Steve McManaman Predicts Spain to Defeat Argentina in World Cup Final

Steve McManaman is not sitting on the fence. The former Liverpool and Real Madrid winger expects Spain to handle the pressure of Sunday’s World Cup final in New York – and handle Argentina with it.

On duty as a pundit for ESPN FC, McManaman called a clear, decisive scoreline. No caveats. No tactical deep dive. Just a firm prediction.

“I’m going 3-1 to Spain. I’ll be nice and concise,” he said, backing the reigning European champions to lift their second world title.

Spain stride into New York

Spain arrive in the final looking like a side that has rediscovered its old ruthlessness. Luis de la Fuente’s team brushed aside tournament favourites France in Dallas on Tuesday, a 2-0 semi-final win that felt even more commanding than the score suggested.

They outplayed the 2018 world champions, controlled the tempo, and shut down French threats with a calm assurance. That victory left Spain one step from their first World Cup crown since 2010 and only the second in their history, with McManaman clearly convinced they have another big performance in them.

Argentina’s late‑show specialists

Argentina, though, have taken a very different road to New York. Their semi-final against England turned into another test of nerve and stubbornness, and again they passed.

Chasing the game against the Euro 2024 finalists, La Albiceleste summoned their trademark resilience, flipping the match in the dying stages. Two goals in the final five minutes plus stoppage time turned a 1-0 deficit into a dramatic 2-1 win – their seventh victory of the tournament and another reminder that they simply refuse to go quietly.

They may not have dominated in the same way Spain did against France, but they have made a habit of surviving, then striking.

A rivalry with a long memory

The final also drags up a meeting buried deep in World Cup history. Spain and Argentina have faced each other only once before at this tournament, back in 1966 in England.

On that occasion, Argentina edged a tight Group 2 clash 2-1, a result that sent them into the quarter-finals. Their run ended there, narrowly beaten by eventual champions England, but the win over Spain has lingered in the background of this rare international rivalry.

McManaman believes that memory will not be lost on De la Fuente’s squad. He is convinced Spain will see this final as a chance to even the score, almost six decades on, on the grandest stage of all.

A cancelled dress rehearsal

These two were supposed to have a more recent dress rehearsal. Spain and Argentina were scheduled to meet in the Finalissima in March, a showcase that would have pitted the European champions against the South American giants.

The game never happened. It was cancelled for various reasons, denying both sides an early look at each other and postponing any tactical sparring.

Now there is no warm-up, no soft landing. The first real meeting of this era comes with the World Cup itself on the line – and with McManaman convinced that when the dust settles in New York, it will be Spain celebrating a 3-1 win and rewriting the history of this fixture.