'The goal that finally broke Argentina': Ferran Torres ends the FIFA final deadlock winning the World Cup

Dubai: Over 114 minutes in the making.

After more than 114 minutes without a goal to show for their dominance, Spain finally broke Argentina's resistance in the second half of extra time. It's the moment this final had been building toward since kickoff, and it came from exactly the kind of patient, possession-heavy football Spain had played all match.

Martin Zubimendi delivered a cross to the far post, Nico Williams rose to head it back across goal, and Ferran Torres arrived unmarked to finish first time. It was clinical, well-worked, and precisely the kind of goal Spain had been threatening for over an hour.

The strike came right after the second water break of extra time, Spain came out of it and struck almost immediately, a goal that had genuinely been building since the start of the second period, with wave after wave of Spanish pressure finally paying off.

Moments after making it 1-0, Torres thought he'd doubled Spain's lead, only for the goal to be correctly ruled out for offside. He'd started his run a fraction too early, but the near-miss underlined just how much control Spain had seized once the deadlock broke.

Torres wasn't even on the pitch when extra time began. He came on for Mikel Oyarzabal, alongside Pedri replacing Fabian Ruiz, as manager Luis de la Fuente refreshed his attacking options for the closing stages. The change paid off almost immediately.

Nico Williams had already had a goal ruled out earlier in extra time for a foul in the build-up, and Emiliano Martinez had produced save after save to keep Argentina level deep into a match Spain dominated from the first whistle. Torres's goal is the moment that finally matched the scoreline to the run of play. Cameras caught Lionel Messi's reaction the instant the ball went in, visibly rattled, in a match where he'd barely had the ball in regulation thanks to Spain's suffocating possession.

Spain's entire bench emptied onto the pitch to celebrate with Torres, a reflection of just how much tension had built up over more than 114 minutes without a goal.

Argentina, already down to ten men after Enzo Fernandez's red card in stoppage time, now need something special from their captain in what could be Messi's last chance at a second World Cup. Given Argentina failed to register a single shot on target through the first 90 minutes, that's an enormous task against a Spain side that has controlled almost every phase of the game.

A win here would give Spain their second World Cup title, adding to their 2010 triumph. For Argentina, it would end their bid to become just the third nation ever to win back-to-back World Cups, following Brazil in 1958 and 1962.