Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot to give Spain the lead against France in the semi final and is such an important player for Luis de la Fuente’s side.

He’s Spain’s top scorer at the World Cup with five goals to his name across seven starts and has achieved this tally from 22 shots (3.65 per 90), 11 of which have found the target (1.82 per 90). 

I think he’ll be able to cause Argentina a lot of problems with his clever movement and has crucially delivered on the big stage before having scored the winner against England in the final of the 2024 European Championships. 

Pau Cubarsi has had a phenomenal tournament and would probably be one of the contenders for the Golden Ball if Spain were to lift the trophy.

Cubarsi and Laporte have been a solid partnership for Spain at this World Cup, conceding just one goal all tournament - but the high line Spain play does occasionally leave both a bit vulnerable in moments of transition.

Cubarsi is used to playing in a high line having done so regularly for Barcelona during the most recent domestic campaign, though still has to make tactical fouls at times to protect the space that Spain leave in behind.

Spain should feel emboldened to push up quite high as Argentina don’t have a lot of space in forward areas, but I think Cubarsi will be sucked into a battle with Lionel Messi at times here.

Messi has won 16 fouls across his 6 starts at the World Cup (2.32 per 90) and was fouled twice against England last time out. 

Enzo Fernandez scored a crucial equaliser from distance against England for Argentina last time out, one of four shots he took in total - all of which came from outside of the box.

It felt as though Fernandez was getting his range in with the previous efforts before eventually finding a way through to the back of the net. 

Upon closer inspection Pickford probably should have done better to keep it out, but the volume of efforts is promising when looking to back Fernandez for a single shot here.

He started in quite a deep role for his country but has since moved up into a more advanced position, operating a little closer to Messi and his striking partner.

Fernandez has taken 12 shots across his six starts overall at the World Cup, working out to an average of 1.89 shots per 90.

Both of these sides have registered decent corner counts throughout the tournament, with Argentina’s average sitting at 8.15 corners per game while Spain have seen 8.43 corners per game.

Argentina racked up six corners and scored following a short corner against England last time out. They’ve won 5.29 corners per game, winning 6+ corners in 71% of their matches at this World Cup.

Spain’s semi final against France produced exactly eight corners, and probably should have had a few more if Spain hadn’t taken an early lead. They’ve won 6.43 corners per game at this World Cup, also seeing 6+ corners in 71% of their games.

These are two sides who have reached the World Cup final through very different circumstances and Spain look the best placed to win the trophy from this position.

It’s hard to look past the dominance of Spain, they’ve won six of their seven matches and haven’t trailed for a single second across these games. 

They’ve only conceded one goal at the tournament, also conceding an xG of just 2.15 across the seven games. 

They’ve had to beat Portugal, Belgium and France in the latter stages of the tournament too while Argentina have been very fortunate in their victories, facing adversity in almost every round but still finding a way to get through.