Argentina's media have praised the conduct of their World Cup finalists despite the ugly scenes that occurred at full-time on Sunday.

Lionel Scaloni's side were so close to retaining their title after lifting the trophy in 2022, but they were beaten 1-0 by Spain in a tense and scrappy final. 

Argentina were aggressive throughout the match, as they had been during their semi-final victory over England, but things escalated at the end of the game. 

Having already had Enzo Fernandez sent off for a wild late challenge on Pau Cubarsi, Leandro Paredes was dismissed for punching Eric Garcia and pushing Gavi to the ground as the players clashed. 

Argentina's Nahuel Molina also thumped Rodri in the torso as he was running by to celebrate Spain's triumph, while Thiago Almada was involved, too.

Then, as the Spanish squad lifted the trophy, Argentina's players faced away from their opponents in what was viewed by many as a poor show of sportsmanship. 

Despite their antics, Argentine newspaper Clarin heaped praise on Scaloni's side and their behaviour during the tournament. 

In an editorial, the paper wrote: 'As never before, the Argentine team displayed, both on and off the field, a range of values ​​that are rare these days. 

'From the pitch and beyond, they gave several lessons and showed the face of a country that we would like to see away from the football pitch. 

'A team that was polite and respectful, despite a few unfortunate isolated incidents in the last match; that didn't speak ill of its rivals or try to justify its own mistakes by blaming others.' 

This came despite a rather different interpretation of their behaviour from much of the rest of the world.

Speaking about Argentina's antics at full-time, Micah Richards hit out at what had gone on.  

'It's embarrassing,' he said on the BBC's coverage of the game. 'They were on the cusp every single time. Seeing that sort of stuff after the game was played, it's not good, it's embarrassing to be honest. 

'Paredes is better than that. We all know what it's like to lose a game but this is not good enough.'

Fellow BBC pundit Joe Hart added: 'Disgusting behaviour. There was one man on that pitch with class and that was Lionel Messi.'

Wayne Rooney also gave his views and said: 'It doesn't surprise me. We've seen this from Argentina before. It's just sad, very poor from them. 

'If you lose a game of football, be graceful. It's a reaction to them being outplayed. Enzo Fernandez has got what he deserves.' 

Paredes had been fortunate to not be sent off in regular time for a series of misdemeanours, while even Messi tried to get Marc Cucurella in trouble during the latter stages of the game, a move that infuriated Rooney, who described his antics as 'desperation' and 'sad to see'.

Meanwhile, Alan Shearer was similarly critical of Argentina in the showpiece event and said Spain's triumph was a 'result for football'. 

'There's a way to lose,' he said. 'Too many times we've seen that reaction from them. 

'They were trying to win free-kicks and their reaction after full time was terrible. The best team won. It's a result for football because of the way Spain have played.'