Argentina would have won World Cup final on penalties and can beat Spain now: Emiliano Martinez
Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez says his side would have beaten Spain on penalties in the 2026 World Cup final, which Spain won through a Ferran Torres goal in extra time. He told the programme Los Edul that, after 11 saves on the night, a shootout would have been his.
“I was totally confident it was going to be my day. You know that feeling when you just don’t think it’s going to go in? I think they felt it too.”
He says Spain’s players knew the danger as he walked out to take his place in goal.
“We all thought so. I even heard them saying, ‘We have to win it here. We can’t go to penalties’ when I went in goal.”
Martinez accepts Spain deserved the title but would back Argentina in a rematch, while rating another side above the champions.
“France impressed me in 2022 more than this current Spain side; they are a very strong team, but I feel that if we played against them today, we would beat them.”
Argentina beat England in the semi-final but spent 51 days travelling during the tournament, with a three-day gap before the final. Martinez blames the schedule for leaving them short.
“It was all marketing, that’s the only thing I didn’t like about this World Cup compared to Qatar. Here we had three days between the semifinal and the final with a trip and training session cut short. We were exhausted.”
He also dismissed the conspiracy theories that followed the final.
“Who wants to lose a World Cup final? No matter how much money they offer, it’s impossible.”
Martinez played every minute of the tournament with a finger broken before Aston Villa’s Europa League final win over Freiburg in May. He chose against surgery, which would have ruled him out for six weeks, and Adidas made him a custom protective glove.
“I was diving like a zombie. I dived like that, I got up and I put my hand down and I’d see stars … every night, until 12am, I’d be crying because my finger was like a blood sausage.”
Coach Lionel Scaloni waited for him until the last moment.
“He only made me promise to be honest about whether or not I would be fit to play.”
“Those are the risks you take for the national team, I’d do it again.”
The bone is now out of place for good, and a Juventus move broke down over the injury before he joined Chelsea after six years at Villa. Martinez says Chelsea were relaxed about it, though he knows what lies ahead.
“They said it was impossible for me to play like that, that I needed surgery. Chelsea didn’t mind… (but) someday you will need an operation.”
His latest setback came against Everton, when a collision with Jarrad Branthwaite broke his jaw. Manager Xabi Alonso has spoken of a few weeks out, though Martinez hopes to return sooner and says it does not compare with the finger.
“It was like a knockout blow in a UFC bout, I lost consciousness and remember nothing, they put a metal plate in me at the hospital and I had three teeth knocked out.”
“I need to play with the national team. I intend to return during the international break.”
Martinez has made six appearances for Chelsea, conceding 11 goals, with 21-year-old Mike Penders deputising. The 34-year-old says he will stay with Argentina until retirement and names Lionel Messi as his role model.
“He taught us everything. How to fall and rise again after failure, that is what helped me after the World Cup.”