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July 18, 2026 12 mins

Monday morning (NZT) marks the FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina following Sunday morning's clash between France and England, solidifying England as third place.

Football commentator Seb Stafford-Bloor joined Jason Pine to preview the final match. 

But Stafford-Bloor believes the match between the two best teams has already been played, "I think probably we had the two best teams in the semi-final.

"I think that Spain and France game is probably where it's at, even though France probably didn't play like the team that we expected them to be in that game," he said. 

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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Fine
from Newstalk.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Zed B Hickain Sport The twenty twenty six feet for
World Cup Final tomorrow morning, seven am New Zealand time.
The top two sides in the FIFA rankings, Argentina and
Spain will go head to head in New Jersey. Spain
looking for their second World Cup crown after they won
it in South Africa in twenty ten. Argentina three time
champions and seeking to become the first back to back

(00:34):
World Cup winners since Brazil did that in nineteen fifty
eight and nineteen sixty two. To preview the final, we're
joined by a football writer with the Athletics seb Stafford
Blower say'm always good to get you on the show, mate,
thanks for joining us. They're number one and two in
the FIFA rankings. But have we got the best two
teams in the World Cup Final?

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Great, great question, Jason. I think probably we had the
two best teams in the semi final. I think that
Spain France games probably where it's are, even though France
probably didn't play like a like a well that we
expected them to be in that game. I think It's
also it's interesting though, because I think Argentina almost they're
playing in a way which makes the idea of ranking

(01:15):
sort of irrelevant. I know that doesn't necessarily make sense,
but there's so much emotion, there's so much desperation. This
is the very last tournament, most likely fi Lionel Messi,
and that's done something to this group of players. So
I'm not try to even you know, I've seen Argentina
play like a twentieth ranked team at this World Cup
and like a first ranked team, so goodness knows what

(01:36):
will turn up on Sunday or Monday morning for people
watching in New Zealand and day.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Let's just look at Spain just one goal conceded in
seven matches. Haven't been behind at any stage during this
World Cup? What has made them so hard to break down?
So hard to breach?

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Two things I think like. Firstly, a lot people have
accused them of being boring Jason. People have said that
they attack with a kind of a very slow, methodical,
plodding pace. But actually if you watch them build their
moves and assemble their rest offense, meaning that whenever they
turn the ballover, they got so many men between them
and their own goal. That the idea of anybody countering
against them, it is kind of impossible. The second thing

(02:15):
is a trier of really excellent performances. So first of those, Rodri,
the Manches City midfielder, and I think Rodrie in a
world without Lionel Messi, he's one of the great stories
of this World Cup because he's had terrible injuries, had
that very very serious knee injury a couple of years ago.
After he recovered from it, it didn't really look physically
like he was the same player, and back he is

(02:36):
playing like the ballon d'Or when he was before. I'd
also like to point out a couple of other little
bits of that defense you n I see, Min the
goalkeeper has been excellent. Pedro Poro, the Tottenham fall back
who had a very difficult domestic season. Like everybody at Tottenham,
right he's played, he's probably been the best right back
at the competition, I would say. And the young center

(02:56):
back Cabasi from Barcelona absolutely remarkable. I was having a
conversation with some of my friends a few days ago, Jason,
we were trying to think of another teenage center back.
He'd come into his first World Cup in a position
like that, for a team like that and given an
equivalent performance, and we couldn't come up with anything. He's
been so impressive, next to im Rick Lapol amazing.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, they've all been amazing, haven't they, in keeping their
sheets so clean as it were. By contrast, Argentina had
to come from behind in the round of sixteen against
Egypt and the semi final against England that's to go.
She had extra time against Cape Verde in Switzerland, and
there are other two knockout games, and yet here they
are sib in the final. So how powerful is their

(03:38):
stout refusal to lose football matches?

