Argentina, Spain Fans Brace for 90 Minutes of World Cup Final Anxiety

3 articles · Updated · CNN · Jul 18

Argentina and Spain supporters are heading into Sunday’s World Cup final with intense dread, describing trembling, sleeplessness and the sense that a defeat would feel personally raw.
Argentina’s sports psychologists say that strain comes from fans identifying with the team so deeply that “we all lose” when the side loses, making the final an emotional ordeal well before kickoff.
222 psychologists per 100,000 people in Argentina have helped make therapy language part of the football culture, with experts urging fans to reframe the final as a privilege and lean on the shared ritual of fandom.
Those rituals can turn superstitious—freezing opponents’ symbols, keeping the same seat, changing places midgame—as supporters try to control an outcome they cannot influence.
Argentina’s own tournament path has amplified the nerves after extra-time escapes and a late semifinal winner against England, leaving Spain “already on the mind” before the title match.