This 2026 World Cup will be remembered for a lot of things. And despite many Americans automatically assuming that this was the best World Cup ever, I do not believe that all of the things that it will be remembered for were good.
First of all, American President Donald Trump seemed to be the phantom menace, always present while not always being visible throughout this tournament. It was clear that he wanted this, like everything else, to be about himself. But he disgraced himself, and his country, by overstepping the boundaries and actively getting involved with a referee's gametime decision to give an American player a red card. Trump explained how he did not feel that it was a real red card. He boasted about knowing a lot about sports - and with that, I actually am not inclined to disagree. However, it seemed questionable at best that he knows a lot about soccer. And if there were any doubts about that, they disappeared less than one minute after boasting about how knowledgeable he is about sports, when he admitted to not really knowing what a red card actually meant.
Yet, he still could not help himself and got involved to reverse a ref's decision. Belgium, the next opponent that the United States faced in the elimination round, protested, but this went unheeded. So Belgium simply went out and thoroughly dominated the United States in the game, 4-1. After the last goal, Belgian players did a dance that sure seemed to be a mocking imitation of Trump's infamous dance.
Then Trump made sure that he would be the one presenting both the gold and silver medals after the final match, as well as the championship trophy. And very predictably, much like he did last year for the World Cup Club's Final with Arsenal, Trump hung around far too long, seemingly wanting to be the center of attention when it was the Spanish team's time to celebrate their incredible feat.
Many people are arguing why he did that. But it hardly seems a mystery, truth be told. It was frankly very predictable and entirely in keeping with who Trump has proven himself to be, time after time. He is a malignant narcissist. Everything always and forever has to be about him. Everybody always and unquestioningly has to heap praise on him. Above all, the cameras and the spotlight always, always has to be on him. That was what everyone, including me, saw coming before the end of yesterday's match. And it was indeed what happened, again very predictably.
If we're being honest, the real wonder is how anyone could feasibly have thought there would be any other possible outcome.
Now, another aspect of this World Cup that is likely to be remembered - and not necessarily fondly - is how Americans themselves handled hosting the World Cup. First of all, they divided each half for what were called "hydration breaks." But that felt like it changed the game so that there could be more commercials, if we are being honest.
Then there was the relentless talk by Americans about how Team USA was bound to win it all. They were going to produce another new version of the "Miracle on Ice." There were commercials, there were official predictions by so-called sport experts. Most people in the know understood that this was unlikely. After all, the Team USA Men's Olympic Hockey Team in 1980 only had to beat one Goliath, the seemingly unbeatable Soviet team. The American side would have to get past a whole bunch of goliaths, including likely Belgium, Spain, France, and Argentina, in order to win. They did not come close. It was never going to happen. Yet, Americans showed that sense of entitlement that is becoming their trademark.
Speaking of which, many Americans still seemed quite vocal about how boring and generally inferior they believed football/soccer to be to American sports, especially American football. Many pundits started to debate how to improve the game and make it more popular.
Make it more popular? This is far and away the most popular sport in the world. That's not hype, like when Americans say that about American football, or claim that the Super Bowl is the biggest sports event in the world. Soccer is far and away the most popular sport across the entire world, by far. The numbers prove it, and it is not even close. The World Cup Final is estimated to have had 1.8 billion viewers. By contrast, Super Bowl LX in February - which was the second most watched Super Bowl of all time - drew less than 140 million viewers in the world. The World Cup Final is not just a little more popular than the Super Bowl. It literally ran laps around the Super Bowl. That's more than 12 viewers of the World Cup Final worldwide to every one viewer of the Super Bowl worldwide. Apparently, this came as a shock to many Americans, and more than a few seemed appalled by those stats.
Get over it.
As an American, it was frankly embarrassing to see so many Americans show off their sense of entitlement and superiority by repeatedly claiming that Americans sports are superior and, of course, more popular than soccer. Also, to have the audacity to alter the rule of football/soccer in order to supposedly improve it and make it more entertaining. Get over yourselves.
