They came to New Jersey as historians. They left as world champions.Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in a tense and dramatic World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Sunday night, with Ferran Torres’ second-half strike separating the two sides and giving Spain its second World Cup title, 16 years after its first in South Africa in 2010.But the trophy wasn’t the only piece of history made on Sunday night. In winning the final, Spain extended their unbeaten run to 38 consecutive matches in all competitions, surpassing Italy’s record of 37 matches and becoming the team with the longest unbeaten run in the history of European and South American international football. No team from any continent has ever gone longer without a defeat.Torres, who had endured a difficult tournament by his high standards before this final, achieved the most important goal of his career. Taking a perfectly weighted pass from Pedri on the edge of the Argentinian penalty area in the 67th minute, the Manchester City striker took a touch to control and drilled a pinpoint effort past Emiliano Martínez and into the bottom corner. MetLife Stadium, packed in red and yellow, erupted.Argentina pushed. Lionel Messi, playing the last match of his international career, drove forward repeatedly, creating moments and demanding the ball as always. But Spain’s defense, six clean sheets in six previous games, the best defensive record in World Cup history was not to crack on the biggest night of all. Unai Simón made two crucial saves in the last ten minutes to preserve the clean sheet and send the trophy to Spain.For Messi, it is a painful end to a career of extraordinary beauty. He finishes the 2026 World Cup with eight goals and four assists, one of the greatest individual tournament statistics in World Cup history. But Argentina’s second consecutive title was not to be.For Spain, unbeaten in 38 matches, European champions in 2024 and now world champions in 2026, the record books belong entirely to them.The Italian record stood for five years. Spain broke it on the biggest stage of all with a World Cup trophy in hand.