The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is present this Sunday at the grand final of the 2026 World Cup between Argentina and Spain, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
His presence was captured in a photograph that was published on X by the president of CONMEBOL, Alejandro Domínguez, who posed alongside Rubio and Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), in the VIP box of the stadium.
The three of them are holding an official Argentina national team shirt with the number 10, the AFA shield, the FIFA World Cup patch, and the signatures of the players.
"With Marco Rubio, Secretary of State of the United States, and with Chiqui Tapia. Always a pleasure!" wrote Domínguez while sharing the image.
Rubio's presence in the final had not been publicly announced in advance, but it adds to the active involvement of the Cuban-American official throughout the tournament.
On June 13, Rubio led the official delegation of the Trump administration at the inaugural match of the United States against Paraguay — a 4-1 victory — at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, in front of over 70,000 spectators. That day, he also met with Paraguayan President Santiago Peña to discuss regional security and trade matters.
On June 27, he attended the match between Colombia and Portugal at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, alongside the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino.
The final this Sunday was the only match out of the 102 in the tournament that was attended by Donald Trump, who arrived at MetLife Stadium on the presidential helicopter Marine One approximately 90 minutes before the kickoff and presented the trophy to the Spanish captain alongside Infantino.
Also in the presidential box at the stadium were the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, and the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, bringing together the leaders of the three host countries of the tournament on the same stage. Additionally, the final was attended by the King and Queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia, and the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez.
The match was historic for two reasons: it was the first time that Argentina and Spain faced each other in a World Cup final.
The 2026 World Cup set historical attendance records, with 6.5 million spectators throughout the tournament, and generated an economic impact of nearly 20 billion dollars for the United States. Tickets for the final on FIFA's official resale reached prices of nearly 2.3 million dollars per ticket.
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