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335 CommentsKylian Mbappe has become the first player to win the World Cup Golden Boot twice after earning the award for top scorer at the 2026 tournament.The France forward netted 10 goals in eight games to edge out Lionel Messi in a high-quality race.Having struck eight times to finish top scorer at Qatar 2022, Mbappe has won the Golden Boot in back-to-back World Cups.The 27-year-old was the first man to reach double figures for World Cup goals since Gerd Muller for West Germany in 1970.Only Just Fontaine, who hit 13 for France in 1958, and Hungary's Sandor Kocsis with 11 in 1954, have scored more individual goals in a single tournament.Mbappe is also now the men's World Cup all-time top scorer with 22 goals - one ahead of Messi.World champions Spain swept the rest of the awards, including captain Rodri winning the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.Mbappe moved clear of Messi on Saturday with two goals in the bronze match, although he could not stop France falling to a 6-4 defeat against England and finishing fourth."When you score that many goals in the World Cup, it certainly takes you to a whole new level," he said after Saturday's match in Miami."But I would have preferred not to be the top scorer and to have played in the final. It's good for my legacy once I've retired, but right now, that's not what's on my mind."Mbappe also scored twice against Senegal and Iraq in the group stage, as well as Sweden in the last 32.He followed that with strikes against Paraguay in the last 16 - the 70th-minute winner from the penalty spot - and against Morocco in the quarter-finals.Messi could have overtaken the Real Madrid forward with a hat-trick in the World Cup final on Sunday.However, the 39-year-old could not find the net in New Jersey as his Argentina side were beaten 1-0 by Spain, and ended the competition with eight goals in as many matches.England's Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland of Norway scored seven times, while France forward Ousmane Dembele and English captain Harry Kane followed them in the list with six.Manchester City midfielder Rodri, a key figure in Spain's run to a second men's World Cup triumph, was named best player.The 30-year-old received the Golden Ball from Fifa president Gianni Infantino on the field at the MetLife Stadium following the final in New Jersey.It was the third major individual accolade of his career, having won the Ballon d'Or in 2023 and then Uefa Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament after Spain's final triumph against England two years ago.Messi won the Silver Ball as the second-best player, with Mbappe named Bronze Ball winner.Spain's Unai Simon claimed the Golden Glove award for best goalkeeper after conceding just once in eight games.The Athletic Club stopper kept seven clean sheets and was only beaten by Belgium's Charles de Ketelaere in the quarter-final tie.The 29-year-old was picked ahead of Arsenal's Premier League title winner David Raya as Spain's number one, and repaid manager Luis de la Fuente's faith with a series of solid performances as they were crowned champions.Pau Cubarsi, the 19-year-old Barcelona centre-back, received the award for the tournament's best young player.He was a key figure in the Spanish defence that only conceded once all tournament and restricted Argentina to just two shots in the final with none on target.Cubarsi played every single minute for Spain as they emulated their 2010 World Cup success in South Africa.When the World Cup finishes, the football continues on BBC SportHow to watch the World Cup on the BBC and ITV

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Argentina tried to kill the spectacle and make it a physical battle but Spain refused to take the bait and kept passingA worrying thought as a tepid first half drew to a close: was the half-time show going to be better than the football? This was a slog. Argentina could not match Spain’s possession approach but they had ways to level the playing field. There was physicality from Lionel Scaloni’s side, whose aim was to kill the spectacle before taking control in the second half, and they were allowed to take it to the limit by the Slovenian referee, Slavko Vincic. Alexis Mac Allister could have been booked for an early foul on Dani Olmo and the leniency, together with a pitch not conducive to playing flowing football, allowed Argentina to disrupt Spain’s passing game, creating the conditions for one of the most tedious World Cup finals.Credit to Spain for refusing to take the bait. The European champions maintained their composure as they won the World Cup for the second time, even though their patience was stretched by Argentina’s spoiling tactics and constant niggles. Argentina had no way up the pitch. They had problems passing out from the back, particularly from the left. Spain squeezed them. Their pressing was expertly coordinated, stifling Argentina. Enzo Fernández and Mac Allister were outplayed in midfield and Scaloni was forced to make a