Spain dominated the tie from start to finish but were kept out until the 106th minute when Torres fired home from the edge of the area.

Enzo Fernandez had been dismissed with a second yellow card after 93 minutes.

Spain were an unchanged team from the side that dismantled France 2-0 in their semi-final while Argentina, who overcame England 2-1, brought in Rodrigo De Paul, Nico Gonzalez and Gonzalo Montiel for Giuliano Simeone, Leandro Paredes and Nahuel Molina.

Despite Argentina starting brightly, it was Spain with the first chance of the tie inside five minutes.

Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo worked some space for a quick-one two inside the area, but Emi Martinez got down well to make the save.

Argentina were quickly up the other end though and Unai Simon needed to run 40 yards to beat Lionel Messi to a superb Julian Alvarez through ball.

Rodrigo De Paul then wasted a 17th minute free-kick that evaded Nicolas Gonzalez, after he timed his run well to close in on goal.

Yamal’s early shot remained the only attempt at goal as the two sides headed for the hydration break.

There was a moment of nervousness in defence after the restart following a loose Spain throw in but Marc Cucurella calmly headed back to his goalkeeper.

Spain though were looking the more threatening and Cucurella capitalised on the spell of momentum with a good overlapping run on the left for a sight to goal, but he fired wide of the mark.

Martínez then needed to get down to his right to keep out a well struck Mikel Oyarzabal shot from just outside the area.

There was a blow for Argentina at the end of the first half with an injured Lisandro Martínez withdrawn for Nicolas Otamendi.

Argentina brought on Leandro Paredes for Gonzalez at half time, while there was an early touch for Martinez as Alex Baena fired in from the edge of the area.

After a lull in action, a super Spain foray forward saw Fabian Ruiz close to setting up Oyarzabal before Cristian Romero made a vital block.

Some more good penetration from Luis De La Fuente's side saw Olmo get to the byline and cut the ball back towards Cucurella, but Montiel tracked back to clear the danger.

Pedri came on for Ruiz and Ferran Torres was introduced for Oyarzabal with 30 minutes of the match remaining.

Martinez spilled an Olmo shot as Spain continued to up the tempo and a succession of corners further pegged the Argentinians back.

The La Albiceleste keeper was then grateful to get his gloves behind a strong Torres header from a cut-back Lamal cross from the right-hand side.

A double substitution for Argentina after the hydration break saw Facundo Medina and Giuliano Simeone replace Cristian Romero and Rodrigo De Paul.

Olmo and Baena made way for Mikel Merino and Niko Williams as Spain looked for a solution.

Lamal was at the centre of everything positive for the European champions and so nearly set up Pedri for the opener, but Martinez made another good stop before Pau Cubarsi fired in on target that was also denied by the goal-minder.

With 10 minutes of the match to play, Spain had eight efforts on target compared to zero for Lionel Scaloni's team; the latest a headed effort from Aymeric Laporte that went straight at Martinez.

Torres was wide on the turn with time ticking away for either side to win the tie in normal time, and Rodri fired well over when he should have at least hit the target, much to the frustration of the Spanish fans, with extra time fast approaching.

There was still time for drama inside regulation time though as Enzo Fernandez saw red for a second yellow card for a lunging tackle on Cubarsi, seconds after a chance at either side as first Simeone fired in at Simon before Williams whacked a shot from 20 yards that was beaten away by Martinez.

Martinez denied Lamal from a 20-yard kick for the last kick of the game, and while Spain continued to dominate against a 10-man Argentina, they still couldn't beat the keeper, who got a hand to a close-range Williams header from a good Pedri delivery.

Williams did finally find the target, in the 96th minute, but the goal was ruled out for an innocuous foul by Merino on Ottamendi.

Laporte and Rodri made way for Eric Garcia and Martin Zubimendi for their first minutes of the tournament.

Spain's attack was relentless, but Lamal curled a 101st minute effort wide of the target and Merino missed his header when it appeared easier to score, as Williams whipped in a great ball.

But the deadlock was finally broken at the start of the second half of extra-time as Torres fired in from the middle of the box after connecting to a superb Williams headed knockdown from Pedro Porro's deep cross.

Torres had the ball in the back of the net for a second time as Argentina chased a response, but he was called up for offsides.

Despite being a goal and a man down and having had virtually no chances on goal throughout the tie, the Argentines refused to give up and ensured a tense few final minutes for Spain.

A late Messi corner was picked up by Giuliano Simeone but he couldn't hit the target, for what was probably Argentina's best chance of the tie.

De La Fuente's side faced an agonising wait for the final whistle, but they finally made it over the line, to claim their second World Cup title.

Leandro Paredes was dismissed after the final whistle for his part in some unsavoury scenes as the Spanish started their celebrations.

Louis van Gaal set aside his principles to select 'extraordinary' Memphis Depay