World Cup 2026: Spain vs. Argentina Predictions

Spain vs. Argentina Overview and Latest Odds

According to the latest World Cup odds, Spain is the favorite to win the World Cup 2026 final, but Argentina is the defending champion and it will not give up its trophy without a fight.

• Location: MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, USA

• Date & Time: Sunday 19th July, 3:00 PM ET

• US Broadcast: FOX Sports

For readers in U.S. states where conventional sports betting is still unavailable, regulated prediction market platforms offer a legal alternative. These apps enable users to trade on event outcomes while benefiting from highly accurate, market-driven forecasts.

Expert Betting Predictions and Best Bets for Spain vs. Argentina

Below are our three top tips for Spain vs. Argentina, including two straight bets and one same game parlay.

• Spain to lift the trophy

This is a tough match to call. Spain and Argentina are deserved finalists and both teams have their merits, but on balance we favor the European side. There are a few reasons for that. Spain has been more convincing in the knockout stage, winning all four matches within 90 minutes. It has only conceded one goal all tournament, keeping a clean sheet in six out of seven encounters. It has also had an extra day to prepare for the final, having played France 24 hours before Argentina faced England. Whether it is after normal time, extra time or via a penalty shoot-out, we recommend picking Spain as the World Cup winner.

• Spain to score first

Belgium is the only team at this World Cup to have denied Spain a clean sheet. Even in that game, Spain scored first. Indeed, it has gone 1-0 up in every game it has faced since matchday one, a goalless tie with Cape Verde. Sometimes the opening goal has arrived late, such as when Spain scored in second-half injury time to beat Portugal 1-0. Argentina, on the other hand, has conceded the first goal in half of its four knockout matches, going behind to Egypt and England. We expect Spain to draw first blood in Sunday’s showdown at the MetLife Stadium.

• Spain to win and Mikel Oyarzabal to score anytime

The biggest question mark over Spain is whether it can score enough goals to beat an Argentina team that has found the back of the net 19 times at this tournament, more than any other side. Lamine Yamal, who is slowly getting back to his best after injury, will be one of Spain’s principal threats, but Mikel Oyarzabal is our pick in the anytime goalscorer market. He has scored five times already, making him Spain’s top scorer at the World Cup, and he also takes penalties for Luis de la Fuente’s crew.

Spain Betting Preview

Spain dazzled on its way to glory at Euro 2024, but it has not quite hit those heights this summer. Lamine Yamal has played in every game, but the injury he suffered ahead of the tournament means we have not seen the best of him. Nico Williams, his fellow wing wizard in Germany two years ago, has barely featured.

As such, Spain have fallen back on the control that underpinned its success between 2008 and 2012, when it won two European Championships and one World Cup. This team is not quite as adept at keeping the ball as the Xavi Hernandez-Andres Iniesta-Sergio Busquets vintage, but Spain has done an excellent job of protecting its backline via possession.

It took a while for La Roja to grow into the tournament. It started with that tie against Cape Verde, before ending the group stage with a narrow 1-0 triumph over a poor Uruguay side. But in the semi-finals against France, the favorite to lift the trophy, it produced a dominant display to win 2-0. Spain is now potentially 90 minutes away from another piece of silverware.

Argentina Betting Preview

Spain is the champion of Europe and Argentina is the champion of South America. In fact, it has had even more success than La Roja over the last few years. As well as winning World Cup 2022, Argentina was triumphant at the last two editions of the Copa America. Whatever happens in the final, Lionel Scaloni will go down as one of the greatest coaches in the history of the national team.

Unlike Spain, Argentina hit the ground running this summer, beating Algeria 3-0 in its opening game thanks to a Lionel Messi hat-trick. It was one of only three teams, alongside Mexico and France, to amass maximum points in the group stage, but its progress through the knockout rounds has been significantly less serene. Argentina needed dramatic comebacks to beat Egypt and England, and extra time to defeat Cape Verde and Switzerland.

Yet no one can question the attitude and quality of the defending champion, which is seeking to make history by becoming the first team to retain the World Cup outside its own continent.

How Spain and Argentina Match Up Against Each Other

Spain and Argentina both like to dominate possession, but we will probably see the European side have a greater share of the ball here. Yet Argentina, more so than most of Spain's opponents at this tournament, is capable of taking the ball away from Luis de la Fuente's team for large spells.

Argentina is likely to return to the 4-4-2 diamond system it used against Switzerland, with Rodrigo De Paul set to return to the starting XI. He has a good relationship with Lionel Messi, who will drop deep and drift wide in search of space.

Dani Olmo is a key player for Spain due to his ability to link the play and knit the team together, while De la Fuente will hope that Yamal delivers a statement showing on the biggest stage of all. Mikel Oyarzabal, nominally a striker, will take up positions in deeper zones to help Spain dominate the ball.

Neutrals everywhere will hope for an entertaining World Cup final, as Spain and Argentina compete for glory in New Jersey.