Argentina's forward #10 Lionel Messi warms up ahead of the 2026 World Cup football tournament final match between Spain and Argentina at the New York/New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford
Lionel Messi's battle-hardened Argentina take on slick-passing Spain in Sunday's World Cup final as the first 48-team tournament in history reaches a climax.
The South Americans are striving to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups, while Spain are eyeing a second title after their maiden victory in 2010.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires that had choked skies over the eastern United States in recent days had cleared by Sunday morning, replaced by blue skies.
Fans turned Madrid red and yellow, packing squares and bars, while thousands of blue-and-white-clad Argentina fans thronged New York.
