Lionel Messi And Argentina Show Raw Emotion After World Cup Final Defeat

With a World Cup triumph comes two opposite reactions: once-in-a-lifetime euphoria and indescribable heartbreak. For Lionel Messi and Argentina, it was the latter on Sunday afternoon, as the team couldn't repeat in a 1-0 final loss to Spain that might just be Messi's last World Cup match.

Following Argentina's extra-time loss, the Argentinean team, coaches and fans were sad beyond words.

Argentina played a man down from the third minute of stoppage time in the second half on after Cristian Romero was given his second yellow card of the game. Later, Spain scored the only goal of the match in the 106th minute when Ferran Torres found the back of the net.

Argentina had several scoring chances in the waning minutes, as it had two corner kicks, two free kicks and one throw-in over the final five minutes of the second extra-time period, but it couldn't punch through.

Later, during the postgame ceremony, Messi let it all out.

If this is the end of the line for Messi's World Cup career, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner and 13-time Domestic League champion ends it with 21 combined goals and 12 assists across six World Cup tournaments (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026).

Argentina, which won the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Copa América, reached the World Cup final for the third time in the last four tournaments this year, while Spain has won its second consecutive major tournament, as it previously won Euro 2024. This is Spain's second ever World Cup win, its last coming in 2010.