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When is the World Cup final? All you need to know as Spain plays Argentina
Spain and Argentina face off in the 2026 World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The match is scheduled for Sunday, July 19, at 3pm local time (19:00 GMT), with a halftime show featuring Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, and BTS, and US President Donald Trump expected to attend and present the trophy.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup final is set, with Spain taking on Argentina in a title clash that pits Europe's top-ranked team against South America's No. 1. The match will be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which has been temporarily rebadged as New York-New Jersey Stadium for the tournament.
Coverage Comparison
Both Al Jazeera and ABC Australia have reported on the final, providing essential details about the date, time, venue, and entertainment. Al Jazeera reports that the final will be held on Sunday, July 19, with a 3pm local time kickoff (19:00 GMT) in East Rutherford. ABC Australia, meanwhile, gives the kickoff time as 5am AEST on Monday, July 20, which is 4:30am CST and 3am AWST. The discrepancy reflects time zone differences, with the local time in New Jersey being the same Sunday afternoon.
The venue, MetLife Stadium, is home to the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets and can hold up to 82,500 spectators for football. It also hosted the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final and both semifinals.
Key Claims
Final matchup: Spain and Argentina are the last two teams standing, meeting in a World Cup final for the first time. Spain beat tournament favorite France in the semifinal, while Argentina came from behind to defeat England. Spain is looking for its first men's title since 2010, while Argentina is hoping to go back-to-back after winning in 2022.
Date and time: The final is on Sunday, July 19, kicking off at 3pm local time in New Jersey, according to Al Jazeera. ABC Australia reports the match begins at 5am AEST on Monday, July 20, for Australian viewers.
Venue: The match will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, known for this tournament as New York-New Jersey Stadium.
Broadcast: ABC Australia reports that the game will be broadcast live on SBS and streamed on SBS On Demand. ABC Sport's live blog will also provide coverage.
Halftime show: Both sources confirm an extended halftime show, a first for a World Cup final, with performances from Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, and BTS. FIFA is expected to extend the halftime break beyond the usual 15 minutes.
US President attendance: Al Jazeera reports FIFA has confirmed Donald Trump's attendance at the final. The US president is expected to present the trophy to the winning side. This will be Trump's first time at the tournament, according to ABC Australia.
Head-to-head: Spain and Argentina last played each other in an international friendly on March 27, 2018, at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, with Spain winning 6-1.
2030 World Cup: Al Jazeera's report also mentions that the 2030 World Cup will take place across Morocco, Spain, and Portugal, though this is not central to the final preview.
Perspectives
Al Jazeera: Focuses on the global significance of the final, providing venue details, the head-to-head history, and confirming Donald Trump's role in trophy presentation.
ABC Australia: Emphasizes the Australian viewer experience, including broadcast details and the early morning kickoff time, and highlights the dramatic paths both teams took to reach the final.
How each outlet told it
ABC Australia
Framing: Informative, focusing on the upcoming event — Neutral, objective
Facts Included:
World Cup final between Spain and Argentina
Date of the final: Monday, July 20
Kickoff time: 5am AEST
Broadcast and streaming information: SBS and SBS On Demand
Teams' previous performances: Spain beat France, Argentina beat England
Half-time show performers: Shakira, Madonna, Justin Bieber, BTS
Closing ceremony performers: Post Malone, Robbie Williams, Tom Cruise
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimThe World Cup final is between Spain and Argentina.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australiathe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe World Cup final will be played in New Jersey.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australiathe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe World Cup final will be held at MetLife Stadium, also known as New York-New Jersey Stadium.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from Al Jazeerathe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe World Cup final will feature a halftime show with performances from Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira, and BTS.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australiathe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimUS President Donald Trump will attend the World Cup final and present the trophy to the winning team.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from Al Jazeerathe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe World Cup final will be broadcast live on SBS and streamed on SBS On Demand.
ClaimThe World Cup final kickoff time is 5am AEST on Monday, July 20, according to one source, but 3pm local time on Sunday, July 19, according to another.