After a World Cup that delivered so much colour and drama, the final between Spain and Argentina will not last long in the memory.
Spain are World Cup winners for the second time after Ferran Torres’ goal in extra time secured a second star for La Roja, but Argentina offered nothing as Lionel Messi and the defending champions finally ran out of road.
Style of the teams
Spain love the ball and seek to control the game through meticulous passing (but some people also find this “boring”). Argentina like fouls and gamesmanship, breaking up the game and doing whatever it takes to win until one of their stars – and it is usually the greatest of all time in Lionel Messi – makes the difference (but some people also find this “dirty”).
Together, “boring” v “dirty”(to borrow a couple of phrases used elsewhere) is not a great combination. Add in that fact that both teams were playing their eighth match of an exhausting tournament, with Argentina looking particularly tired following several comebacks in the knockout stages.
So, it didn’t help the final that Argentina resorted to even more fouls, leading to Enzo Fernandez’s red card shortly before extra time. They failed to land a single shot before Ferran Torres fired Spain into the lead, having contributed very little to the spectacle until it was far too late.
Then, when Argentina finally arrived, their tournament ended in disgrace, with Leandro Paredes sent off following the final whistle after appearing to lash out at Spain’s Eric Garcia and Gavi. And no, post-match scraps do not salvage a dismal final.
All the delays
The final kicked off six minutes late following a bizarre speech from Tom Cruise, which wasn’t great, but it sounds pretty inconsequential when compared to the 27-minute delay between the end of the first half and the start of the second. Organisers Fifa had assured both teams before the final that the half-time show was expected to take around 20 minutes, but the delay to the World Cup final was actually much longer, which meant Fifa went even further in breaking their own rules. The game’s laws state half-time breaks should “not exceed 15 minutes”.
Appearing on the BBC, and speaking for maybe everyone, former England captain Wayne Rooney said the half-time show was “crap” – but Spain actually had one of their better periods of the game after half-time, creating several chances and dangerous moments. Spain then hit another delay, however, with the second hydration break. We may have got used to the three-minute stoppages throughout this World Cup, but they don’t help matches that desperately need some rhythm and flow. And we will not miss them.
A ‘bobbly, dry’ pitch
Concerns were first raised about the state of the ‘New York New Jersey Stadium’ pitch weeks ago. Brazil star Vinicius Jr said following the 1-1 draw against Morocco that “because of the weather and the heat, the grass dries out quickly and the game ends up being very slow”. Sound familiar? On ITV, Ian Wright led criticism of the World Cup final pitch following the goalless first half, calling the playing surface “ridiculous, poor, terrible” as well as “bobbly and dry” – hardly ideal conditions for slick attacking play and silky dribbling.
The weather
The 3pm ET kick-off time in New Jersey (8pm BST) was undoubtedly scheduled with the European TV market in mind as well as the local and South American audience. But starting in the middle of the afternoon and the hottest part of the day (27C / 80.6F) would not have helped the players, either. The New York New Jersey Stadium is a giant outdoor bowl exposed to the elements, unlike the semi-final venues in Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium and the Dallas Stadium in Texas which feature giant retractable roofs and benefit from air conditioning.
… finals usually are like this!
Sure, this was not the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France. But the reason that match should be remembered as the greatest football match of all time is because it took place within what is usually the suffocating constraints of the biggest sporting event on the planet. When the stakes and pressure are so high and the margins between immortality and defeat are so fine, it does not tend to result in a thriller. England’s 6-4 win over France in the third-place match on Saturday night would never have played out like that if it was the final. An exciting World Cup as a whole does not guarantee a final of the same ilk. So, actually, this was a typical World Cup final, one to follow Germany 1-0 Argentina (after extra time, 2014), Spain 1-0 Netherlands (after extra time, 2010) and Brazil 0-0 Italy (3-2 on pens, 1994).