Moreover, I was extremely disappointed that more Americans did not object to Trump getting involved in a game by putting pressure on FIFA to undo a red card. Look, I did not even agree with the call. To me, it was not a red card. But bad calls are part of sports. All sports, so far as I can tell. And this was one of those instances. That so many Americans seem at best unbothered, and at worst actively supportive of Trump getting involved was a major disappointment. This was especially appalling when it came from people who are normally quite critical of Trump. Cenk Uygur seemed supportive, and suggested that anyone criticizing was being hypocritical, because any other nation's leader would do the same. Funny, because it literally has never happened in the history of the World Cup. In fact, I was actually at the 1998 semifinal, when a French player, Laurent Blanc, indeed got an unfair red card that would prevent him from playing in the final. Even the Croatian player who caused it apologized to Blanc after the game, so it definitely was not a deserved red card. Yet, the French President did not put pressure on FIFA to reverse the call. Frankly, I would have been embarrassed if he had, and would have felt it marred the final, or compromised the eventual French victory. Yet here were far too many Americans, seemingly having no problem and accepting Trump's involvement in a gametime decision, even if it came across as yet another example of the blatant corruption which both Trump and FIFA are kind of infamous for. Some Americans even outright began to express an "us against the world" mentality, almost digging the trenches for some kind of war against everyone else that they saw coming. Not a good look.
FIFA itself did not come across looking too good after this tournament, either. That pressure which Trump put on the President of Fédération Internationale de Football Association Gianni Infantino did get the red card reversed, even though it really should not have. Also, there was bad officiating throughout the tournament.
Which brings me to another point. Or in particular, a team that seemed to benefit from far more bad calls that worked in their favor than anyone else, by far. That would be Argentina.
In this World Cup, I was generally strongly pulling for two teams. First, the French national team, whom I have rooted for in World Cup tournaments since the 1980's. Secondly, I was rooting for whoever happened to be playing against Argentina.
What was my problem with Argentina?
Well, the more that I heard about and from this Argentina team, the less I wanted to hear about them. They seemed to play dirty and tried to get away with as much as they possibly could, then whined if and when they got caught. Every single major controversial call that they were involved with seemed to go in their favor, and this was considerable. They benefited from major controversial calls in four of the five elimination round games that they played in. They were on the ropes and facing elimination against Cape Verde when they got the call in their favor. A few days later, they once again were on the ropes and seemingly about to lose when an Egyptian goal against them was discounted for no good reason. They benefited against Switzerland, who received a red card and had to play a man down the rest of the way. Coaches usually do not call out the refs after games, but the Swiss coat did, and he had a real case. Then there was the matter of those two goals scored by Spain in Sunday's match which were also discounted.
Maybe you can argue and make isolated points in Argentina's favor for any of those controversial calls. But when you take all of these things together - their often dirty play with refs conveniently looking the other way combined with one controversial call after another going in their favor - you have to see the forest instead of the individual trees. After all, Argentina has benefited from really huge and very controversial calls before, like the "Hand of God" goal. It's hard not to wonder if Argentina keeps getting these calls going their way for a reason.
It sure feels like someone high up wanted Argentina to keep winning. In a tournament that saw the early exit of Germany and Netherlands in the first round of elimination games, then saw all tree host nations as well as Brazil lose in the second round of elimination games, it seemed to me that maybe FIFA officials were very concerned about losing another very high profile team that could generate serious revenue and ratings and merchandise sales, and all of those things. Argentina has the most famous and celebrated active player in the world, plus they are the defending champions and a dynasty, having also won the last two Copa America titles. What a great story if they could win two titles in a row, right? That seemed to be the narrative, and after one game after another where those controversial calls and other things which benefited Argentina seemed to be glossed over, I was seriously sick and tired of them. With each win, I was more than ever a part of that growing "Anyone But Argentina" crowd.
Spain absolutely dominated Argentina in the final. They possessed the ball 68% of the time, and hardly made any real mistakes to hurt their own chances. The Spanish side played with machine-like efficiency and worse down Argentina, like they did all of their other opponents. It's not fun to lose, but Argentina was nasty and unsportsmanlike in their response. None of Spain's previously eliminated opponents responded the way that Argentina did in the Final. There were hard fouls, there were shoves and frankly dirty play. And at the end of the game, there was an ugly incident that betrayed the lack of character on everyone on the Argentinian side. Yes, to a degree, that includes star Lionel Messi. Maybe he was not as despicable as some other members of the team. But he did something right at the end which was taken - rightly, as far as I am concerned - as very unsportsmanlike.
Molina Lucero, an Argentine substitute, threw a punch at Spanish Captain Rodri as he was running to celebrate Spain's victory with his teammates after the final whistle to end the game. Moments later, Leandro Paredes was given a red card for his role in starting a brawl. Other Argentinian players got involved. There was shoving, and there were fists thrown. Reportedly, even an assistant coach, Roberto Ayala, threw a punch at a Spanish player.
Despicable. Reprehensible. Unworthy of a team with such a high international profile, and which received so much help along the way to the final.
Lionel Scaloni, the Argentina head coach, tried to separate the players by dragging García, the Spain defender, away from the fracas. “We are gracious in victory, and we must be so in defeat,” Scaloni said after the game.
