Written by Rory Merritt Shears
With the summer drawing to a close, one sporting event defined the seasoni: the World Cup. 48 teams, six continents, and 1.5 billion concurrent viewers for the final – no other sporting event holds such reach. Each of those eager viewers has a connection to the match. Whether it be the bitter sting of coming so close, the pride of supporting a team that outperformed those that wrote them off, or even just picking a random team because your own did not qualify, the World Cup makes international football so personal.
8 years earlier the US, Canada, and Mexico became the first group of 3 nations to win a World Cup bid. This felt like a step in the right direction following the controversy of the 2022 Qatar bid; it was able to balance honouring footballing heritage through Mexico while the US and Canada brought budding interest and a rapidly growing audience.
This ambition, however, came with its own challenges – some more foreseeable than others. Staging a World Cup across 3 nations proved a logistical and economic nightmare with an estimated bill of £20,000 for a family of four to watch all of England’s games. The Trump administration faced immense controversy over incidents including the denial of entry to a fully qualified referee for the mere fact he was Somali, the searching the entire Senegalese team fresh off the plane, and having a hand in overturning a red card. These divisive controversies made it hard to solely focus on the football and forget the political backdrop. However, while these issues marred parts of the tournament, the show had to go on.
A new format of 48 teams meant that there were some fresh faces, eager to leave their stamp on the tournament. One of the newcomers, Cabo Verde, with a population of less than one million, scraped through the group stages after three hard-fought draws before meeting reigning champions Argentina in the round of 32. They ultimately proved no match for the reigning Champions, but the resilience it took to reach this stage demonstrated the beauty of the World Cup – a competition that gives anyone a chance.
While this rings true in theory, it was another year of European domination – with six out of the eight teams in the quarter finals hailing from the continent. Argentina was the only side that could face this tide. Armed with their favourable referees, and genuine ability to turn up when the going got tough, they overturned England’s lead to book a spot in the final and extend England’s now sixty-year wait for silverware. Tournament favourites France, known for their flair and stylishness, were handily dismantled by the more disciplined Spain – a team that grew into the tournament slowly and appeared to be peaking at the right moment.
The stage was set for an all Spanish-speaking final; Argentina, FIFA’s golden child, against Spain, the football purists’ favourite. Football fans had been riding high since the 2022 final, an epic with six goals that could only be decided by penalties, yet this game took a different trajectory. Spain used their superior control of the ball to grind down Argentina’s obstinate defence, and after 105 minutes of play finally broke through. It was not until after this fact that Argentina managed to muster a shot on target. With ten men, it was too little too late. Messi’s dreams of a second World Cup were squandered, the consolation being that truly the better team won. A 1-0 win in a World Cup final, especially in the context of the previous, may appear like a disappointment. But a true footballing fan knows, a game need not have so many goals to be an exciting display – a message that will hopefully change the minds of American audiences.
The details of this World Cup may fade into obscurity, the memories it created will not. To me that means sharing a pub with the London Japan supporters’ Whatsapp group during their opener (a night which ended with people dancing on the tables), the feeling of hope when England edged past Norway as I kissed my girlfriend with Wonderwall swelling in the background, or the silence of the bar I worked in after Argentina’s second goal in the semi-final. When I cast my mind back to the summer of 2026 these are the nights I will think of.
Perhaps football was just the medium through which people were brought together, but this year, despite adversity, it did a good job. And you will find that there could be 1.5 billion people who share this sentiment.