change at half-time, Nico González making way after struggling on the left wing and Leandro Paredes on to provide more stability. However, the switch did nothing to alter the mood. Argentina remained a cynical eyesore. Paredes was booked for a needless barge on Rodri and was lucky not to be sent off until after full-time. In the end Argentina were caught out by their own game. The writing was on the wall when Fernández, perhaps dashing his hopes of a move to Real Madrid, was sent off for two silly bookings at the end of normal time.Argentina are a slow, ageing side and had already played two rounds of extra time. Their legs were heavy and their cause was not helped by them losing both of their starting centre-backs to injury. Lisandro Martínez and Cristian Romero are comfortable on the ball so it was not ideal when they went off early. It deprived Argentina of another outlet, and their reliance on Lionel Messi also hurt them. Spain cut off the supply to the 39-year-old and were too intense for him. Messi was never able to find space, never able to shake off more than one Spanish player. There was no repeat of the crosses that hurt England in the semi-final and there was an argument that Scaloni should have taken off his captain after Fernández’s dismissal. Messi stood in the middle but could not hold the ball up. He was a passenger but Scaloni removed Julián Álvarez, who might have worried Spain more with his ability to run the channels.Álvarez’s departure was the cue for Scaloni to bring on Marcos Senesi and switch to a back five. The statistics were ridiculous. Argentina’s xG was 0.00 until conceding forced a desperate late flurry. Even then, though, the threat increased only to 0.22. It took until the 117th minute for the defending world champions to muster their first shot, Messi’s hopeful effort from long range deflected wide. Spain, defending as a team, were unruffled. Argentina had 34.9% possession and six touches in the Spain area. It was one-way traffic during the second half. Spain kept pushing – they had 20 shots to two – but poor finishing and inspired goalkeeping threatened to leave them at the mercy of a penalty shootout. Emi Martínez’s 12 saves were the most by a goalkeeper in a World Cup final and his best was a leap to push away away a Lamine Yamal free‑kick. Yet it was not enough.Spain were deserved winners from a moral and tactical perspective. They played all the football and proved their big-game mentality by standing up to Argentina’s nonsense. Rodri, excellent as the No 6 before making way for Martín Zubimendi in extra time, nullified Fernández and Luis de la Fuente’s substitutions were spot on. Pedri was incisive after replacing Fabián Ruiz in midfield. Argentina worked to stifle Lamine Yamal, using Nicolás Tagliafico to contain the teenager on the right wing, but De la Fuente stretched the play by bringing Nico Williams on for Álex Baena on the opposite flank. Now Spain had speed down both wings and the pressure told. Mikel Merino should have scored at least once after coming on but eventually a goal arrived. Pedro Porro sent in a deep cross from the right. Williams beat Nahuel Molina and pulled the ball back for another substitute, Ferran Torres, to score.

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Rodri looks back to his imperious best in Spain’s midfield while Enzo Fernández has a day to forget for ArgentinaUnai Simón Was alert to clear danger after Cubarsí’s early mistake. Otherwise could have brought his slippers. 7Pedro Porro Doesn’t look like a player who was in a relegation battle a few weeks ago. Was outstanding again. 8Pau Cubarsí Got away with his early error and didn’t put a foot wrong after that. Incredible that he is still only 19. 8Aymeric Laporte A steadying presence at the back. Could have been the hero in normal time if his header had been either side of Martínez. 7Marc Cucurella Always 100% committed to the cause as usual. Able to get forward whenever he fancied it. 8Rodri The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner looks back to his imperious best. Bossed midfield in his imposing style. 9Dani Olmo At the heart of most of Spain’s best moves. Produced a lovely flick to set up Lamine Yamal for an early chance. 8Fabián Ruiz Such a clever player. Finds space where others can’t. A surprise to see him taken off early. 7Lamine Yamal Looked determined to stamp his authority on proceedings. The heir to Messi’s crown is now a world champion. 8Álex Baena Usually provides real guile from the left flank but had a relatively quiet afternoon by his standards. 6Mikel Oyazarbal Put in the hard yards with endless running before being replaced on the hour. 7Substitutes: Ferran Torres (for Oyazarbal 62) Had a great chance to score just after coming on before etching his name into the history books with a sublime finish in extra time, 8; Pedri (for Ruiz 62) What a player to be able to bring on – took over where Rodri left off, 8; Nico Williams (for Baena 75) Injected some real urgency. Unlucky to have goal ruled out but assist for Torres was inspired, 9; Mikel Merino (for Olmo 75) So close to scoring another late winner after doing so against Portugal and Spain, 7; Eric García (for Laporte 99) A of couple of dicey moments but saw his team home in the end, 6; Martín Zubimendi (for Rodri 99) Added a calmness in the heat of extra time, 7.Emiliano Martínez Thrived again on biggest stage of them all. Pulled off three brilliant saves but could do nothing about the winner. 