McManaman Predicts Spain Will Defeat Argentina in World Cup Final
Steve McManaman is not sitting on the fence. Spain vs Argentina. New York. World Cup final. And the former Liverpool winger sees only one winner.
Working as a pundit on ESPN FC, McManaman nailed his colours to the mast with a bold, almost casual prediction: Spain to win it 3-1.
“I’m going 3-1 to Spain. I’ll be nice and concise,” he said, declining to dress it up with tactical breakdowns or long explanations. The confidence said enough.
Spain’s Surge to the Brink of History
Luis de la Fuente’s side arrive in New York with a tailwind. They didn’t just beat France in Dallas on Tuesday; they handled them.
A 2-0 victory over the 2018 world champions, and widely tipped favourites, underlined Spain’s authority. They controlled the semi-final, dictated the tempo and shut down French hopes with a performance that felt like a throwback to their most ruthless years.
That win pushed the reigning European champions to the edge of a historic moment: a first World Cup crown since 2010, and only the second in their history. The football has been slick, the mindset relentless. It’s the kind of combination that makes a 3-1 prediction sound less like bravado and more like a logical extension of their form.
Argentina’s Late-Show Specialists
On the other side, Argentina have taken a very different road to the same destination. Seven wins from seven in the tournament, but rarely the smooth, polished dominance Spain have shown. Their route has been built on nerve, resistance and a refusal to accept defeat.
The semi-final against England in particular summed them up. Trailing as the clock ticked into the final minutes, La Albiceleste summoned one last surge. Two goals in the final five minutes plus stoppage time flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory over the Euro 2024 finalists.
It was chaotic, dramatic, entirely in character. Argentina bend but do not break. They drag opponents into emotional games, where control slips and instinct takes over. That’s the storm Spain will need to weather.
A Rivalry That Barely Exists – With a Long Memory
For all their global stature, these two giants have barely crossed paths on this stage. The only World Cup meeting came back in 1966, in England. Argentina edged that Group 2 game 2-1 and moved on to the quarter-finals, where they were narrowly beaten by the eventual champions, the hosts.
That solitary clash still lingers in the background. McManaman is convinced Spain will treat this final as a chance to settle an old score, to flip a tiny but telling piece of World Cup history.
The script almost brought them together earlier this year. Spain and Argentina were due to face off in the Finalissima in March, a showcase that would have offered an early glimpse of this heavyweight duel. The match never happened, cancelled for various reasons, and the questions about how these sides match up remained unanswered.
Now there’s no dress rehearsal. No friendly stage. Just New York, a World Cup final, and a Spain side that one former Anfield favourite believes will not just win, but win with something to spare.
