Ladbrokes' daily World Cup tip: Penalty to be awarded in final

Ladbrokes World Cup tip day 39 - Sunday, July 19, 2026

In the era of VAR, penalties are becoming more and more of a common thing with 21 awarded at this World Cup, with 23 at the 2022 tournament and a huge 29 in 2018.

That is a vast difference to the World Cups before the technology was introduced, with only 13 in 2014, the same amount in 2010 and 14 in 2006.

What's more, those last two World Cup have seen penalties awarded in the final, with Antoine Griezmann netting one for France in a 4-2 win over Croatia in 2018 and Lionel Messi scoring from the spot in Qatar in a 3-3 thriller with France.

Messi and Argentina will line up in this final once again and they are the side who have been awarded the most penalties at this World Cup with three, albeit their superstar has scored with only one of those.

Spain, meanwhile, were given their first penalty at the tournament in the semi-finals with Mikel Oyarzabal opening the scoring against France.

Finals are decided by the finest of margins, and in the VAR era those margins increasingly come from 12 yards. Another penalty on football's biggest night would be no surprise.

You can also check out our in-depth preview for the final, predicted lineups, and the routes to the final for both Spain and Argentina.

View the latest World Cup odds here.

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.