Spain play Argentina at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at 19:00 UTC on Sunday 19 July, 3:00pm on the US east coast, with Slavko Vincic of Slovenia appointed to referee 1. Spain's only confirmed absentee is Yeremy Pino; Lamine Yamal and Pedro Porro carry knocks and are expected to play. Argentina report no injury or suspension problems, and bookings accumulated before the quarter-finals were wiped, so no player misses this one on cards 2.
The two arrived by different routes. Argentina came through Lautaro Martinez's stoppage-time header against England in Atlanta ; Spain beat France 2-0 in Arlington to reach their first final since 2010 . They meet with the Finalissima their two federations failed to arrange still outstanding between them.
Lionel Messi goes into the match on eight tournament goals, with the Golden Boot the last individual award still open. Three tonight would take him past Kylian Mbappe outright. Two would draw him level, at which point the tiebreak runs first to assists, where Messi leads, and then to fewest minutes played, where a player who has appeared in every round is disadvantaged against one whose tournament ended a week early 3. One goal, or none, and the award stays where the bronze final left it.
That tiebreak order is the whole reason the race remains live for a man two behind. A goals-only rule would have settled this on Saturday evening. Because the criteria reward creation and penalise minutes, an Argentina forward who has played every fixture can still finish the tournament holding the award without matching its highest tally. FIFA presents the Golden Boot at the stadium once ninety minutes and any extra time have run their course.
