Steve McManaman Predicts Spain Will Defeat Argentina in World Cup Final
Spain against Argentina. New York on a Sunday. A World Cup final with history in the background and a European champion walking in with a swagger that has clearly impressed Steve McManaman.
The former Liverpool and Real Madrid winger, now on pundit duty with ESPN FC, is not sitting on the fence. He sees this going Spain’s way — comfortably.
“I’m going 3-1 to Spain. I’ll be nice and concise,” he said, offering no tactical breakdown, no long preamble. Just a scoreline and the conviction of someone who believes Luis de la Fuente’s side are peaking at exactly the right time.
Spain stride into New York
Spain arrive in the final on the back of a statement win. They brushed aside France, the favourites and 2018 world champions, with a controlled 2-0 victory in Dallas on Tuesday. It wasn’t just the scoreline that turned heads; it was the authority.
They pressed, they passed, they dictated. France, usually so composed on this stage, were pushed back and kept there. The result leaves Spain one win away from their first World Cup crown since 2010 and only the second in their history, yet the way they handled France made it feel as if they have been here every other summer.
That performance clearly feeds into McManaman’s confidence. De la Fuente’s team look balanced, aggressive without the ball and ruthless enough with it to justify a prediction as bold as 3-1 in a World Cup final.
Argentina’s late drama
Argentina, though, have taken a very different road to New York.
Their semi-final was chaos, drama, and then catharsis. Chasing the game against Euro 2024 finalists England, they were staring at elimination before summoning the sort of late surge that has defined so many of their tournament runs.
Two goals in the final five minutes plus stoppage time turned a 1-0 defeat into a 2-1 win and sealed their seventh victory of this World Cup. It was vintage Argentina: stubborn, emotional, and utterly unwilling to accept the script as written.
They may not have cruised through like Spain, but they have shown a resilience that refuses to die. When the match tilts towards chaos, they tend to thrive.
A rivalry with a 60-year gap
This final also drags up a distant memory. Spain and Argentina have met only once before at a World Cup, back in 1966 in England. That Group 2 clash ended 2-1 to La Albiceleste, who went on to reach the quarter-finals before being edged out by the eventual champions, England.
It is a thin shared history, but not a forgotten one. McManaman believes de la Fuente’s side will have that result in mind as they chase a measure of revenge on the biggest stage of all.
The two nations were supposed to collide more recently in the Finalissima in March, a meeting that promised a modern benchmark between European and South American champions. It never happened; the match was cancelled for various reasons, leaving a sense of unfinished business hanging in the air.
Now they finally meet, not in a ceremonial showpiece, but with the World Cup itself on the line.
McManaman has nailed his colours to the mast. Spain by two, 3-1, and a second star on the shirt. Argentina, as ever, will argue with that prediction the only way they know how — on the pitch, in the final minutes, when everything is on fire.
