Defending champion Argentina will face Spain in the World Cup final Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey with free watch parties planned for throughout Los Angeles County.
The Argentines advanced to the final for the third time in four tournaments and seventh time in their 19 World Cup appearances with a 2-1 victory over England in a semifinal Wednesday in Atlanta, scoring in the 85th minute and two minutes into second-half stoppage time after allowing Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute.
Argentina is seeking to be the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil’s victories in 1958 and 1962.
Argentina’s seven finals appearances are tied for second-most with Brazil, one less than Germany. Its three championships are fourth behind Brazil’s five and Germany and Italy’s four each.
Spain’s only other finals appearance came in 2010 when it defeated Netherlands, 1-0, in extra time.
Lionel Messi of Argentina is the tournament’s second-leading goal-scorer with eight, two behind France’s Kylian Mbappé. Mbappé scored twice in France’s 6-4 loss to England in the third-place match Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Mikel Oyarzabal is Spain’s leading goal-scorer with five, seventh in the tournament.
Spain is 6-0-1 in the tournament, with the only blemish coming in a 0-0 tie against Cape Verde, in its group stage opener June 15. It has outscored its opponents, 13-1.
Argentina has won all seven of its matches, including a 3-2 victory over Cape Verde in extra time in a round of 32 match July 3, one of its three one-goal victories. It has outscored its opponents, 19-7.
Spain’s roster consists of 17 players who play on club teams in Spain, seven in England and one each in France and Germany.
Argentina’s roster consists of seven players who play on club teams in Spain, six in England, four in France, two in Argentina, Italy and Major League Soccer — Messii and his Inter Miami FC teammate Rodrigo De Paul — and one each in Brazil, Germany and Portugal
Club teammates who will be on opposite sides Sunday are Argentine midfielder Exequiel Palacios and Spanish defender Ãlex Grimaldo, teammates with Bayer Leverkusen of Germany’s Bundesliga; Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernández and Spanish defender Marc Cucurella, teammates with the English Premier League club Chelsea; and Argentine defender Cristian Romero and Spanish defender Pedro Porro, teammates with Tottenham Hotspur of the EPL.
Argentina is first in the unofficial rankings released after the completion of Saturday’s third-place match by FIFA, soccer’s global governing body. Spain is ranked second.
The ranking is considered unofficial until all matches are approved as international `A’ matches. The latest official ranking was released June 11, the day the World Cup began.
The Opta supercomputer gives Spain a 59.56% chance of winning the World Cup based on 10,000 pre-match simulations, Argentina a 40.44% chance.
The match is set to begin at noon Pacific Daylight Time. It will be televised in English by Fox and in Spanish by Telemundo.
Free watch parties will be held at the Westwood, South Park, El Sereno and Lanark recreation centers and the Autry Museum of the American West as part of the Kick It In the Park program organized by various city of Los Angeles departments that also include youth soccer clinics, neighborhood programming and community resources.
More information is available at kickit.lacity.gov.
Free watch parties will also be held at the Carson Event Center Amphitheater; Town Plaza in Culver City; the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles; south of the Hermosa Beach Pier in Hermosa Beach; the Ovation Hollywood shopping center; Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica; and Hammer Museum in Westwood.