Argentina shuffle their starting eleven with three new faces, while Spain stick with unchanged squad

As the 2026 World Cup football tournament reaches its climax, Argentina's players are gearing up for the final match against Spain, set to take place at the New York/New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford on July 19, 2026.

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Lionel Messi's Argentina has made three significant changes to their starting line-up for the highly anticipated World Cup final, as they strive to become the first team to retain the trophy since 1962.

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Gonzalo Montiel, the hero of the 2022 final win against France, has been brought in at right-back to replace Nahuel Molina, in a strategic move by coach Lionel Scaloni.

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Rodrigo De Paul has also been reinstated in midfield, where he will be joined by Nico Gonzalez, while Leandro Paredes and Giuliano Simeone have been left out of the starting line-up.

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Argentina's path to the final has been nothing short of dramatic, with a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory over England in the semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday.

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Lionel Messi, at 39 years old, is set to appear in his third World Cup final, and currently stands at eight goals in the tournament, just two behind France's Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot race.

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Messi has amassed an impressive 21 goals overall at World Cups, putting him just one goal behind Mbappe's record of 22.

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Meanwhile, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has opted to stick with the same line-up that secured a 2-0 semi-final win against France.

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Lamine Yamal, who is on the cusp of becoming the third-youngest player to win a World Cup, just six days after his 19th birthday, will start on the right wing for the defending European champions.

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Spain is aiming to claim their second World Cup title, following their previous triumph in 2010, while Argentina is seeking to win their fourth title, which would put them level with Germany and Italy, and just one behind record five-time champions Brazil.

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The starting line-ups for the final have been confirmed, with Spain fielding Unai Simon; Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsi, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Cucurella; Rodri, Fabian Ruiz; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Alex Baena; Mikel Oyarzabal, under the guidance of coach Luis de la Fuente.

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Argentina, on the other hand, will start with Emiliano Martinez; Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Nico Gonzalez; Enzo Fernandez; Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez, with Lionel Scaloni at the helm.

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The referee for the highly anticipated match will be Slavko Vincic from Slovenia.