Justice just feels so good.
And yet, going into the second half of extra time, with Argentina down a man because of a second yellow card given to midfielder Enzo Fernández, the score remained 0-0. Argentine keeper Emiliano Martínez set a new record for most saves in a men’s World Cup Final, with 11, including a few diving stops that kept Argentina alive. Still, if the game finished 0-0, and Argentina won in a penalty shootout a game they had no business winning, that result could have set soccer back to the dark ages—in the U.S. at least. Every cranky American who still can’t get over the game’s lack of scoring, and rules that allow a crapshoot penalty-kick scenario to crown a quadrennial World Cup champion, would have fresh reason to gripe.
President Donald Trump, one of the bold-faced dignitaries on hand—along with Mick Jagger, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Timothée Chalamet, Matt Damon, Tom Cruise, Madonna, Victor Wembenyama, and the rest—presented with FIFA President Gianni Infantino the World Cup trophy to Spain. Infantino has been accused by some soccer fans of favoring Argentina throughout the tournament, while Trump, who lingered a bit too long in the championship photo, as his custom, has been at odds with Spain, recently calling the country “a horror show” and its leaders “bad people.”
—Eva Marie Uzcategui—Getty Images
Still, Spain’s run to the World Cup title was impressive—the team conceded just a single goal all tournament long—but it won’t go down as spectacular. Analogizing global soccer teams to American champions—to contextualize the game for U.S. audiences who don’t follow soccer regularly—can admittedly come across as facile. But try one more on, please, for size. Spain is like the 1998 New York Yankees, one of the all-time winningest baseball teams propelled by a charismatic young star, Derek Jeter, and a host of other notable players who shined as a collective unit. Yamal, who only finished the World Cup with one goal, is Spain’s Jeter: he’s surrounded by fantastic talent who don’t quite rate as household names.
The event wasn’t all roses, for sure. The U.S. President, for example, inserted himself into on-field soccer business: the stunning reversal of Folarin Balogun’s red card, following a phone call between Trump and Infantino, and the U.S. team’s surprise collapse the next day against Belgium in the Round of 16, left a bad taste. Iran said it got a raw deal from a host country with which it is at war. Technological precision impeded the potential of inspiring victories from the likes of Iran, Croatia, and Egypt. Ticket prices were consistently absurd.
Kylian Mbappé finished with 10 goals—good enough to earn the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the tournament— including two in the wildly entertaining third place game on Saturday, which England won 6-4 over France. He now holds the all-time record for World Cup goals. Erling Haaland led Norway to its best World Cup finish ever, as America fell hard for the Striking Viking and vice versa. Haaland came home with a “Whiskey Racoon” he purchased in Dallas, and called Americans “kind of hilarious.”
Yes, in the final, Messi was mighty quiet. In extra time, he tried to get things going for his side: Messi dribbled toward the target, but while a cross against England found a teammate for a goal, against Spain it was deflected. Off a short corner kick, he lofted a ball in that sailed over the net. And in the final seconds, a desperate Argentina turned to Messi to deliver a long ball into the box from midfield, and create something, anything. But Simón, the Spanish goalie, was able to catch Messi’s soft ball with ease.
Even GOATs have their off days. So the final belonged to Spain. The 2026 tournament, meanwhile, truly belonged to the world. We’ll miss it.
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