Steve McManaman Predicts Spain to Defeat Argentina in World Cup Final
Spain against Argentina. New York on Sunday. A World Cup final loaded with history, narrative and star power – and Steve McManaman thinks it won’t even be close.
The former Liverpool winger, now a pundit on ESPN FC, has nailed his colours firmly to the Spanish mast, predicting a 3-1 win for the reigning European champions.
“I’m going 3-1 to Spain. I’ll be nice and concise,” he said, refusing to dress it up or delve into tactical detail. Just a clear, confident call.
Spain stride into New York
Spain arrive in the final looking like a side that has rediscovered its old ruthlessness. In Dallas on Tuesday, they brushed aside tournament favourites France with a composed, clinical 2-0 victory, the kind of performance that drains belief from opponents and sends a message to everyone else.
They didn’t just beat the 2018 world champions. They controlled them. From the tempo to the territory, Luis de la Fuente’s team dictated the terms and pushed themselves to the brink 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 that looks ready not just to win, but to win with something to spare.
Argentina survive, again
Argentina’s path could hardly have been more different. It has been a campaign built on nerve, late drama and that familiar, stubborn refusal to accept defeat.
In the semi-final, they were staring at elimination against England, the Euro 2024 finalists. Trailing as the clock ticked into the final minutes, they summoned one more surge. Two goals in the last five minutes plus stoppage time flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win and sealed their seventh victory of the tournament.
It was pure Argentina: backs to the wall, belief unshaken, and a sudden, ruthless burst when it mattered most. They bend, they creak, they look gone – then they find a way.
That resilience will be tested to the limit in New York against a Spain team that rarely allows chaos to take over.
A rivalry with a 60-year gap
For all their global stature, these two nations barely share any World Cup history. In fact, they have met only once before at the tournament.
England, 1966. Group 2. La Albiceleste beat Spain 2-1, a result that sent Argentina into the quarter-finals and pushed Spain out. Argentina’s run ended there, edged out by the hosts and eventual champions, England.
That lone meeting still lingers in the background, a historical footnote that now gains fresh relevance. McManaman believes this Spain, under de la Fuente, will see Sunday as a chance to wipe that old mark away on the grandest stage possible.
The sides were supposed to cross paths more recently. The Finalissima in March had been set up to pit the European champions against the South American giants, only for the game to be cancelled for a variety of reasons. The showdown never happened. The questions remained.
Now there is no escape. No cancellation. No postponement.
Spain, humming with form and fluency. Argentina, hardened by late escapes and emotional surges. McManaman sees a clear winner and a two-goal margin.
On Sunday in New York, we find out whether Spain really are that far ahead – or whether Argentina have one more improbable comeback left in them.
