Lionel Messi came to the United States to defend a World Cup and add a second star to Argentina's shirt. He leaves with neither, and with the lasting image of his side's title defence being a scuffle at the final whistle rather than a lap of honour.

Spain won the final 1-0 after extra time in New Jersey, and the single goal flattered Argentina. Spain forced twelve attempts on goal. Argentina managed none. Emiliano Martinez kept the holders alive with a record eleven saves before a substitute, Ferran Torres, finally beat him to become only the second player to score a World Cup final winner off the bench. For long stretches the reigning champions could not lay a glove on Spain. When it was over, some of them tried to.

A fight after the final, not during it

What followed the whistle has turned a sporting disappointment into a disciplinary case. Leandro Paredes appeared to grab Spain's Eric Garcia by the throat. Nahuel Molina and Thiago Almada were among those pushing, shoving and trading fouls long after the result was settled. The referee, Slavko Vincic, took no action in the moment. Football's governing body has since appointed a disciplinary prosecutor, and Paredes and Molina now face bans of at least three matches if the confrontation is ruled to have counted as violent conduct.

It is a graceless way for a great generation to give up its crown. This is the side that won in 2022 and gave the world the sight of Messi lifting the trophy he had chased his entire career. Defending it was always the harder task, and Spain, younger and quicker and calmer, were worthy winners of a game they controlled almost from the first whistle to the last.

The romantics wanted one more chapter

Sport rarely obliges the romantics. The story everyone outside Spain wanted was Messi, in his twilight, carrying a nation to back to back titles. Instead Argentina could not fashion a single clear chance, and when the football ran out they lost their composure rather than the ball. A team that could not beat Spain on the pitch went looking for a fight off it.

For Spain this is vindication, a second men's world title and their first since 2010, sealed by control rather than chaos. For Argentina the reckoning starts now, and not only on the scoreboard. Any suspensions will shadow the next campaign, and the pictures of those final minutes will follow these players around for far longer than the score will.

Messi was not among those swinging after the whistle, and it would be wrong to hang the brawl on him. But a captain's legacy is measured partly by how his dressing room behaves when the result has gone against it, and this one came apart in front of a global audience. Argentina flew in carrying the heaviest expectation in world football, a second star for their captain. They are flying home without it. No refunds.