Press and play: On the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Spain smothered the opposition with possession and positional football.
Spain’s second World Cup title, achieved after a narrow extra-time victory over Argentina in the final, was a triumph of the collective. The Luis de la Fuente-coached outfit conceded just one goal in eight matches, was unmatched in the centre of the pitch with playmaker and Golden Ball winner Rodri completing a record 790 passes, and exhibited diffused excellence up front by having seven different players score its 14 goals. So much so that even the individual brilliance of the teenaged Lamine Yamal was astutely subsumed within the whole. In fact, de la Fuente and Rodri had combined to deliver the 2024 European Championship too, with the latter adjudged the world’s best later that year. A second Ballon d’Or for the 30-year-old midfield metronome appears a certainty. The win also cemented Spain’s position as the pre-eminent footballing force of the first quarter of this century. Starting 2008, the country has won two of the five World Cups and three of the five Euros. Spain is the reigning women’s World Champion, and the assembly line of coaches it produces and players it exports make the nation a true powerhouse. Interestingly, after its maiden World Cup win in 2010, Spain had not gone past the round of 16 at three subsequent editions. The success in North America is thus a full-circle moment.
Another high point for the tournament was Lionel Messi’s enduring genius. Argentina’s quality in the final was dire and the behaviour of its players petulant, but that should not detract from the 39-year-old’s excellence in bringing his country to the cusp of defending its crown. Kylian Mbappe’s experience was bitter-sweet; he won the Golden Boot (10 goals) and became the all-time top-scorer in World Cups (22) but remained a mute spectator as Spain subjugated his star-studded France in the semifinal. Jude Bellingham inspired England to third place, the best performance for the nation since winning in 1966. But the summer sojourn laid bare the team’s continued lack of cutting edge after back-to-back runner-up finishes at Euro 2020 and 2024. The World Cup will also be etched in memory for a plethora of missteps, which governing body FIFA unfortunately condoned. By arbitrarily invoking immigration rules, and trying to interfere politically in on-field matters, the co-host U.S. pushed the envelope in undesirable ways. Commercially driven hydration breaks and the half-time show in the final were tedious and disruptive. Football should be allowed to flow freely, on and off the turf.