8Gonzalo Montiel Ate up the ground to make a crucial covering tackle to deny Cucurella before being replaced. 6Cristian Romero The Tottenham defender was forced off with an injury after a typically battling display and was sorely missed. 8Lisandro Martínez Booked for fouling Oyarzabal and picked up an injury in the process that brought a premature end to his afternoon. 6Nicolás Tagliafico Had his hands full with Lamine Yamal and far too often played himself into trouble. 5Rodrigo De Paul Little evidence of his attacking skills as Spain dominated possession and made way for Simeone. 5Alexis Mac Allister Got away with an awful early tackle on Olmo. Guilty of some uncharacteristically loose passing at times. 5Enzo Fernández Not his finest hour. Had to be sent off after clattering into Cubarsí to pick up a silly second yellow. 3Nicolás González Rewarded with starting place after starring off the bench against England in semi-final but couldn’t impose himself on proceedings this time. 5Julián Álvarez Barely touched the ball in the first half. Just couldn’t get into the game and was sacrificed after Fernández’s red card. 5Lionel Messi Not the swansong he would have dreamed of. Can’t be expected to keep saving Argentina for ever. 6Substitutes: Nicolás Otamendi (for Lisandro Martínez 44) Has always lacked pace and even more so now he is 38, 5. Leandro Paredes (for González ht) Brought on to add some more ballast in midfield but could not stem the flow. Disgraced himself with behaviour after final whistle and was shown red card, 6; Nahuel Molina (for Montiel 58) Helpless to stop a marauding Williams when he came off the bench, 5; Facundo Medina (for Romero 70) Looked extremely vulnerable against the pace of Torres, 5; Giuliano Simeone (for De Paul 70) Pulled out all the tricks to try to waste time. Should concentrate on playing football. Missed best chance to equalise, 4; Marcos Senesi (for Álvarez 102) Tried to shore things up at the back but wasn’t an easy task with 10 men, 5.

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BBC scored a late goal in head-to-head with ITV over the World Cup by being in the stadium for the final“I thought it was crap,” Wayne Rooney surmised on BBC after enduring the half-time show. Amid a tense final, the interval was always going to be prominent, theoretically bringing light to the shade. Why the two UK broadcasters felt the need to transmit the karaoke session in full we will never know but at least the pundits struggled through it, too.Ally McCoist said it had “mentally scarred” him as someone in attendance, unlike many of his ITV colleagues who were sat in Brooklyn. The studio has rightly earned them kudos, creating a home alongside the Hudson River with the Brooklyn Bridge providing the dramatic backdrop. With the game only an expensive train ride away, it was a surprise to see Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Ian Wright in familiar surroundings.Mark Pougatch scripted a safe opening, which is what you expect from the ITV presenter, while BBC made more effort by hiring an American voiceover artist and captured the mood of the match as Lionel Messi v Lamine Yamal. Both sides were subtly seething with rage over England’s failure to reach this stage, which would have made it a greater spectacle for the domestic audience, with a lot of editorial proposals floating past Manhattan.The BBC was playing catchup, having spent most of the tournament in Salford rather than San Francisco. With the authoritative Gabby Logan hosting from New York New Jersey Stadium and coaxing the best out of Rooney, Joe Hart and Micah Richards – a trio that provide plenty of energy stood up inside a stadium that was bursting into life as the minutes ticked by – ITV appeared more subdued in absentia. Rooney proved he is not a regular in San Sebastián pintxos bars with his mangled pronunciation of Mikel Oyarzabal, much to the amusement of his colleagues.A backup team of Laura Woods, Karen Carney and Emma Hayes were in situ but reduced to cameos. Seeing the venue, the noise and the colour that comes with it is always part of the occasion, something missed pre-match by ITV, whose main interest came in Robbie Williams singing the ironically named Fifa anthem Desire which no one wanted to hear. Twenty minutes of potential insight was lost on both sides to national anthems and Phoenix Nights-style entertainment.Guy Mowbray and Alan Shearer are fine professionals, knowledgable and engaging, but lack the cutting edge of the ITV trio on the gantry. Sam Matterface is not always to everyone’s taste but he keeps the viewer on their toes because he can throw in an unexpected line