Steve McManaman Predicts Spain Will Defeat Argentina in World Cup Final

Steve McManaman is not sitting on the fence. Asked to call a World Cup final between Spain and Argentina in New York on Sunday, the former Liverpool winger went straight for a bold scoreline and never looked back.

“I’m going 3-1 to Spain. I’ll be nice and concise,” he said on ESPN FC, offering no tactical breakdown, no caveats, just a firm belief that the European champions will win with something to spare.

Spain’s Surge to the Brink of History

Spain arrive in New York looking ominous. Luis de la Fuente’s side dismantled tournament favourites France 2-0 in Dallas on Tuesday, a semi-final that felt like a statement as much as a victory.

They didn’t just edge the 2018 world champions. They controlled them. They pressed, passed and probed their way to a win that has put them within 90 minutes of a first World Cup crown since 2010 and only the second in their history.

That authority, that sense of a team peaking at exactly the right moment, underpins McManaman’s confidence. To him, this is a Spain side playing with the conviction of reigning European champions, carrying their continental dominance onto the biggest stage.

Argentina’s Late-Show Specialists

Argentina come into the final from a very different emotional angle. They are hardened by struggle, fuelled by drama.

Their semi-final against England in Dallas looked to be slipping away. Then came another surge of late defiance. Trailing with minutes left, La Albiceleste summoned two goals in the final five minutes plus stoppage time to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win over the Euro 2024 finalists.

It was their seventh victory of the tournament, a run built on resilience and refusal to accept defeat. They bend, then bite back. That capacity to suffer and still find a way has carried them all the way to New York.

A Rivalry with a Long Memory

For all the modern glamour of a Spain–Argentina World Cup final in the United States, the history between the two nations on this stage is surprisingly thin.

They have met only once before at a World Cup, back in 1966 in England. That day, Argentina edged a 2-1 win in a Group 2 clash, progressing to the quarter-finals where they were narrowly knocked out by the eventual champions, England.

The gap between those meetings is almost surreal: from the mud and muscle of 1960s England to the lights of New York in 2026. Yet McManaman believes that lone defeat still offers a sliver of motivation for Spain, a historical itch to scratch as they chase the trophy.

Spain and Argentina were supposed to renew acquaintances earlier, in the Finalissima scheduled for March. That match never happened, cancelled for various reasons, and the storyline was left hanging. Now, the reunion comes on the grandest possible stage instead.

McManaman’s verdict is clear. Spain, in his eyes, have too much rhythm, too much control, too much momentum. Argentina bring grit, late drama and the weight of their own history. Only one of them will leave New York with a new chapter written in gold.