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Powerful? Powerful? But I'm going to give you some caveats though,
because I think even most Argentinians would conceide they have
been extremely fortunate at different moments than this tournament. Even
if you go back to the group stage with the
non red card that Lenel Messi somehow avoided, I don't
think that's not the player of the tournament. You would
who would have dodged that one. They also, I mean

(04:03):
the game against England their resolvers was hugely impressive, very admirable.
They played extremely well on the front foot. I think
the other half of that conversation is Gonnas knows what
happened to England in the last thirty minutes of that game,
very very strange. Against Cape Verdi, they wobbled and it
was one of it was probably the game of the
tournament where I remember thinking I don't want this ever

(04:24):
to end because it was so good and you could
imagine you could absolutely imagine Argentina going out that night
because the spirit took Cape Verdi. They played absolutely wonderfully
well and they would have deserved to go through had
they've done so. Against Egypt again again, yeah, very impressive
to mount to come back. Also got incredibly fortunate at

(04:44):
different times during that game, and probably played against an
opponent I would say, maybe it's similar to England. You
didn't seem to believe that they could win, even at
tunerl Up. Egypt seemed like, what are we doing here?
We don't really know how to handle this situation. While
they may have prepared to be one the other ahead
maybe during in at full time, it didn't seem like

(05:06):
you how to manage that that scenarios. So it's very conflicting.
We're only forty eight hours, but I'm removed from England's defeat,
and I'm still pretty disappointed, so I have difficulty being
too gracious. Yeah, they've played very well. They've taken their opportunities.
I think their opponents have given them opportunities too, and
I think Spain will have their breakfast Mason, all right,

(05:28):
Well what.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
About the coaches? How much influence were these two coaches
Lewis de Lafuente for Spain Lionel scull Only for Argentina.
How much influence do they have, including the technical adjustments
that they make in game?

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yeah, I see them in two different ways. I see
Dela Fante is real it throughm maestro. I mean you
mentioned that their their defensive records in the tournament. He's
barely put a foot wrong. And even there are things
in that formation which don't necessarily make sense, right, I mean,
Michael Yazabel would be nobody's idea they World Cup winning
number nine. I'm not even sure he plays club football.

(06:02):
I know literally he plays a real Sassia dad, but
all he seems to do is turn up an important
A tournaments to score very important goals. So Gonnas knows
he's a very good player. It's just he's a winger.
He's an attack in the field that he's not a
number nine, and yet he's been kind of fashioned into
that role by Dilaferente Scalone slightly different situation. I think

(06:24):
his great triumph, and I think it's worth saying this
because I think it probably gets lost in the messy shadow,
is what he's been able to do is take a
thirty nine year old player who is years and years
beyond his physical prime, like Messi, is still very influential,
but athletically he's nowhere near the player he was in
his early thirties late twenties. So what he's been able
to do is he's been able to hide that problem

(06:46):
and play almost at times with ten men without the ball,
and yet he's been able to isolate the influence to
such a point where it still looks like primera Messi.
Now you watch the England game, how often did you
see Messi getting the ball in yards and yards and
yards of space? And that's actually that's about mess and
that's about the respect I guess some opponents have for him,

(07:09):
and you know, standing off him because you don't necessarily
want to commit yourself. It's also a real feather in
sclone's cap because that is a that's a real sleight
of hand. Elsewhere, I think that team kind of picks itself.
You can make certain changes. I mean against England, they
just made a succession of attacking changes as they as
they chase the game. That's pretty easy to do. But

(07:32):
I think the messy thing is the great triumph and Argentina'
on in semifinals if they don't, if they don't find
a solution to the issue. Because you take Messi away
from this Argentina team, they're a quarter final side. With him,
they're a potential winner. And that's I mean, I'm forty one,
I'm a few weeks from turning forty two. I mean
if three years ago I wasn't anywhere near my prime either, right,

(07:54):
So it's an amazing thing what he's doing.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Really, it really is. That's such a great point of
these two teams, sib which is carrying the great to
white of expectation.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
That's a great question. Emotionally, it probably Argentina, because I
think if Argentina don't win, I don't think anything they've
done so far matters at all. The rivalry of England
perhaps accepted because they have this vicious hatred of the
English clearly and amongst the playing group, and you've given

