Ferran Torres finally broke Argentina’s resistance in extra-time in the final to win the World Cup for Spain.
The substitute struck in the 106th minute of a one-sided final in New York, to give Spain a richly merited second world title.
A little over a month after they had laboured to a goalless draw with unheralded Cape Verde in their tournament opener, they proved it is not about how you start but how you finish.
In the intervening time, they had conceded just a single goal in the tournament. Producing ones at the other end might not always have proved simple, as shown in the final when they struggled to find a way past the canny Argentina defence.
In the end, though, one was all they needed to add another star above their crest, and end the hopes of Lionel Messi of a second successive world title.
Oddly, for the biggest event in world sport, the game felt like the calm after the storm. The United States signed off its staging of the World Cup with a wildly extravagant blitz of glitz and glamour, pre-, mid- and post-match.
Jennifer Hudson crooned the home country’s national anthem. A heavily-sequinned Robbie Williams led the way with Fifa’s own anthem.
By the time Tom Cruise was halfway through his hammy welcome address, Argentina’s fans signalled it was about time for the football to start, please, booming out a chant that bounced down the stands.
In fact, it was past the time for the football. By the time the anthems were out the way, Michael Buffer encouraged everyone to get ready to rumble, and the crowd had been corralled into counting down to the start, it was six minutes past the scheduled kick off time.
Then, after all the rowdy, OTT hullabaloo before the start, Spain just set the metronome running in their time-honoured fashion.
They dominated the ball, even if it was hardly thrilling. Just three shots were offered up in the first 45 minutes, all for Spain.
None particularly threatened, although Emiliano Martinez, Argentina’s goalkeeper, did looked relieved when a deflected effort by Lamine Yamal early on settled in his lap. Argentina, for their part, did not have a single touch in the opposition box in the first half.
In the absence of any real openings, the main source of intrigue was how the play was going to be policed, given the tournament conspiracy theories suggesting that Lionel Messi’s Argentina were being favoured.
Spain had signalled that they would have no problem with Argentina’s gamesmanship, so long as the officials maintained a fair line with their decision making.
Slavko Vincic, the Slovenian referee, maintained a light touch, despite a few moderate flare ups. The only card he showed in the first phase was to Lisandro Martinez for a foul, and the Argentina centre-back was withdrawn shortly after due to a thigh injury anyway.
Again, the football felt like it was the sideshow. At half time there was some old pop (Madonna), some K-pop (BTS), some troubled pop, (Justin Bieber), and a bit of World Cup football pop royalty (Shakira).
What rarely threatened to go pop was the game. Or snap. Or crackle. It proceeded in low-key fashion after the restart.
Again, narkiness outweighed thrills. One of Spain’s best chances told a story: the referee overlooked two fouls to play an advantage that allowed Dani Olmo to shoot from the edge of the box. He only managed to direct it straight at the goalkeeper, who fumbled it behind for a corner.
Shortly after, Torres headed straight at Emiliano Martinez after Yamal had finally managed to wriggle free of his two markers down the right touchline and get to the byline to cross.
It took until stoppage time at the end of the 90 minutes for the game to lose its structure. And for Argentina to finally lose their poise.
Earlier in the second half, Enzo Fernandez had talked his way into a yellow card when a decision went his way.
He left his side a man down when he upended Pau Cubarsi, the teen centre back for Spain. Cubarsi went flying, and almost by the time he had landed, the referee was brandishing a second yellow card to Fernandez.
In the melee that followed, Messi tried to even the ledger when he attempted to suggest Marc Cucurella, the Spain full back, had talked to him behind his hand. No action was taken, meaning Spain would have a man advantage for the extra 30 minutes.
It was just the second time a World Cup final had ended 0-0 after 90 minutes. The previous occasion had been the last time it had been staged in the United States, when Brazil beat Italy on penalties in 1994.
One thing Argentina had in their favour was that they knew the drill. Since the knockout stages of the tournament started, their semi-final against England was the only time they had no been taken to extra time.
Never had they faced such a challenge, though. In the opening 90 minutes, they had not managed a single shot. Spain had had 10. And then there was the man advantage, too.
The Spaniards were getting close to breaking open the dam. Substitute Nico Williams had the ball in the net, but it was ruled out for a spurious foul on Nicolas Otamendi, the Argentina defender.
Finally, they got what they deserved when Torres thundered home the opener just after the restart following half time in extra time.
The Barcelona striker had the ball in the net again shortly after, only for it to be chalked off for offside.
