Spain v Argentina in the World Cup final: the referee, the stats and the omens

The Guardian Sport Sunday 19 July 2026, 07:00 UTC By Natalie Tan and Calvin Burton 1 min read

Key Points

As the top two in the Fifa rankings prepare to meet in New Jersey on Sunday we look at the pointers that may help decide the gameSlavko Vincic becomes the first Slovene to referee a World Cup final. He oversaw the 2024 Champions League final at Wembley (Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0) as well as Spain’s 2-1 win over France at the 2024 Euros semi-final. The 46-year-old’s first World Cup match was Argentina’s opening loss to Saudi Arabia in 2022.

As the top two in the Fifa rankings prepare to meet in New Jersey on Sunday we look at the pointers that may help decide the game

Slavko Vincic becomes the first Slovene to referee a World Cup final. He oversaw the 2024 Champions League final at Wembley (Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0) as well as Spain’s 2-1 win over France at the 2024 Euros semi-final. The 46-year-old’s first World Cup match was Argentina’s opening loss to Saudi Arabia in 2022. At this tournament, Vincic showed Ecuador’s Piero Hincapié a red card for covering his mouth in the 95th minute against Mexico. He has averaged 2.33 yellow cards per game.

Spain (LOCATION) Argentina (LOCATION) the World Cup (EVENT) Fifa (ORG) New Jersey (LOCATION) Vincic (LOCATION) Slovene (ORG) World Cup (EVENT) Champions League (ORG) Wembley (LOCATION) Real Madrid (ORG) Borussia (LOCATION) France (LOCATION) Saudi Arabia (LOCATION) Ecuador (LOCATION)

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Spain v Argentina in the World Cup final: the referee, the stats and the omens

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