

Watch Spain, and you’ll see a type of football you can almost tap your foot to.

Having used a sort of vertical tiki-taka to win the 2024 Euros, La Roja has reverted to a style not unlike the version that won it the World Cup in 2010. Absent traditional strikers, its forwards create turnovers in the attacking third while its full-backs compress the game into sections the midfielders can control.

This is the phase that Rodri dictates, supported by Fabian Ruiz and advanced by Dani Olmo. They stifled a previously dynamic France attack in Tuesday’s semifinal, and the half-chances their opponents mustered were squashed by Aymeric Laporte and the exceptional Pau Cubarsi.

As Spain manager Luis de la Fuente put it, his players “deactivated” France. And they were able to do it because, in his opinion, Spanish players are the best at interpreting a match.

Based on what we’ve seen the past few weeks, it’s hard to argue. Spain plays the closest thing to perfect football since, well, Spain — the team of 2010. If this one’s different, it’s likely because it’s less severe, done with more of a smile than a scowl.

Argentina, meanwhile, has gone through the tournament with a snarl. It’s agitated, angry; an anger sometimes contrived, sometimes real. Not that it matters.

Going into the World Cup Final, La Albiceleste is angry about the “Campeones” message briefly projected on Barcelona’s Torre Agbar. Now, the projection was a 15-minute test to ensure the lights were co-ordinated to celebrate a possible Spain victory.

Only, the reigning World Cup and Copa America champion does not do nuance, so those 15 minutes have generated a national two day’s hate. Of course Spain would assume it’s going to win (it doesn’t), and of course it’s additional proof that the world is against Argentina (it’s not).

But the rage, actual or faux, has been both an off- and on-field unifier for Argentina, and after the semifinal win against England — which showed the real stuff — the blood is simply too hot to cool off in time for Sunday.

Thing is, it takes an awful lot of energy to sustain that level of anger.

On Thursday, the newspaper Clarín ran a headline reading, “…The Day After the Glory.” The glory in reference wasn’t winning the World Cup Final, but beating the English.

There’s a danger that Argentina is emotionally depleted, and even if that’s not the case it’s unlikely to rattle the Spanish. Though Lionel Messi might rattle them.

While Leandro Paredes stomps around, Alexis Mac Allister looks for ankles to kick and Enzo Fernandez aims elbows at anything that moves, Messi cuts his way through chaos, sprinkling his magic dust that, at crucial moments, transforms villains into virtuosos.

In other words, there is simply no way to prepare to face Argentina. And if, after taking a lead or enjoying sustained positivity, you think you’ve finally got them, manager Lionel Scaloni will make the sort of game-changing substitutions that alter the match entirely.

Naturally, Spain will look to smother Argentina’s aggression by simply keeping the ball and forcing the opposition to chase it. And Argentina may be forced to use its dark arts in winning it back. In which case a lot will ride on referee Slavko Vincic’s willingness to make important calls.

But wasn’t Vincic in charge when Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia in 2022? What’s up with that?

In a word, nothing. And everything.

Spain and Argentina are polar opposites. They are poise versus passion, ideal versus improvisation, tempo versus temper. They’re also the two best teams in the world. And they’re the right World Cup finalists for 2026, all things considered.

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