Spain’s triumph at the 2026 World Cup was more than the recovery of a crown last won in 2010. It may have marked a changing of the guard in international football. The embrace between 19-year-old Lamine Yamal and 39-year-old Lionel Messi after Spain’s 1-0 extra-time victory over Argentina captured that transition with an eloquence that the match itself rarely achieved. Messi may have made his final World Cup appearance. Yamal, already a European champion, has now won football’s greatest prize before his 20th birthday. Yet Spain’s achievement is larger than the emergence of another prodigy.

The country simultaneously holds the men’s World Cup, European Championship and Olympic titles, alongside the women’s World Cup. Its senior men have gone 38 matches unbeaten. Such dominance suggests not a fortunate generation but a footballing system capable of continually renewing itself. The final demonstrated that strength. Spain had 65 per cent possession and subjected Argentina to sustained pressure, while the defending champions failed remarkably to register a shot during regulation time. Spain conceded only once throughout the tournament. Ferran Torres’s winner in the 106th minute therefore........

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