without notice, while Lee Dixon plays McCoist’s straight man, a necessary addition amid such a turgid match, joking that the final was so bad it would turn the Americans back to baseball. The host broadcaster spent far too much time finding every single celebrity in attendance. Mowbray did not seem to recognise Matt Damon, while Matterface quipped “the talented Mr Scaloni” as the camera cut to the Argentina coach.No requirement for adverts is always a benefit for BBC, even if pushing the licence fee continued, allowing it to do some proper analysis before Ronaldo was released by Madonna from his kidnapping, looking confused at re-entering society wearing a shellsuit and driving a dune buggy. ITV had to appease its paymasters and did its best to sell everything under the sun but when back in the studio everything was rushed, providing vague insight on a muted opening half.There were ITV giggles over the referee’s shaving foam spontaneously ejaculating to keep spirits up to counteract the tedious football, while BBC stayed stony silent. “There’s not more shows?” a concerned Dixon asked as extra time loomed, as ITV brought the greater mirth, but it mustered only a few seconds of punditry after the ads. “It was awful,” Matterface said of normal time, a hard piece of honesty on what is a career highlight for any journalist.Amid the joviality Matterface immediately knew Enzo Fernández was heading for an early bath but Mowbray did not realise a second yellow was incoming, indicating who had the calmer mind. ITV’s referee analyst, Christina Unkel, was clear with her view on what happened, while Darren Cann’s quiet review was less convincing.ITV rested on laurels from earlier praise and should have had a greater presence at New York New Jersey Stadium rather than taking the safe route. BBC’s pundits were sharper and given the space to air their views but ITV’s more entertaining commentary balanced it out. No one will be too eager to rewatch the match but, more than anything, the public should not be subjected to another half-time show.

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It was the triumph of an idea, an identity. Of an unshakable and patient faith. And when it was over, Spain’s new generation having emulated the one from the 2010 World Cup, all of those legendary names, there was simply delirium for them.Spain were the only team that turned up to play this World Cup final, from the first whistle to the last in extra time. Argentina were damned by their lack of ambition even before they had Enzo Fernández sent off towards the end of the regulation time. It was extraordinary to report that they did not have an attempt on goal until the 115th minute.Spain did not let them play. Just as they have barely let any of their opponents do so during the course of this tournament. Their miserly defence has been the cornerstone of everything. They have been breached just once in their eight matches.The question that came to pound concerned their ability to find a way through the sky blue and white ranks. It was the only question. Spain stayed true to their style; to who they are. The possession. The cohesive movements. The control. When they found the answer, it was the moment when they knew that a second World Cup triumph was about to become gloriously real.The goal came in the 106th minute and it was nothing less than they deserved. Pedro Porro crossed deep and it was a wonderful header back by the substitute Nico Williams. It teed up another replacement, Ferran Torres, for the opportunity of his lifetime. The finish was high and true.The Argentina manager, Lionel Scaloni, looked ready to cry. It was a white knuckle ride that carried his team to this stage, defined by late goals and a never-say-die spirit. At no point in any of their knock-out games were they ahead in the 90th minute.Argentina flickered in the very closing stages. The substitute Guiliano Simeone lashed a half chance high. But there would be no successful defence of the title they won in 2022; no fairytale sign-off for Lionel Messi. He could not suppress the tears as he gazed at the Argentina support afterwards.Messi and his team had won their previous three tournaments – two Copa Américas either side of the last World Cup. They had not lost a knockout tie since the 2019 Copa América. They got what they deserved here. There was an ugly flashpoint after full time when Leandro Paredes, who had come on as a substitute, was given a red card for grabbing the Spain replacement Eric García by the throat.Argentina’s reaction in defeat was shameful. They turned their backs on the Spain players as the trophy was presented, preferring to keep their eyes on the fans behind one of the goals. Donald Trump, who did not want to leave the stage as the Spain captain, Rodri, got his hands on those six kilograms of solid gold bliss, was not the only person to make a spectacle of himself.It was quite the show overall in the land of the spectacular show. It started with a ceremony, one to officially close the most bloated tournament there has been, which took in