Sports
World Cup Final Best Bets: Three Picks for Argentina vs. Spain
Lionel Messi and Argentina will try to win their second consecutive World Cup title on Sunday. The World Cup final is here, with a matchup between Argentina and Spain that should have the football world salivating.
Spain are the reigning European Champions. Argentina, the defending World Cup champions and two-time reigning Copa America holders.
Here are our three best bets for the encounter in East Rutherford, N.J.
Moneyline
You won’t find many sportsbooks offering the money line draw at a price north of +200 odds. And while that may seem steep, both history and circumstances suggest that’s the value play.
Over the entire course of World Cup history, 8 of 21 true finals have ended level after 90 minutes. And that includes a previous, much-higher-scoring era of the sport that lasted through the late 1950s.
Since goals per game came down in the 1960s, that ratio has increased to 7 of 16 finals.
And the relative ease of Spain’s semifinal victory, combined with the drama of Argentina’s fightback a day later, has obscured the fact that these sides are pretty even analytically.
Spain holds the highest expected-goal difference of the tournament at 11.2, but Argentina is second at 10.4.
Given the finals trend, that’s enough evidence to back the 90-minute draw trend here at +210 odds and an implied 32.3% probability.
Moneyline: Draw (+210, theScore)
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Goal bands
The trend for total goals in World Cup finals is not particularly clear. But there is a pretty consistent trend for both these sides over 90 minutes in knockout play.
Both Spain and Argentina are teams that aspire to be ball dominant. It’s a style that rarely leads to 0-0 draws, but also rarely leads to super high-scoring encounters.
In 90 minutes, each of these sides have seen the total land on 2 or 3 goals in three of their four knockout round fixtures. That was also true in three of Spain’s four fixtures at the 2024 European Championships and two of Argentina’s three knockout matches at the 2024 Copa America.
Maybe it won’t happen here. But at +100 odds and an implied 50% probability, you like betting on those chances.
Goal band: 2 or 3 total goals (+100, DraftKings)
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To lift the trophy
The oddsmakers are giving a slight edge to Spain here, which is probably reflective of their slight expected-goal superiority and maybe their perceived more difficult tournament path.
But the gap between these sides is small enough that matter, and those favor the Argentines.
For starters, Argentine fans have relentlessly followed this team across the United States, creating cauldrons of support that sound like home stadiums. Crowds aren’t the only factor that creates a quantifiable home-field edge, but they are part of it.
Argentina also have the experience of playing at this stage in the previous World Cup. Spain have also played in big matches, but World Cups are different. If you were going to nitpick their run so far, you might point out that they haven’t played against anyone from beyond the European continent in the knockout stage.
Lastly, the Argentine mindset here is a dangerous combination of unified but not overly pressured. The Albiceleste very much want to send out their greatest player on a high, and there is no debate about their national identity. But they are not under the same burden as four years ago when they were trying to prove Messi’s greatness and end a 36-year drought.
Spain have always had a more complicated relationship with their national squad, in part because of Basque and Catalan separatist sentiments.
These don’t transform a 75-25 game. But they can swing a 58-42 encounter to a true coinflip. I believe that’s the case here, and that’s why I’m betting on Argentina to lift the trophy at +130 odds and an implied 43.5% probability.
To lift the trophy: Argentina (+130, DraftKings)
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Sports
Late homer helps Yankees earn doubleheader split vs. Dodgers
Jul 19, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) celebrates his solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a tiebreaking homer with one out in the eighth inning Sunday night as the New York Yankees held on for a 2-1 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, splitting a doubleheader in a bullpen game for both teams.
After wasting numerous opportunities earlier to expand a 1-0 lead, the Yankees regained the lead when Chisholm lifted a 1-0 fastball off Evan Phillips (0-1) into the lower rows of the left-center field seats. It was the second baseman’s 14th homer and his fifth in the eighth inning or later.
Before Chisholm homered, the Dodgers had two on in the top half of the eighth. David Bednar (4-3) struck out Shohei Ohtani and retired Andy Pages on a full-count pop-up that Chisholm caught in shallow right field.
Bednar kept the game tied after Fernando Cruz allowed a tying homer to pinch hitter Tommy Edman on an 0-1 splitter and issued two walks. Bednar opened the ninth by walking Freddie Freeman but ended New York’s second win in its last 11 home games by retiring the next three batters.
New York used five pitchers in the nightcap after Cam Schlittler lasted 4 1/3 innings in an 8-2 loss on Sunday afternoon. Ryan Yarbrough started and allowed two hits in 2 2/3 innings. Paul Blackburn followed with 2 1/3 innings, and Brent Headrick also tossed two scoreless innings before Cruz faltered.
Despite Edman’s heroics, the Dodgers lost for the sixth time in 10 games.
