Spain were crowned World Cup champions for the second time on Sunday (19 July), beating Argentina 1-0 in extra time, but the celebrations were followed by ugly scenes at the final whistle, as players from both sides clashed and shoved one another in moments former England goalkeeper Joe Hart branded “disgusting”.
The trouble broke out shortly after referee Slavko Vincic ended the match. Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi and Leandro Paredes were involved in a confrontation that sent Spain’s Eric Garcia to the ground, while Borja Iglesias and Cristian Romero squared up separately in another flashpoint. The disorder briefly appeared to settle before flaring again during Spain’s celebrations, when Paredes shoved substitute Gavi to the turf.
Hart, working as a pundit for the BBC, did not hold back in his assessment of Argentina’s conduct. “Disgusting,” he said. “There was one man who did have class, and that was Lionel Messi, who shook hands with every one of the Spanish players. The game’s done, Argentina can have absolutely no complaints about what happened today. It’s disgusting behaviour.”
The scenes came at the end of a match in which Argentina’s habit of pulling off dramatic comebacks finally deserted them. Lionel Scaloni’s side, who had fought back from behind against both Egypt and England earlier in the tournament, had no route back this time, comprehensively outplayed for long spells and offering little of note until deep into extra time. Spain finished the knockout rounds with wins of 3-0, 1-0, 2-1 and 2-0, and many felt they should have wrapped up the final well inside normal time given their control throughout.
The result carried echoes of Argentina’s run to the 1990 final, when a side built heavily around the brilliance of Diego Maradona reached the showpiece as defending champions before falling short. This Argentina team similarly leaned on Messi’s influence throughout the competition, but found him well shackled in the final itself.
Spain’s win was not without its own moments of adversity. Eric Garcia, who had played no minutes at either this tournament or the 2022 World Cup, was summoned in extra time after Aymeric Laporte was unable to continue, and produced a crucial clearance in his own six yard box in the closing stages to help see out the result.
Amid the chaos at full time, quieter moments also stood out. Lamine Yamal was seen sitting on the pitch gesturing towards the crest on his shirt and mimicking the addition of a second star, a nod to Spain’s second World Cup title, while Messi appeared to grasp the significance of the final whistle immediately, visibly grimacing as Spain’s players began their celebrations nearby.
