Spain supersub Ferran Torres scores winning goal in World Cup Final

For the second time in history, Spain are champions of the world.

Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the second half of extra time to give Spain a tense 1-0 World Cup Final victory over Argentina on Sunday evening in New Jersey.

“It was a goal scored by 47 million people,” Torres said afterwards while referring to Spain’s population.

Torres, who roamed into the box unmarked, received a headed pass from Nico Williams and rocketed the ball with his left foot past Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez in the 106th minute.

The winning goal prompted a raucous celebration from the outnumbered Spain fans inside MetLife Stadium and the entire Spanish bench, which mobbed the striker near the corner flag.

And it capped a matchup the Spanish players dominated in almost all categories throughout the afternoon here at the Meadowlands.

For the entirety of the afternoon, the Argentinian futbol team played like the football team that calls this stadium home — the New York Jets.

They lacked offense, couldn’t score and couldn’t even generate opportunities to put a score on the board.

It was an unfortunate performance, but very fitting inside the home of a team that will likely do the same when the NFL regular season begins in September.

At the end of a magical World Cup run filled with thrilling endings and comebacks, there was no such finish for Lionel Messi and Argentina. They needed two goals in the final moments after trailing for 30 minutes in a semifinals match against England to clinch Sunday’s final.

That came two matches after they trailed, 2-0, to Egypt but managed to score three unanswered in the Round of 16 to move on. Messi scored one of them in that match.

He was non-existent on Sunday. And so was his entire team.

They recorded no shots on target after 120 minutes plus all the stoppage time. They held possession for 35% of the match, which felt shockingly higher after watching the performance. Argentina managed just four corners to Spain’s nine and completed 388 fewer passes than their Spanish counterparts.

An underwhelming halftime show — which lasted nearly 30 minutes — featuring K-Pop group BTS, Madonna, Shakira and Justin Bieber packed more creativity and firepower than the 2022 World Cup champs.

Their performances, though, ended a stress-filled first half that didn’t pose any real threat to either goalkeeper except for Lamine Yamal’s fifth minute chance that was saved by Emiliano Martínez.

Martínez, who saved 11 shots, was the lone bright spot for Argentina on Sunday. He now holds the record for most saves in a World Cup Final after his efforts.

The other Argentinian highlight came in stoppage time moments before extra time.

Enzo Fernandez, who already was booked for a first-half yellow card, viciously tackled Spanish defender Pau Cubarsí. The kick sent Cubarsí into the air like a helicopter, putting Argentina a man down as the match extended into extra time.

It proved costly for Argentina, who nearly got a taste of their own medicine as Yamal looked set for a free-kick winner at the end of regular time. The kick ended up being one of Martinez’s many saves, and induced extra time.

Spain, however, struck in the 96th minute with Nico Williams’ rebound goal after Mikel Merino’s initial shot was blocked. The referee ruled out the goal after assessing Merino a foul on Argentinian defender Nicolás Otamendi, which was upheld by VAR.

Williams made up for it 10 minutes later with his game-winning assist. Later, each Spanish player took turns holding the elusive World Cup trophy.

“We are world champions, It was together we reached this stage,” said Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente, who is now the oldest coach (65) to lead a team to a World Cup title.

Argentina were the ones crying tears of sadness after shedding tears of joy four years ago in Qatar.

And Messi gets no fairytale end that would’ve capped an already illustrious international career for his homeland.