Los Angeles used seven pitchers after getting a complete game four-hitter from Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the opener. Will Klein started the game and allowed Cody Bellinger’s RBI single among three hits in the first.
After a double by Paul Goldschmidt, Bellinger ripped a single to center for a 1-0 lead. Jasson Dominguez followed with another base hit, but Chisholm struck out. The Yankees had runners at second and third with one out in the fourth following two walks and a wild pitch, but Anthony Volpe was thrown out at the plate and Trent Grisham grounded out to come up empty.
New York opened the fifth with three straight singles off Jack Dreyer but did not score. Brock Stewart replaced Dreyer and left the bases loaded by sandwiching two strikeouts around a popout.
Alex Vesia struck out the side in the seventh for the Dodgers before the Yankees lost and regained the lead.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Angel Reese exits Dream's win after injuring leg
Jul 19, 2026; College Park, Georgia, USA; Chicago Sky center-forward Elizabeth Williams (1) blocks a shot against Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) during the first quarter at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese left Sunday’s 93-91 win over the visiting Chicago Sky early in the fourth quarter after injuring her left leg during a layup attempt and did not return.
Just 15 seconds into the fourth, Reese was driving for a layup when she appeared to roll her ankle as she released the ball and went down to the floor.
Courtney Vandersloot was called for a foul as she defended on the play but a replay showed Vandersloot did not touch Reese and the foul call was overturned. Reese was also wearing a sleeve over her left knee.
After getting back to her feet, Reese went back down to the floor before returning to the bench. She was ruled out for the rest of the game, and no update was provided on her status, though coach Karl Smesko did speak with the media.
“It’s hard because we’re in the timeout. It seemed like a really long timeout, and there wasn’t a lot being said because we were all just looking at Angel,” Sesko said. “And when I was looking at her, it seemed like she was in a lot of pain, and she wanted to go out there and keep playing because she’s competitive and she wants to win the game. … I just didn’t feel comfortable with it because she looked like she was in a lot of pain.”
Reese, an All-Star in each of her first two seasons with Chicago, entered the game averaging a career-best 15.7 points along with a league-leading 11.8 rebounds.
She was traded from Chicago along with a second-round pick to Atlanta for a pair of first-round picks in the offseason.
She scored eight points with five rebounds in 20 minutes Sunday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Joey Logano fastest to finish in first North Wilkesboro points race since '96
Jul 19, 2026; North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA; Team Penske driver Joey Logano (22) takes the second stage during the Window World 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Joey Logano dominated by leading a career-high 323 laps as NASCAR welcomed historic North Wilkesboro Speedway back to the Cup Series’ regular-season points schedule for the first time since 1996 in Sunday night’s Window World 450 in North Wilkesboro, N.C.
Winless since early May of last season at Texas Motor Speedway, the three-time Cup Series champion notched his 38th career victory in 16 seasons by topping Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota over the final half of the race, beating the points leader by 0.859 seconds in a long stretch of green-flag racing.
Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and Shane van Gisbergen finished as the top five.
Sixth-place Bubba Wallace was the final car on the lead lap.
After three cleanly-raced support events over the weekend, Ryan Blaney was slotted first after qualifying was washed out Saturday, but his No. 12 Ford team had to fix a power steering issue that sent him to the back of the 37-car field.
That gave the point to Gibbs, who took them to green in a points race for the first time since polesitter Ted Musgrave did so on Sept. 29, 1996, before a nearly three-decade-long shutdown of the 0.625-mile short track.
Gibbs led the first 40 circuits until John Hunter Nemechek spun after contact with Zane Smith, and the first caution period ended with Hamlin taking two tires to claim the lead on the restart.
Gibbs hustled back in his No. 54 Toyota and narrowly beat van Gisbergen to win Stage 1, which consisted of 80 laps. Logano, Hamlin and Carson Hocevar were the next three finishers.
Logano, the 2024 winner of the All-Star Race at NWS, took the lead from van Gisbergen on Lap 113 in Turn 4 in the 185 laps that made up Stage 2.
The No. 22 Team Penske driver increased his advantage over second-place Chase Elliott to 3 1/2 seconds by Lap 150 and soon lapped Gibbs (speeding penalty), but Hamlin found his way to move by Elliott in the first long green-flag run on the short track.
On Lap 183, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman wrecked coming off Turn 2 and slid onto the pit-road entrance for the third caution, putting William Byron and Elliott two laps down after their green-flag stop.
Logano captured Stage 2 for his first segment win this season, and Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Wallace and van Gisbergen earned top-five bonus points.
–Field Level Media
Late homer helps Yankees earn doubleheader split vs. Dodgers
Angel Reese exits Dream's win after injuring leg
