2026 was a World Cup of contradictions – with a tainted legacy

It was over four hours after the final whistle, well beyond the length of Donald Trump ’s attention span, that the Spain players finally emerged from the MetLife Stadium dressing room. They were savouring that rarest and most precious of feelings in football: what it means to be world champions . Nico Williams kept just saying it to teammates, “champions of the world, champions of the world”. Lamine Yamal, disrupting a dance, pointed to the second star. That depth of emotion is what it’s really about, even as Fifa and so many other elements try to use it for something else . Some Spanish players were even mocking Trump’s dancing , reminding how so much else intruded on this World Cup 2026 and complicated the feelings of it. Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump came to define large parts of the World Cup (PA) How couldn’t that happen when the competition was so unwieldy, impossible to keep within the once self-contained nature of the tournament? The final summed that up. It was the right outcome and yet not the conclusion anyone would have wanted . Much of that, typically, is connected. A World Cup of stars , as if it was almost designed for a country more in thrall to the cult of the individual than any other, was won by the one true team . Spain reminded everyone what football as a sport is actually about, too, even amid the divergences of the international game. Argentina, dysfunctional and too dependent on the greatest star of all, just couldn’t keep it going any more. They eventually buckled. It was hard to know what was more anti-football, their performance or the half-time show . Argentina’s contribution to the day was at least a part consequence of previously affording the World Cup some genuine epics. The one true team ultimately won the trophy (Getty) Their laboured performance in the final perhaps only emphasised that eight games is one too many for a competition of this nature, a feeling deepened by how long the entire last day went on. Extended parts of this World Cup feel like a different competition together, and all this will affect its legacy. That legacy might have been different had the final been even half the game that the 2022 climax was. The nature of the conclusion does shape the longer memory, but the wider tournament did peter out in terms of spectacle. Not even the stars could score past the quarter-final. None of the six top scorers struck in the semi-final or final. The ugly scenes after the full-time whistle besmirched the final (Reuters) Argentine players despicably lost their cool in the brawl (Reuters) Most of the best moments came when they mattered least, something maybe inevitable when you spend three weeks and 70 per cent of the games to eliminate a third of the field. That ensured the 2026 World Cup was mostly very entertaining but entirely forgettable, good but, by the end, far from great. You can of course make the classic analogy of that being like the best American fast food, and empty calories, especially as Fifa seemed determined to make this some kind of entertainment event rather than the elite sport it’s supposed to be. Duly, the World Cup only infrequently reached the true peaks that really make the competition what it is. Up there were Spain’s defining win over France , the divisive nature of England’s collapse to Argentina , Argentina’s previous comeback against Egypt, and then England’s own grandstand at the Azteca . It felt illustrative that France suggested historic peaks only to flatter to deceive. A number of less fancied teams did at least enjoy national moments, above all Cape Verde. Unfancied nations, such as Cape Verde, provided some of the tournament’s best moments (Reuters) Sidny Lopes Cabral’s goal against Argentina will live long in the memory (Getty) That touched on one significant victory for Fifa, beyond the record $15bn revenue projections. The expansion proved no issue in terms of quality. It actually spoke to the global development of the game, even if that was propelled by emigration and the wealth of western European talent production. And now that 48 teams have worked in that sense, Fifa may as well give form to this rumour they’re about to go to 64 . The quality and scale would be largely the same, and it would at least return a symmetry to the competition, turning it back away from the distortions of third-place teams going through. The shift to head-to-head tie-breakers further affected that competitive intensity. Most teams still couldn’t sustain ideas and a common interpretation among elite club coaches was that it wasn’t very tactically interesting, with disorganised presses and inadequately organised blocks. That is perhaps one reason that the elite club managers failed, in what was arguably one of the more positive developments of the tournament. International level is a different game and it highlighted that you can’t simply buy in the best and win. That is something the FA should be considering above anything else, but it doesn’t sound like the lesson is sinking in. Thomas Tuchel’s failure was emblematic of the struggles of elite club coaches at the tournament (PA) No shock there, a bit like the World Cup as a whole. There was no scope for shocks in the group stage. The eliminations of Germany and Brazil barely count any more, such is the way the world has moved around them. The wealthy western European countries still dominated by the end, as has been the case for most of this millennium. That depth mattered, especially in a tournament of this scale. It was similar with the fan experience, and the absurd expense. Given that the main host, the US, is a country shaped by the automobile industry, where you pretty much have to have a car, it’s a bit odd to invite the world when they won’t have a car and then not put in extra provisions for that. Walkable cities like Atlanta stood out. This shouldn’t overlook how welcoming and friendly the three hosts were. There were so many moments that spoke to that collective spirit the World Cup is really supposed to represent, from Scottish fans in Boston to Kansas City taking to Algeria. They will always stand apart from what any country does. Scotland fans lit up Boston as supporters were a typically positive part of the World Cup experience (Getty) And what happened at the climax? The US carried out another round of airstrikes on Iran, the treatment of their national team forming one of the more shameful aspects of this World Cup. There was plenty of shame to go around though . The unwieldy nature of the competition inevitably spilled out into developments that Fifa couldn’t control, to stories of a bigger nature. A tone was set by Somali referee Omar Artan not being allowed into the country , putting even Gianni Infantino on the back foot from then on in. He is said to have been more concerned about a political challenge at that point than at any other moment of his constantly extending presidency. Ultimately, the record revenues will see any prospective candidate off for yet another term, as this version of Fifa sought to push things further than ever. That may well point to the main legacy of this World Cup. It may prove a landmark for a lot of changes to the game, few for the better. Fifa was ultimately responsible for setting numerous precedents that club owners and other forces have long been desperate for, and that the global governing body are supposed to be safeguards against . They ultimately ushered them through. Fifa president Infantino got what he wanted out of the World Cup (Getty) One was ticket prices, culminating in those obscene $1m seats for the final. Another was refereeing decisions not ending at the white line of the pitch, as the entire Falorin Balogun case was all about. That it emanated from outright political interference should have made it unthinkable, and yet that was an inevitability when Infantino has spent so long cosying up to Trump. And for what? As with Qatar, Fifa never felt fully in charge of their own event here. So it was when Tom Cruise was inexplicably giving an interminable speech before the final and Trump and Infantino walked on the pitch at the end. The former was interrupted by glorious Argentine atmosphere, the latter by booing . In between, there was the abomination of the half-time show , reaching new depths with Justin Bieber’s mood-killer of a song. Justin Bieber killed the vibe during the half-time show in the final (Getty) So little of that felt like the World Cup final as we know it, which was perhaps the point. Fifa broke their own rules in staging it, as it stretched to over 27 minutes . Again, another precedent has been set at the same time as legitimacy and credibility have been eroded, something all the more poignant when the game clearly stands at this global peak of popularity. All of the stars of this tournament are now household names in the States, exactly as many in football have long wanted. The 2026 World Cup has been both a success in that sense and not what it could have been, a competition where the purity of the football persevered and when it was engulfed by so much else. Trump got his moment in the World Cup spotlight but perhaps not how he wanted (Reuters) It was too big, and yet didn’t have enough substance. Then, at the end, as Rodri came out of the dressing room with the World Cup itself, he stopped to let a young man in a wheelchair hold the great trophy. That spirit is what it’s really about, even as so many involved try to make it something else.