all manner of performances. Jennifer Hudson’s rendition of the US anthem before kick-off was certainly something; ditto Tom Cruise’s speech about the beautiful game. We kicked off six minutes late. There was plenty more at half-time. The action on the field did not keep pace.Argentina had one flicker in the early running when the Spain goalkeeper, Unai Simon, left his line to deal with a Julián Álvarez throughball for Messi. The clearance was straight to Álvarez but his first touch was poor. That was pretty much it from them in forward-thinking terms.The game was all about Spain’s dominance of the ball. Nobody cherishes it quite like them. Rodri set the tempo at the back of the midfield while Lamine Yamal had a few eye-catching moments. He went close at the outset. Spain finessed their patterns. They tried to wear Argentina down.Did anybody enjoy the half-time show? It was a strange detail that Madonna, one of the headline acts, did not actually appear on the pitch. Instead, there was big-screen video of her singing in the back of a car which was driven by Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.Spain pressed high. They forced turnovers. They probed. Argentina could not free themselves from the choke hold. The chances started to come for Spain after the hydration break in the second half of normal time and Argentina were indebted to their goalkeeper, Emi Martínez. He finished with 11 saves, some of them excellent. Were Argentina trying to win the World Cup without taking a shot? Scaloni could scarcely have built a lower block, although he doubled down still further in the 101st minute when he introduced Marcos Senesi for Álvarez and went to 5-3-1.Lionel Scaloni restructured in midfield, introducing Paredes in the holding role for the left-winger Nico González. The Argentina manager wanted his players to get closer to their opponents. It was not long before Paredes barged Rodri off the ball and was booked.Fernández was guilty of losing his composure. Booked in the 83rd minute for dissent, he was asking for trouble when he left something in on Pau Cubarsí to send the Spain defender spinning. Argentina just about reached extra time when Martínez dived to repel a Lamine Yamal free-kick. His best saves before that had denied Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte and Williams.Spain turned the screw in extra time. Martínez continued to resist, saving once again from Williams. Spain were denied when Mikel Merino, on as a substitute, was adjudged to have fouled another replacement, Nicolás Otamendi, moments before Williams swept home. It was a generous decision for Otamendi, who appeared to throw himself to the ground. Merino glanced wide from a Williams cross when gloriously placed.Spain’s pressure reached the point when the breakthrough felt inevitable. Torres provided the release, the joy. He would also run through in the 113th minute to beat Martínez again, only to be pulled back for offside. The goal he did score was all that mattered. Luis de la Fuente’s unstarry team have a second one on their shirts.

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It zipped along, cramming in Shakira, Madonna and Coldplay, but football fans may not be convinced of need for this mid-match spectacleLike hydration breaks and Donald Trump’s ability to get refereeing decisions overturned by simply phoning up the president of Fifa and complaining, the final half-time show is an innovation of the 2026 World Cup that comes with a degree of controversy attached. For one thing, its existence automatically means the World Cup final breaks the International Football Association’s 15-minute half-time mandate.For another, its obvious antecedent lies in the NFL’s Super Bowl, where the half-time entertainment has mushroomed over the decades from a few marching bands to one of the big pop events of the year. To its detractors, it smacks of America not so much embracing the World Cup as imposing itself upon it.But before you even got to the main event, there was more musical entertainment at the final to wade through, most notably the pre-match closing ceremony, a damp squib that neither the BBC nor ITV elected to broadcast live.Anyone who hastened to iPlayer was rewarded not merely with Post Malone debuting what’s presumably the first single from his forthcoming album the Eternal Buzz, Chrome Heartbreaker (a pivot back to hip-hop-influenced pop after his recent diversion into country, should you be eagerly tracking the artistic vacillations of Post Malone’s career) and duetting with Swae Lee on their US chart-topper Sunflowers, but also an online influencer-cum-professional wrestler called IShowSpeed performing Champions, a track that gained so much traction online that Fifa felt obliged to include it on the official Fifa World Cup album.A frightful cocktail of thunderous drums and autotuned vocals, it featured lyrics that make your average football song sound as erudite and profound as the oeuvre of Leonard Cohen: “I take a breath and wait for the ref / This is the World Cup, put your hands in the