(08:30):
this historical significance and the events between those countries forty
years ago. That's a factor, And so they'll take that
away from the tournament, I'm sure. But anything other than
winning the World Cup it's irrelevant, right because who cas
if you're a runner up. If your entire tournament is
built around one last dance for lear Messy and you

(08:51):
can't do it, then you can't do it. No one's
going to be able to say, especially because they did
it four years ago, so it's already one can they repeat.
I don't think there's going to be I mean in
the old days you'd say, I don't think anybody would
make any DVDs about the tournament if they don't win, right,
But I think the way we talk about this Argentina
team is going to be profoundly affected by the result

(09:12):
because if all of that emotion, you'll remember this game.
You remember the World Cup final in nineteen ninety between
Argentina and West Germany. It was quite similar in a way.
You had these players, good players, but all rallied around
the one great player, and they came up against an
opponent who just didn't couldn't possibly care less about any
of emotional significance whatsoever. Terrible game of football, Andy Bramer

(09:36):
scores West Germany win. And also there was a little
bit of a loss of emotional control in those games.
In that game amongst the Argentinian players. You could imagine
something similar happening here. And you can imagine all the
momentum that they've been surfing and all the sort of
the emotional pressure causing or not emotional pressure, but the

(09:59):
emotional support that they've had. I don't even know how
you describe the energies that have been running through their campaign,
but if it doesn't go well, you can imagine it
getting a little bit messy potentially, It's probably the way
I put it. So yeah, i'd say Argentina, I think
it's a win or nobody cares situation, which is a

(10:20):
very difficult place to be in. And it's very unusual too,
because usually you be able to say, well, you know,
you run up in a World Cup final, it's pretty great,
But then I say no in this instance, and I
that's there's a little bit of bitterness. I'm trying to
trying to try to dig the ribs of the Argentinian
fans a little bit there.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
It's weird enough, all right, production time sap. Who wins
the World Cup? And what are the key factors that decided?

Speaker 3 (10:43):
Yeah, five mils Spain. Actually, Jason, no no, no, no, no,
I'm jaking, I am I think this is this is
two nail Spain. I think the decisive factor is ConTroll
of the ball. So the big thing that everyone took
away from Artina's semi final was inability to control the
ball and absorb pressure and take this thing out of game.

(11:06):
Now Spain have every tool you could possibly need to
do that, and I just feel like it's really hard
to play or develop any kind of momentum if you
don't have possession, and Spain will do a very good
job of keeping it away from them. I think going
to the semi final, I think they were averaging something
like sixty six percent of possession going through the tournament.

(11:27):
They managed something pretty similar against France too, which is
which is mighty impressive. And look look how not useless,
but look how they new toed the French attack. That's
a list of some of the great players in the
world at Leisea and Bape Barkla Doue den bealle as
an extraordinary cast list, and they made them look like nothing.

(11:49):
And that was because not because of one on one
match ups, but because they just didn't allow them to
construct anything. And I fear the same thing for Argentina.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
I think on Sunday, all right, I Sab, great to
get your insight. Thanks for joining us, Mite, Sab Stafford Blower.
He writes for The Athletic and writes extremely well too.
I can tell you I've loved the coverage the Athletic
have given over the World Cup. Carl says Piney. I've
loved the World Cup, but I'm praying for a Spain win.
It's clear to this casual observer the officials are favoring
Argentina and Messy and unless they get the rubb of

(12:19):
the green again, then Spain should get up. I agree.
I think Spain a favorite. See said two Neil Spain.
That's what it feels like to me too. All I
would say is that Argentina are serial winners. They have,
you know, beyond expectation a lot of times at this
tournament one football matches that it didn't look like they
were going to So don't count them out. I think

(12:41):
it'll be an engrossing World Cup Final seven o'clock tomorrow morning,
New Zealand. Time is Spain take on Argentina.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, Listen live
to News Talk said B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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