Six battles that will decide the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina: From Lionel Messi versus Marc Cucurella to Lamine Yamal against Nico Tagliafico

There was always the feeling that Spain were the one side capable of nullifying France simply because they had Rodri in front of their back four. The Manchester City ace has had his injury issues over the past couple of years, but there was already ample evidence to suggest that he was back to his Ballon d'Or-winning best before he turned in a midfield masterclass against Les Bleus.

Argentina obviously don't lack aggression or athleticism in their engine room, meaning they unquestionably have it in them to disrupt Rodri's rhythm. However, doing so will very much depend on either Enzo Fernandez or Alexis Mac Allister - or maybe even a combination of both - pressing Spain's skipper at every opportunity, because if he's allowed time on the ball, he'll run the game, in much the same way he controlled the semi-final against France.

From an Argentine perspective, the hope will be that the multi-talented Fernandez and Mac Allister will also be able to ask serious questions of Rodri and his likely midfield partner Fabian Ruiz from a defensive perspective.

Fernandez has played well only in patches in this tournament, but he's scored great goals at massive moments against both Egypt and England, while Mac Allister hit the post twice in the closing stages of the latter game, to emphasise his attacking threat, and suggest that the Albiceleste's most complete midfielders have rediscovered their Qatar 2022 form at precisely the right time.

If we're thinking solely in terms of clean sheets at the current World Cup, Spain have a superior goalkeeper to Argentina, given Unai Simon has conceded just one goal, while Emiliano Martinez has shipped seven, and failed to record a shutout since the matchday-two win over Austria.

However, if you were to bet on which one will have the greater impact on Sunday's final, you'd probably back Martinez, who, whether you love him or loathe him, is always capable of frustrating opponents with sensational shot-stopping or tiresome theatrics.

Simon is more understated, which is probably also why he's so underrated. But it's also true that he actually hasn't had very much to do at this tournament and thus hasn't really caught the eye. Again, that's not his fault, but there are plenty of Spain supporters that would tell you that Barcelona No.1 Joan Garcia and Arsenal ace David Raya are actually better goalkeepers than Simon, despite his stunning statistics.

For all Spain's brilliance at the back, though, it would be a huge surprise if the likeable Basque wasn't truly tested for the first time in New Jersey by the tournament's top scorers. How he responds to that challenge could well be crucial, given we already know that Martinez, for all his faults, is a man for the big occasion.

This clearly won't be a direct head-to-head in terms of field position, but Mikel Oyarzabal and Julian Alvarez more or less play the same role for their respective sides - and whomever does it best on Sunday could well decide the final.

Oyarzabal, as we wrote earlier in the tournament, has become something of a low-key legend for Spain. Even though he arrived at the World Cup in fine form for club and country, he kind of went under the radar before bagging braces against both Saudi Arabia and Austria.

Alvarez, meanwhile, hasn't lived up to expectations at all. However, his slow start to the tournament can be attributed to injury, while he showed with his stunning strike against Switzerland just what he's capable of when given a bit of time and space.

Lionel Scaloni has a big decision to make, though, as Lautaro Martinez came off the bench to head home the winner against England and will be pushing to reclaim his starting spot from Alvarez, who still doesn't look quite right.

Oyarzabal, by contrast, is in the form of his life and brimming with belief, as underlined by the way in which he emphatically converted his penalty against France. Remember, too, that it was the humble Basque who decided the Euro 2024 final in Spain's favour; he could do likewise at the World Cup unless one of Argentina's supposedly A-list attackers lives up to their billing in New Jersey.

Messi obviously won't play as an orthodox winger against Spain, but what's remarkable is that, among many other things, he's proven at this World Cup that he remains one of the most effective wide players in the game - at 39 years of age. Messi may not be as frighteningly fast as he once was with the ball at his feet but, as well as still being able to beat any full-back with his devastating dribbling skills, he's also an incredible crosser of the ball.

As Emiliano Martinez acknowledged, Scaloni moving Messi onto the right-hand side was key to Argentina's comebacks against both Egypt and England. Consequently, Marc Cucurella is going to have to be even more aware of Messi's movement than the rest of his team-mates, because it's highly likely that the No.10 will drift wide at regular intervals on Sunday.

On the flip side, though, Messi's almost total absence of defensive responsibilities could afford the very offensively-minded Cucurella ample opportunity to get forward, which he's done to great effect throughout Spain's run to the final.

One imagines, then, that Scaloni will task whomever starts on the right of midfield - be it Rodrigo de Paul or the equally aggressive Giuliano Simeone - with both tracking and attacking Cucurella as best they can to create room for Messi to work his magic.

The World Cup hasn't seen the best of Lamine Yamal. Not yet at least. The Spaniard has certainly shown off some of his sensational dribbling skills, while it should not be forgotten that he kickstarted his country's campaign with the opening goal in the 4-0 rout of Saudi Arabia that followed the shock draw with Cape Verde - a game that Yamal began on the bench.

However, Yamal has, by his own admission, struggled to live up to the incredibly high standards he sets himself - and that's down to a combination of injury and the teenager trying too hard to "prove himself" on the game's grandest stage.

Crucially, though, Yamal hasn't lost any of his famed self-belief. He's remained confident throughout the tournament that his big moment would arrive when it mattered most, and there's every chance that it will happen for him on Sunday - because Yamal versus Nico Tagliafico looks like a total mismatch.

The 33-year-old left-back obviously has bags of experience. He's earned 76 caps for Argentina and helped them win the last World Cup by dominating Ousmane Dembele to such an extent that the winger was taken off before half-time.

For all his issues with form and fitness, though, 2026 Yamal is a completely different proposition to 2022 Dembele - and he could tear Tagliafico to shreds if the Lyon man doesn't get proper support from the likes of Enzo Fernandez in front of him, or Lisandro Martinez to his right.

Luis de la Fuente undoubtedly erred in Spain's first match by picking Gavi to play on the left-hand side. Truth be told, it smacked of a coach trying to prove a point by picking a player that many pundits and supporters were surprised he'd even included in his squad.

However, De la Fuente quickly realised the error of his ways and he's barely put a foot wrong since, with Spain securing a spot in the final on the back of six successive wins - all of which were achieved inside 90 minutes.

Granted, Mikel Merino was required to provide a couple of late winners, but even that underlined just how well De la Fuente has managed to keep everyone in his squad happy and hungry. He's also earned plenty of plaudits for making the colossal call to drop Barcelona star Pedri and replace him with Ruiz, who scored the opener in the quarter-final against Belgium and had a fine game alongside Rodri against France.

Scaloni, meanwhile, received a huge amount of praise for his positive, game-changing substitutions against England (even if Thomas Tuchel's negativity also played a part in Argentina coming from behind to win) but, it has to be said, up until that point in the competition, the Albiceleste coach's decision-making was being called into question.

After looking painfully reliant on Messi in the group stage, Argentina's midfield make-up looked all wrong in the fortunate and highly unconvincing wins over Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland.

In that sense, Scaloni has much, much more to ponder going into the final. De la Fuente has a settled side at this stage and produced the most complete performance of the entire tournament against France. The pressure is very much on Scaloni, then, to get things right from the first whistle, because while Messi is a miracle-worker and Argentina's resilience is truly remarkable, if they fall behind to Spain, they're unlikely to recover.