air.” Alas, news of its social media virality clearly hadn’t reached the audience in the New York New Jersey Stadium. The deathly silence at its conclusion made you wonder if perhaps the TV broadcast couldn’t pick up the sound of the crowd, but no: some fireworks subsequently went off and they went audibly mental.There was, it turned out, more to come. Jennifer Hudson sang the Star-Spangled Banner. Dutifully flogging a dead horse with all the professionalism he could muster, Robbie Williams performed the Fifa anthem, Desire, in the company of Laura Pausini and Nicole Scherzinger. The ballad debuted at the draw ceremony in December and – like all the musical entertainment at said event – it was overshadowed by the news that Fifa had apparently started making up awards in order to give them to Donald Trump. It vanished into obscurity thereafter, failing to chart anywhere in the world. Listening to it exhumed for another airing, you were forced to concede that the world had a point.After all that, the actual half-time show felt like a comparative triumph. You could argue that the bar had been set pretty low without much dissent, but nonetheless, it zipped along, cramming a lot into its 11 minutes by the simple expedient of paring songs down to their bare essentials and swiftly cutting between artists. Madonna performed a version of her 2000 hit Music – reworked over a backing track immediately recognisable as derived from the Trammps’ Disco Inferno – on a vaguely Mad Max-ish vehicle piloted by Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.Then the strains of the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army rang out, ostensibly performed by three members of the Muppets’ house band the Electric Mayhem. There was no sign of their leader, Dr Teeth, but perhaps he was indisposed, being treated backstage after being exposed to Champions by IShowSpeed. BTS rattled through Dynamite, Shakira and Burna Boy played a truncated version of Dai Dai – the solitary World Cup song in recent memory to actually impact on the British charts – and Coldplay performed a song called Believe in Love accompanied by a children’s choir: the latter looks horrendous on paper, but was far less sugary in reality, undercut by the farty blast of a crowd of vuvuzela players.The solitary misstep might have involved allowing Justin Bieber to perform a downcast acoustic ballad, Everything Hallelujah – viral hit following his performance at Coachella or not, this perhaps wasn’t the moment for introspection – but no matter: if the half-time show wasn’t sufficiently head-spinning to convince the viewer it should be a regular occurrence at every World Cup final, it worked well enough to justify its existence at least this time. Although clearly not everyone felt the same way: “I thought it was crap,” offered Wayne Rooney, when pressed for his opinions by BBC presenter Gabby Logan.

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Close7511Ferran Torres scores in extra time for Spain to give them World Cup final victory against Argentina at the New York New Jersey Stadium.Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated topicsArgentinaFollow Argentinaclose panelYou are now following ArgentinaUpdates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.FootballFollow Footballclose panelYou are now following FootballUpdates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.SpainFollow Spain

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Pop giants Madonna, BTS, Shakira and Justin Bieber performed for thousands of spectators at the 2026 World Cup final half-time show.Madonna sung her hit song Music - seeming to appear from tunnels under the arena.Their performances came in a half-time that ran to 27 minutes and 22 seconds - the longest in World Cup history.AttributionSportColombian pop star Shakira and Nigerian musician Burna Boy reunited on stage after performing together at the tournament's opening ceremony in Mexico City last month.K-Pop group BTS have been making their comeback from a three-year music hiatus to complete their mandatory military service in South Korea.Several celebrities were spotted watching on, including Kylie Jenner and her boyfriend Timothee Chalamet, as well as Beyonce and Jay-Z.Earlier, a range of performances began the sporting event's closing ceremony, including Jennifer Hudson singing the national anthem and a speech from actor Tom Cruise.Streamer IShowSpeed took to the field at the New York New Jersey Stadium first, alongside drummers and dancers in vibrant tracksuits.Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams and Italian singer Laura Pausini also performed together, while rapper and singer Post Malone also performed his hit song Wow.Ahead of kick-off, multi-award-winning singer and actor Jennifer Hudson performed the US national anthem, accompanied by a live band.After the performances, Tom Cruise took to the stage to introduce the match."From every corner of the globe, we have witnessed greatness, and we have shared in moments of joy," he told the crowd. "Football is a language spoken without words, a force that unites people."Italian singer Pausini told the BBC she had goosebumps when Williams invited her to sing alongside him.But not everyone was thrilled by the performances half-time performance.Former England player Wayne Rooney, who was part of the commentary team for the BBC, gave his instant reaction: "I like a lot of them artists, but I thought it was crap."How the World Cup made an 'NFL-obsessed' American a football fanThe financial winners and losers from the World Cup

