Ferran Torres needed just one clear opportunity to write his name into World Cup history.
The Spain forward came off the bench before scoring the only goal in a tense 1-0 extra-time victory over Argentina, securing his country’s second men’s World Cup title.
Torres was introduced in the 62nd minute as a replacement for Mikel Oyarzabal. With Argentina defending deep and Emiliano Martínez repeatedly denying Spain, the final remained goalless after 90 minutes.
That changed moments after the second period of extra time began.
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Torres delivers when it matters most
Spain immediately regained possession from the restart and launched another attack. Nico Williams helped keep the move alive before finding Torres inside the penalty area.
The substitute finished emphatically with his left foot, beating Martínez in the 106th minute. It was Spain’s 20th attempt of the match and Torres’ first goal of the tournament, according to Fox Sports.
“I think at the end of the day, it was a goal scored by 47 million people,” Torres said after the final.
Argentina had entered extra time with 10 players after Enzo Fernández received a second yellow card in stoppage time. Despite being a man down, the defending champions remained within touching distance until Torres finally broke their resistance.
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His strike gave Spain their first World Cup title since Andrés Iniesta scored the extra-time winner against the Netherlands in 2010.
A record shared with Mario Götze
Torres also became only the second substitute to score the winning goal in a men’s World Cup final, as highlighted by Opta and reported by The Times of India.
The first was Mario Götze, who came off the bench for Germany against Argentina in the 2014 final. Götze scored in the 113th minute to secure another 1-0 extra-time victory.
The parallels are striking. Both players entered as substitutes, both scored late in extra time and both delivered the decisive goal in a World Cup final against Argentina.
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Torres’ intervention completed a dominant Spanish performance and earned him the official Player of the Match award, according to FIFA’s match report.
For a player who began the final on the bench and had not scored earlier in the tournament, it was the defining moment of his career.
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