Editor's note: only the marquee game carries a Vegas line right now. The rest of the slate runs without picks until our picks model ships on watch.uristocrat.com.
The tournament ends today. Spain and Argentina meet at MetLife Stadium at 3pm ET for the World Cup final, and everything else on the calendar is playing around it. The Dodgers and Yankees squeeze a doubleheader into the Bronx, the WNBA runs three games, and fifteen other baseball games fill the afternoon. But there is one game today, and the rest is what you put on the second screen.
Marquee: Spain vs Argentina, World Cup final (3:00pm ET, FOX and Telemundo)
Best attack against best defense, which is the matchup you want when a tournament ends. Argentina have scored 19 goals, more than anyone in the field, and they are defending the title they won in Qatar. Spain have conceded one goal in the entire tournament. Lionel Messi is 39 and has eight goals, tied with Kylian Mbappé at the top of the Golden Boot race, which is not how anyone expected his last World Cup to go. Lamine Yamal has one goal and no assists, and the reason is on the calendar: he was injured on April 22 and went 54 days without a match before he played a minute here. If he turns up today, the passing-the-torch story writes itself. If he does not, Spain still have the better team around him, which is why ESPN's panel leans Spain. There is also a Super Bowl-style halftime show, a first for a World Cup final, so build in a buffer if you are timing food.
Vegas line: Spain +125, draw +200, Argentina +260. Total 2.5 goals. Odds via DraftKings, listed on ESPN.
Also today
- Dodgers at Yankees, game two (7:20pm ET, NBC and Peacock). The nightcap of a doubleheader that starts at 12:35pm. Los Angeles are 62-36, the best record in baseball, and New York are 54-43. Two games against the Yankees in one day is the closest thing the regular season gives you to a preview of October.
- Dodgers at Yankees, game one (12:35pm ET, YES and Sportsnet LA). The makeup half of the doubleheader, and it starts before the World Cup does. Get it on early or you will be choosing between it and the final.
- Rays at Red Sox (1:35pm ET, NESN). Tampa Bay are 56-41 and Boston are 49-48, so this is the contender playing the team still deciding what it is at the deadline. Fenway in July with both teams needing the game is a good watch.
- Mets at Phillies (1:35pm ET, SNY and NBC Sports Philadelphia). Philadelphia are 55-44, New York are 41-58, and the gap between these two has gotten ugly. The Mets are playing out a season that got away from them, which makes this one about whether Philadelphia takes care of business.
- Sparks at Wings (1:00pm ET, ABC). Network daytime WNBA in the slot right before the World Cup kicks off. Easy to leave on while you wait.
- Sun at Mercury (7:00pm ET, ESPN). The late WNBA window, running opposite the Dodgers-Yankees nightcap. Phoenix at home closes out the Sunday slate.
The through line today is that everything is a warmup or a wind-down. Baseball is playing its normal Sunday, the WNBA is playing its normal Sunday, and both are scheduled around a game that only happens once every four years and only ends one way. Watch the final. Put the rest on the other screen.
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