By this time tomorrow, football’s biggest stage will have a new – or a familiar – champion. Spain faces Argentina at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday in the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the first edition of the tournament ever hosted jointly by three nations and the first played with an expanded 48-team field.
Kick-off is set for 3pm US Eastern time, well past midnight in Dhaka, guaranteeing another season of bleary-eyed office mornings across Bangladesh.
The road here has been dramatic on both sides. Spain, the reigning European champions, dismantled hosts France 2-0 in the first semi-final.
Argentina, the defending world champions, needed a stirring second-half comeback to beat England 2-1 in Atlanta – a result that keeps alive what many are already billing as Lionel Messi’s last World Cup dance, a storyline that has followed Argentina through every round.
New Jersey has spent years preparing for its moment. MetLife Stadium – rebranded “New York New Jersey Stadium” for the tournament – expects a sellout crowd above 80,000, and officials are urging fans to arrive early and travel by rail rather than car, with heightened security and major transit changes planned around the stadium and surrounding hubs.
The final will also carry the first halftime show ever staged at a World Cup final. Fan zones across the region, from American Dream Mall’s Dream Fan Fest to watch parties in Newark and Hoboken, are offering free public viewing for the millions without a ticket.
That last detail will matter just as much eight time zones away. Few countries wear their support for foreign sides as visibly – village rooftops painted in Argentine sky blue and white or Brazilian yellow every four years, giant flags strung across paddy fields, and rickshaws repainted for the tournament.
This year, with Messi possibly playing his final World Cup match, Argentina’s colours are expected to dominate roadside banners from Dhaka to Sylhet. Tea stalls and living rooms alike will stay open well past 3am local time, proof that a final an ocean away can still feel like a home fixture.
