Spain and Argentina booked their places in Sunday’s World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, capping a tournament that delivered exactly the showpiece many expected in June.
Anyone who checks the Spain Argentina Odds will find a final between the reigning European champions and the reigning world champions, and this context alone suggests a closely contested match, with the possibility that the match ends in penalties, which Argentina knows only also GOOD.
Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal will lead their country into Sunday’s final, aware that history could repeat itself under the New Jersey lights.
How a shootout works
The format itself is brutally simple. Level after 90 minutes, the teams play 30 minutes of overtime. Still tied, that amounts to five penalties each, then sudden death if the sides cannot separate. There is no away goals rule to rely on and no substitution that changes the result, just a long walk from the halfway line and a moment that follows a player for the rest of his career.
Goalkeepers spend days before a big game studying where opposing takers tend to place the ball, but even the best preparation still comes down to a half-second guess.
1994: Brazhe against Italy
Brazil and Italy played to a goalless draw in the scorching heat of the Rose Bowl in 1994, the only World Cup final never to score a goal.
It went to penalties, and Roberto Baggio, Italy’s best player in the entire tournament, stepped in last, knowing that failure would give Brazil the trophy. He put his effort over the bar and Brazil won 3-2 on penalties, and that image of Baggio standing still with his head down survived almost the rest of that tournament.
2006: France versus Italy
Twelve years later in Berlin, Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring for France with a cheeky penalty, but Marco Materazzi equalized for Italy before half-time. The match ended 1-1 after extra time, a memory as much of Zidane’s header on Materazzi and the red card that ended his career as of football itself.
David Trezeguet then missed France’s fourth penalty on the crossbar. Fabio Grosso, who had also scored the winner in the semi-final against Germany, stepped up to take the decisive spot-kick and sent Italy to a fourth World Cup, winning 5-3 on penalties.
2022: France vs. Argentina
The last shootout final did not need such a reminder of its stakes. Argentina and France drew 3-3 after extra time in Qatar 2022, in what many are still calling the best final ever. Lionel Messi put Argentina 2-0 ahead with a penalty and a second goal before Kylian Mbappe drew France level with two goals in the same minute. Messi restored the lead in added time, only for Mbappe to complete his hat-trick from the spot and force penalties.
During the shootout, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who never hesitated to show a little gamesmanship on the goal line, saved Kingsley Coman’s shot. penaltyand watched Aurélien Tchouameni shoot over the bar. That left Gonzalo Montiel to send Argentina into delirium and complete Messi’s collection of major honours. Few would have wanted bet that result once Martinez made his first save, and Sunday’s finale looks capable of generating similarly fine margins.
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