The 2026 World Cup Final Is Set. What to Know About Sunday’s Match

After over a month of national watch parties, growing stateside soccer fever and a stream of internet memes of Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, the 2026 FIFA World Cup comes to a close this weekend.

The international tournament was the first to be hosted by three countries: The United States, Canada and Mexico divided games across 16 cities.

The tournament began with 48 teams, the most to ever participate in a World Cup. Each round eliminated world-renowned powerhouses like Germany and the Netherlands. With them, some of the best in the sport, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazil’s Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. – or just “Neymar” – were left behind.

In the quarterfinals, Spain emerged victorious against France, 2-0 on Tuesday. Argentina came back late from a one-goal deficit to defeat England 2-1 in a dramatic match on Wednesday.

The reigning world champion, Argentina, and reigning European champion, Spain, will now compete for the title on Sunday.

Here is what to know about the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final.

The World Cup Final on July 19 will kick off at 3 p.m. EDT at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. MetLife is home to two NFL franchises, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

More than 80,000 fans are expected to pack the stadium for the pinnacle of the tournament. This is the first men’s World Cup final in the U.S. since 1994, when the final game took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where Brazil beat Italy.

The final will air on Fox with an English broadcast and on Telemundo in Spanish. It can be streamed through the Fox One app and Peacock for the Spanish broadcast. With a subscription, it is also available through YouTube TV, Fubo and Hulu.

According to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, the four quarterfinal matchups averaged roughly 25 million U.S. viewers across Fox, Telemundo and Peacock. The four matches were the most watched quarterfinal matches in Spanish-language media history with a total audience of 10.4 million viewers, according to Telemundo. That number is expected to increase for the World Cup final.

One Fox official estimated the World Cup Final could reach 50 million U.S. TV viewers, a figure already achieved among English- and Spanish-language viewership of the U.S.-Belgium match that saw the Americans exit the tournament.

Argentina’s star forward and captain, Lionel Messi, is expected to be playing his last game in his final World Cup. At 39, Messi has not confirmed retirement, keeping a “one day at a time” philosophy throughout the tournament.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport’s history, Messi has played in six World Cups, the first player to do so. He carried Argentina to a title in 2022 in Qatar, defeating France in a penalty shootout. The next World Cup is set for 2030, when he is 43, so the probability of his career ending in New Jersey on Sunday is high.

Spain’s 19-year-old prodigy, Lamine Yamal, will play in his first World Cup final. His youth and talent have earned him accolades worldwide. In addition to being the youngest player and goal scorer on Spain’s team, he is the youngest player to score in the Spanish professional division LaLiga and the UEFA European Championship, and he won the Kopa Trophy and the Golden Boy award for best young player in Europe. Yamal’s young half-brother, Keyne, has made headlines in this tournament with his expressive fandom toward Yamal and Spain. The 3-year-old and 19-year-old share a special bond off the pitch.

Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, confirmed that President Donald Trump will be at the World Cup Final. In the past two World Cups, in 2018 and 2022, the FIFA president presented the trophy solo. In a break from FIFA tradition, the two of them will jointly hand the trophy to the winning team. Trump was involved in the trophy presentation for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup that was held in the same New Jersey stadium. The president lingered on the stage well after he presented the award to the winning Chelsea club, causing visible confusion among some of the players.