Overview
- The World Cup final between Spain and Argentina is scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
- FOX will carry the English‑language broadcast and Telemundo with Peacock the Spanish feed, and both networks reported record semifinal audiences with FOX citing a 15.063 million average for Argentina‑England and NBCUniversal reporting 11.4 million on Telemundo/Peacock for the same game.
- FIFA named Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic to officiate the final, making him the first Slovenian to take charge of a men’s World Cup final and prompting an emotional reaction from the referee after the appointment.
- Organizers monitored smoke from Canadian wildfires that affected air quality in the Northeast and issued health advisories, but forecasts expected a cold front to clear the haze in time for the match.
- The game closes a 48‑team tournament that produced 104 matches, carries high sporting stakes with Argentina aiming for back‑to‑back titles and spotlights Lionel Messi, and will have major commercial and cultural visibility through large crowds and an expanded global broadcast slate.