Spain will have major advantage over England if they reach World Cup final

Spain have been handed a significant advantage for the World Cup final after booking their place in Sunday's showpiece.

La Roja qualified for a first World Cup final since they were crowned champions thanks to goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro in the semi final against France in Arlington, Texas.

Luis de la Fuente's side will look to follow up their Euro 2024 success in Sunday's final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with France now forced to play in the third place play-off a day earlier in Miami.

Spain turned it on in the semi-final and they are set to have the edge over England if they meet in a repeat of the Euros final two years ago.

That's because a pattern has been spotted in recent tournaments showing that England or Argentina are at a disadvantage for the final.

Detailed research from The Athletic has shown that scheduling plays a part in performance in tournament finals.

The outlet noted that in 13 of the past 14 finals in World Cups and European Championships, the team who has had the extra rest has emerged victorious.

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Some of the games in question include Spain playing a day earlier than Italy before the Euro 2012 final, Portugal having three days off to France's four years later in the Euros and Argentina benefiting from the same scenario last time out in the 2022 final in Qatar.

For England, they had less rest than their opposition in both the Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 finals which they lost to Italy and Spain respectively.

The only time where rest did not come into play was the 2017 Women’s World Cup final, where the Netherlands beat Denmark 4-2.

Though the Dutch were in the second semi final, both fixtures took place on the same day so there was no extra day off.

The last occasion where the pattern was not followed was in Spain's 2010 triumph. Their win came despite them participating in the semi final which was closer to the final.

The additional time allocated for rest and recovery could prove useful given the heat and difficult conditions in North America.

World Cup final to feature longer half-time break

A new change coming to the World Cup is the introduction of the first ever half-time show. In a similar style to the Super Bowl, the star-studded show put on by Coldplay's Chris Martin will feature performances from Justin Bieber, Shakira, Burna Boy, Madonna and BTS.

The show, which also has additional involvement from Sesame Street and The Muppets, is poised to last 11 minutes.

But because the stage is being erected and removed on the pitch, it's being reported by The Athletic that the total length of half-time is anticipated to be around 20 minutes if all goes well.

15 minutes is the standard break for half-time, with laws from IFAB ((International Football Association Board) stating that the time of the length "may be altered only with the referee’s permission".

It means players could well be waiting longer in the dressing room, something Argentina and Colombia stars had to do in the 2024 Copa America final.

Shakira performed at the Hard Rock Stadium, with the half-time break reaching 26 minutes.

All those who perform on the half-time show, produced by charity Global Citizen, will be doing so without payment and will not receive a fee.