Spain face Argentina in World Cup final as health warning, banner row and referee's tears dominate build-up

Spain and Argentina will contest the 2026 World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday evening, with kick-off set for 8pm local time. A day earlier, England take on France in the third-place play-off in Miami at 10pm, following England’s 2-1 semi-final defeat to Argentina on Wednesday.

Referee moved to tears by final appointment

Slovenian official Slavko Vincic was visibly emotional upon learning he would referee Sunday’s final, shedding tears of joy as he received his match shirt. Vincic has previous experience at the highest level, having taken charge of the 2022 Europa League final between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers and the 2024 Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic will serve as his assistants, with Adham Makhadmeh appointed as fourth official.

Health warning over wildfire smoke

Fans travelling to MetLife Stadium for the final have been urged to take precautions after a pulmonologist raised concerns about Canadian wildfire smoke affecting air quality in the New York-New Jersey area. Dr Vin Gupta warned: “It not only is going to be terrible, terrible air quality. It’s hot, and that can cause an extreme amount of stress on the heart. That is a very powerful and dangerous one-two punch to the human body. It’s going to be critical to maintain core body temperatures as low as possible.”

FIFA respond to Falklands banner controversy

FIFA issued a statement addressing a controversial banner reading “The Falklands are Argentinian” that was displayed by members of Lionel Scaloni’s squad following their semi-final victory over England. The full details of FIFA’s response were still emerging at the time of publication.

Trump confirmed for final; Kane and Pickford’s wife react to England exit

US President Donald Trump has been confirmed as an attendee for Sunday’s final and is expected to take part in the trophy presentation ceremony, in keeping with tournament tradition. Trump had not attended any previous matches during the competition.

England captain Harry Kane broke his silence on social media after the semi-final defeat, writing: “No words are big enough right now to overcome this empty feeling in the stomach. We were close, really close to another final but it wasn’t enough. We’ve given everything over these last 7 weeks and to fall short is hard to take.” Kane added that he was proud of his team-mates and grateful for the support of England fans.

Megan Pickford, wife of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, also posted an emotional response on Instagram, sharing a clip of herself packing away four England shirts worn by the couple’s children during the tournament, captioning it: “The end of the dream.”