Gracious in victory?
Were they gracious after winning the Copa America in 2024 by singing a taunting and racist chant targeting France, a side that did not even participate in that tournament, being a European nation? They had performed that charming little chant after beating France in the 2022 World Cup, and then did it again after beating Colombia in the 2024 Copa America final. Here's a snippet of it, translated by my brother a couple of years ago, when the incident occurred:
"They play for France but come from Angola, they run fast, they like to fuck trannies, their mothers are Nigerian, their fathers are Cambodian but their passports say 'French'."
Then they were universally condemned for it, so that an Argentinian government official said that Messi and the Argentinian Football Federation needed to issue an apology:
An Argentinean government official said Messi, who is the team captain, and the president of the country’s soccer federation, Claudio Tapia, should apologize after a video was shared on social media showing members of Argentina’s triumphant squad singing a racist chant about French players with African heritage.
Midfielder Enzo Fernandez said he was “truly sorry” for the incident and his Premier League club Chelsea said it had begun disciplinary action, describing discriminatory behavior as “completely unacceptable.”
Speaking of midfielder Enzo Fernandez, he received two yellow cards on Sunday, which amounted to a red card. That meant that he was ejected from the game, and left his team one man short. Clearly, that did not help Argentina's cause. Perhaps he was used to getting away with it, since Argentina seemed to get away with a hell of a lot during this tournament, and all of the controversial calls seemed to go their way throughout this World Cup. I say that despite Fernandez having been ejected from the game because, frankly, it was clearly a foul and he deserved to be thrown out of the game. Maybe he and Argentina will cry foul, but everyone else with an ounce of objectivity felt that this was not only fair, but frankly long overdue.
Is that what passes for gracious in Argentina?
Not surprisingly, Argentina received worldwide condemnation for their actions at the end of the game on Sunday. Here are some of the comments by former England great Wayne Rooney (taken from an article by Tom Morgan of Yahoo Sports):
“Does it surprise you? It doesn’t surprise me. We’ve seen this with Argentina before. It’s just not the reaction you want. We’ve seen some of the reaction after knocking England out in the last round.
“That’s just sad. If you lose a game of football, be graceful and get out of there. It’s really poor from them. That’s a reaction to them being outplayed, out-fought, out-thought on the football pitch, and then they resort to that at the end. It’s poor from those two players.”
Gary Neville, speaking on ITV, singled out Paredes’s behaviour for criticism. “They’re very competitive and I love that element of them, but [Paredes] has just been a disgrace for the last couple of games, and why the referees have allowed him to continue doing what he is doing...”
Others expressed similar opinions (taken from the same Tom Morgan article):
Alan Shearer, the former England captain, described the incident as “terrible”. He said during BBC coverage: “Paredes threw two or three haymakers into someone’s face. He went for them. There is no place for that.
“We know how much it means to them and we know how much it hurts to lose, but there is a way to lose. Too many times we have seen that from Argentina. The reaction after the final whistle is terrible.”
It seems to be a running theme with Argentina, frankly. Tom Morgan pointed out in his article how there have been seven red cards historically in World Cup Final matches. Four of them went to Argentinians. Are these isolated examples, or part of the wider football culture of Argentina? It makes you wonder if Rooney did not have a point when he expressed a complete lack of surprise at Argentina's pathetic lack of sportsmanship after the game.
And let's be clear: Argentina absolutely got humiliated in this game. The 1-0 final score is deceptive, because from beginning to end, the game felt a whole lot more one-sided than the final score would suggest. Argentina could get nothing going on offense, and only posted the few shots on goal that they did get in the final minutes of the second session of extra time. They made the wrong kind of history by earning the dubious distinction as the only side not to have a shot on goal in the first 90 minutes. Spain's passing was crisp and efficient, and there was nothing that Argentina could do to take it away. The Spanish side had 20 shot attempts, and 12 of them qualified as shots on goal. If not for some uncharacteristic just misses as well as truly brilliant saves by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez (as well as those already mentioned couple of goals which Spain scored but which were taken away), this game would have been a rout, frankly.
Once again, a snippet from the Morgan article:
Lee Dixon, ITV’s co-commentator, accused Argentina of “anti-football” and questioned how Paredes had remained on the pitch, while Ally McCoist said Spain were “the only team trying to win this game”.
Yes, that is what it really felt like. Let's be absolutely clear: Argentina did nothing all game long. Nothing. Lionel Messi did not bother playing defense at all, and he had zero total shots on goal. In fact, nobody on Argentina had a shot on goal until the final minutes. They hardly seemed to even be in position to get a shot on goal for the vast majority of the game. Spain dominated them that thoroughly.
