The curtain fell on the 2026 World Cup after 39 days in which football captivated its fans, culminating in a deserved triumph for Spain, who wrote history with their second title, while Argentina failed to defend their crown.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi appeared far from the level expected by fans, posing no threat to Spain's goal, thus failing to reclaim two titles snatched from him by Frenchman Kylian Mbappe thanks to his two goals against England in the third-place match on Saturday.

Messi entered the World Cup final needing two goals to regain the top spot in the all-time World Cup scorers list, which Mbappe had seized with 22 goals, one ahead of Messi.

Mbappe also officially secured the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot, becoming the first player in history to win the tournament's top scorer award in two consecutive editions.

Mbappe scored 10 goals in the 2026 edition, after scoring 8 in 2022 and 4 in 2018.