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Close00Madonna, BTS, Justin Bieber, and Shakira entertain the crowd at half-time in the World Cup final, with a special appearance from Ronaldo and Ronaldinho at the New York New Jersey Stadium.Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated topicsArgentinaFollow Argentinaclose panelYou are now following ArgentinaUpdates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.FootballFollow Footballclose panelYou are now following FootballUpdates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.SpainFollow Spain

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Arsenal are weighing up a move for John Stones as a replacement for the injured William Saliba, Chelsea hold formal talks over Maxence Lacroix, while Hull City want to sign Leon Bailey from Aston Villa.Arsenal are considering signing 32-year-old England defender John Stones on a free transfer if 25-year-old France defender William Saliba's injury turns out to be long term. (Sun), externalChelsea have held formal talks with Crystal Palace over a move for France defender Maxence Lacroix with the Eagles valuing the 26-year-old around £55m. (Talksport), externalHull City are in talks with Aston Villa over a deal for 28-year-old Jamaica winger Leon Bailey. (Athletic - subscription required), externalNew Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa wants to sign two players from former club Real Madrid, including 18-year-old Argentina winger Franco Mastantuono and 22-year-old Spain forward Gonzalo Garcia. (Sun), externalBologna's 23-year-old English winger Jonathan Rowe remains on Aston Villa and Chelsea's shortlists. (Calciomercato - in Italian), externalHull City are closing in on the signing of 30-year-old former Newcastle left-back Matt Targett, who is a free agent after leaving the club this summer. (Mail), externalLiverpool are prepared to join Manchester United in the race for Roma's 25-year-old France midfielder Manu Kone. (Football Insider), externalAston Villa have held talks with Chelsea over the possibility of signing both Nicolas Jackson and Alejandro Garnacho this summer. (Teamtalk), externalAC Milan's Portugal forward Rafael Leao would prefer a move to the Premier League rather than Turkey, with Aston Villa a potential destination for the 27-year-old. (Gazzetta - in Italian), externalLazio are targeting West Ham's DR Congo defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka, with the 28-year-old also on Arsenal's list of potential options. (Mail), externalJuventus' number one goalkeeping target is Aston Villa's 33-year-old Argentina international Emiliano Martinez, while the Serie A club is also keeping an eye on Fiorentina's 35-year-old Spain goalkeeper David de Gea. (Calciomercato - in Italian), externalEverton could rival Inter Milan in the race to sign Tottenham's 25-year-old England defender Djed Spence. (Football Insider), externalLiverpool want to sign Sweden left-back Daniel Svensson from Borussia Dortmund, but may face competition from Arsenal for the 24-year-old's signature. (Caught Offside), externalListen to the latest Football Daily podcast

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The World Cup between Spain and Argentina is under way - you can follow it live here.You can rate both sets of players out of 10 below and come back 30 minutes after full-time to see the final ratings.Rate players out of 10 for this game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle. You must be signed in to a BBC account to play.After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.When the World Cup finishes, the football continues on BBC SportWorld Cup quiz: Can you name every winner?A bit 'blah' or a worthy host? Is MetLife right World Cup final choice?

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53 CommentsSwansea City are close to agreeing a deal to sign Motherwell's New Zealand international winger Elijah Just.The 26-year-old played in all three of the All Whites' games at this summer's World Cup and scored three goals.Just joined Motherwell in 2025 having spent the majority of his career playing in Denmark.He made 43 appearances for the Fir Park club, scored seven goals and was nominated for Premiership player of the year.Just would join fellow New Zealand international Marko Stamenic at Swansea should he complete a move to Wales.He would also be reunited with summer signing Stephen Welsh, who spent last season on loan at Motherwell from Celtic.Just's rise from Austrian second tier to World Cup breakout star