And yet, despite likely knowing that Spain were the far better team, they could not let Spain have their moment of triumph. Argentinian players and coaches shoved and punched and kicked Spanish players after the final whistle. When the Spanish team finally hoisted the trophy, the Argentinians turned their back on Spain, then walked off the field. Including Messi.
So yeah, I am glad that Argentina lost. They absolutely deserved it.
Yet the funny thing is, they were still in the game right up until the end. But it did not feel like that was the case because of what they did. Yes, Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez had some incredible saves. And yes, at times, Spain seemed just a tiny bit off, so that what normally would have been goals instead sailed wide. But there was also the matter of two goals by Spain which were taken away. And there was the rough play and the fouls which Argentina kept getting away with, as they have throughout the tournament. Despite getting the apparent help of referees once again, Argentina this time failed to win.
But they were close. Can you imagine if Spain had not scored that one goal that they got? Maybe that could have been taken away by the refs as well, or maybe it goes a little wide or high instead of being brilliant and good. Then the game would have remained scoreless and likely gone to a penalty shootout. What if Argentina would have won that? With all of those non-calls and goals against them being taken away, it would have felt like the refs carried this team to the championship. That they would have continually performed CPR on a seemingly dead Argentina team until they finally showed some signs of life. Frankly, it would have stunk and left a bad taste in people's mouths. It would have lacked legitimacy. And it is conceivable that it might have happened, if not for the one successful Spanish goal.
Thankfully, Spain put this game to rest before the final gun. Before it would have been decided in a penalty shootout, which might have robbed Spain of the title.
So yeah, I am glad that Spain won it outright.
Also, given Argentina's frankly extensive history of getting the breaks from refs and showing a complete lack of maturity and sportsmanship, I am glad that Argentina lost this one. Hopefully, this is the last that we'll see of Argentina going so far in such a major tournament for a long, long time.
Here are two links for the articles concerning the controversy regarding Argentina's racist chants after winning the Copa America in 2024:
Lionel Messi asked to apologize for Argentina players’ racist chant by James Robson, July 17, 2024:
https://apnews.com/article/enzo-fernandez-chants-argentina-france-b6ff158f5d9045eafe0b567f2fcd8785
French federation condemns 'racist and discriminatory remarks' by Argentina players following Copa América win Jason Owens Jason Owens Staff writer Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 6:
https://sports.yahoo.com/french-federation-condemns-racist-and-discriminatory-remarks-by-argentina-players-following-copa-america-win-220415472.html
Below are the articles and videos (including a discussion on the Facebook link) regarding the World Cup Final and Argentina's pathetic display, especially at the end:
Ungracious in victory, disgraceful in defeat: Argentina attack Spain with kicks and punches Tom Morgan Mon, July 20, 2026:
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/argentina-throw-punches-fight-end-224244543.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAH1CYkkW7q7hLDl3OQuzd2vG2S_19D-ui_y9Eqlg2XSoLickO40TrtYpQjG1YssrwS22KWV8SqJcA2NeSznN9gqyd5fbmEnycD3ds2Sjmi8Vs17ppSohfoExgxUiH4u_Oftq6P5E1GWxFd6mcMQ-XfAv6ORXWTD-iWIv0fCVpK5n
Ugly scenes as Argentina lose World Cup final – video by BBC News Sports, 20 July, 2026:
There were ugly scenes at the end of the World Cup final as Argentina’s Leandro Paredes and Nahuel Molina were seen throwing punches at Spain players after their 1-0 defeat. Paredes was then sent off after shoving Spain's Eric García by the throat and wrestling Gavi to the ground. He had already been booked during the match. The antics after the final whistle were quickly condemned by UK broadcasters, with the former England goalkeeper Joe Hart labelling Argentina’s behaviour 'disgusting' on the BBC and ITV's Gary Neville calling it 'a disgrace' Lionel Messi’s World Cup fairytale ends with pitiful Argentina as final villains At the World Cup of superstars, a team take home the trophy Top 30: from half a million World Cup photos, why I love these the most ‘We had a date with destiny’: De la Fuente lauds Spain players after World Cup victory
https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2026/jul/20/ugly-scenes-argentina-lose-world-cup-final-video
Ugly scenes as Argentina lose World Cup final – video | World Cup | The Guardian
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Original audio It was a World Cup final to forget for the Argentinian national team... 🇦🇷😬 Sponsored by @midnite Gamble Aware
https://www.facebook.com/reel/28225792267027660
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