Spain v Argentina | Yamal v Messi | FIFA World Cup 2026 Final™ preview with Míchel Salgado, Santiago Solari & Christian Vieri

**Olivia Buzaglo** (0:00)
Hello, and welcome to The FIFA Podcast with me, Olivia Buzaglo. Can you believe it? 103 games across 38 days. We have one remaining, and it is the big one, the FIFA World Cup Final 2026 from New York, New Jersey. We're just a few hours away from kickoff now, so I've assembled a team of legends to preview the game. But the big question is, will it be Spain or Argentina?
Well, what a match up we have in store, and I have the perfect people to dive into this one with. Christian Vieri, I'm going to start with you in the middle. You're ready to be referee?

**Christian Vieri** (0:36)
Yes, two big legends here.

**Olivia Buzaglo** (0:38)
Two big legends, but also former teammates. So maybe we don't need.

**Míchel Salgado** (0:42)
It's the only thing Italy can do.

**Santiago Solari** (0:45)
But we are missing Italy.

**Olivia Buzaglo** (0:47)
We have got Míchel Salgado who's played over 50 times for Spain, including at the 2006 World Cup. Míchel, thank you so much for being here.

**Míchel Salgado** (0:55)
My pleasure.

**Olivia Buzaglo** (0:56)
And of course we have Santiago Solari as well. Thank you for being here. It's a real pleasure.

**Santiago Solari** (1:03)
Thank you for inviting us.

**Olivia Buzaglo** (1:03)
I'm very, very excited to have a bit of Spain and Argentina back and forth. We are actually in the MLS HQ, and if you look over our shoulders, we are right by Madison Square Garden in the heart of Manhattan. And Santiago, just first of all, I want to take you back to your college days playing football over here in America. And when we're actually sitting here right now and we're looking back on the World Cup and what an incredible World Cup it's been, could you ever have imagined that football would be in the place that it is in America right now?

**Santiago Solari** (1:33)
Well, thank you for taking me there. Great memories. I was very, very young. It was like 600 years ago.
And no, it was after 1994, which was the other World Cup that the United States held. And of course, then the MLS, well, the MLS, the league, the American league struggled a lot to grow and be what it is now. It had a few, two or three pivotal moments. First with Pelé, then with Cosmos, Pelé Cosmos, then when Beckham came here many, many years later. And I think now with Messi is the third big moment. But the World Cups over were a huge, how do you say it? Impulso.
Míchel, please help me out.

**Olivia Buzaglo** (2:17)
A big impact, yeah.

**Santiago Solari** (2:18)
To make the football grow here. And what it is now, it's nothing to do with what it was back then when I was playing here in college.

**Olivia Buzaglo** (2:28)
Míchel, how much have you loved this World Cup, being over here in America and Canada and Mexico?

**Míchel Salgado** (2:35)
Well, a lot of things happened. The first thing is it's strange to be in a World Cup where you have to travel a lot. And with three different countries, Mexico, Canada and US, it was difficult to think about it. But then we came in here and we saw it. We enjoy Mexico, we enjoy US and of course, Canada.
I think it's been an amazing football World Cup. A lot of things, a lot of good news, especially good stories, you know, Curaçao, Cabo Verde, watching Norway, you know, the fans, you know, doing the role was an amazing thing. But the most important is the football, you know, and I think we got the first final.

**Olivia Buzaglo** (3:17)
Let's get into our preview of the final then.
Christian, we were sat here yesterday, not here, but doing the podcast from Fanatics Fest. And I asked you who had the edge? And I'm wondering if you've changed your mind at all. He said Argentina had the edge just because of a certain number 10 But, are you edging more towards Spain? Are you still Argentina?

**Christian Vieri** (3:34)
No, I still Argentina because, like I said, you can beat Spain, but you're never going to play better than Spain. Okay? They have their ball position, and they're going to control the game. That's how they play. They play relaxed. They take it easy. And you just run around 90 minutes like a dummy, you know?
But on the other side, you have the fighters, like Míchel said, they're never going to give up. They're going to die for the country, and they've got the number 10 That he can change the game on the first minute or the 95th minute. So, you know, I think that's the edge that Argentina has. And they have up front two amazing strikers, Alvarez and Lautaro, that they can score in any minute. One plays, everyone comes on, you know? So I think up front, they have a little slight edge.