Former Liverpool star Steve McManaman has shared his prediction for the FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. The sides are set to lock horns in a classic encounter in New York on Sunday in what will be their first meeting in the tournament since 1966.

McManaman was on punditry duty on ESPN FC, and he revealed that he expects Spain to win the game comfortably. He predicted a 3-1 win for the reigning European champions, refusing to go into detail about how the game would go.

The European champions qualified for the final after a frankly brilliant 2-0 win over favourites France in their semi-final meeting in Dallas on Tuesday. They outplayed and outclassed the 2018 champions, leaving them on the verge of a first title since 2010 and a second title overall.

Argentina, on the other hand, picked up their seventh win of the tournament in the semi-final, and they did so in typical fashion. They came back from a goal down, scoring twice in the final five minutes plus stoppage time, to pick up a 2-1 victory over Euro 2024 finalists England.

The only prior meeting in a FIFA World Cup game between the countries was in England in 1966. La Albiceleste won 2-1 in the Group 2 game to advance to the quarter-final, where they lost by a single goal to eventual winners England.

McManaman believes that Luis de la Fuente's side will exact revenge for that game, this time in the final. The sides were meant to face each other in the Finalissima in March but were unable to due to a number of reasons.

Spain and Argentina are two of football's powerhouse nations and have faced just three times in their history. One of their meetings was in the FIFA World Cup 60 years ago, but the other two meetings are fairly recent.

Shortly after winning the FIFA World Cup in 2010, La Roja took on Argentina in a friendly in September. They were soundly beaten, with the South Americans going 3-0 up in the first half before eventually winning 4-1.

In 2018, both sides met again as part of their preparations for the FIFA World Cup of that year. Spain destroyed a Lionel Messi-less side 6-1, and only Rodri, who was an unused substitute, remains from that squad. For La Albiceleste, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico, Leandro Paredes, Lautaro Martinez, and Giovani Lo Celso were all in the squad back then.

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