The World Cup final will take place on Sunday (Image: Jordan Bank – FIFA, FIFA via Getty Images)
Fresh off their 2-0 victory over pre-tournament favourites France in the semi-finals, Luis de la Fuente’s Spain are heading into Sunday’s World Cup final as the team to beat, according to a supercomputer’s predictions. Waiting for them at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium will be the defending champions, Argentina.
Heading into the clash, predictive data has favoured La Roja. The Opta supercomputer projects a 45.1 per cent probability that Spain will clinch their second World Cup title within regulation time. Conversely, the algorithm gives Argentina only a 29.4 per cent chance of sealing a victory in 90 minutes. Furthermore, the data suggests there is a 25.4 per cent chance the contest will spill over into extra time or be decided by a penalty shootout.
Aligning with the supercomputer’s forecast, oddsmakers have also positioned the Spanish squad as the narrow betting favourites to take home football’s most prestigious prize.
Following the defeat of Les Bleus, Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri said: “I’m very proud of my team and what it represents for us. Now it’s time to rest because we probably have the most important match of our lives on Sunday.”
“We all needed each other. I had a lot of help in the midfield to control such a physical and aggressive team on second balls – I would say it was a very complete match.”
A Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina edged past England in their semi-final, mounting a comeback to win 2-1 in the closing stages. Should Messi, as widely anticipated, line up against Spain, he will become only the second player, after Brazilian legend Cafu, to appear in three World Cup finals, having featured in both 2014 and 2022.
Rodri has spoken ahead of the final (Image: Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)
A triumph over the Euro 2024 champions would also see the 39-year-old become the first captain to retain the World Cup, following Argentina’s victory over France in Qatar four years ago.
Reflecting on the historic win over the Three Lions, Messi said: “It was a special match against England, we couldn’t lose. While this group doesn’t owe anything to anyone, you know how Argentinians are, we always demand more.
EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
“I think if we had lost today, people would have come out and said some nonsense, and we didn’t give them the chance. We knew that we were better than them in terms of football.But a lot is at stake in a match of this magnitude, where historic events happen in these games, but it’s still special because of everything it represents, and we had to win.”
Messi added: “Everything we experienced was incredible, from the very beginning, as we said. Although it was a football match, when we started to enter the field and during the anthem, we experienced special feelings, and the group felt that.
Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates (Image: Getty)
“It wasn’t just another victory; it was an important victory that the Argentine people wanted, and we wanted it too, and it put us in another World Cup final.
“It’s crazy to play two World Cup finals in a row. This group is incredible. Today we went looking for it again when things got tough, we never stopped believing, never stopped trying.
“With our style of play, today we really put our game into it when we were down on the scoreboard. We pinned them back in their own half and it’s an enormous joy.”