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Top 30: from half a million World Cup photos, why I love these the best
Our picture editor chooses his favourite images from the tournament including Lionel Messi’s cathedral, that delicious diving header from Jude Bellingham and a humbling scene in GazaWhat makes a great World Cup photograph? Now there’s a question with myriad answers. Composition, newsworthiness, emotional resonance, expert timing and luck can all contribute to varying degrees. But one thing they all share is the power to capture attention.On the Guardian sport picture desk, we have received more than 500,000 World Cup photographs over the past six weeks, with so many classics among them. Here, with much applause to the photographers who created them and a slight bias towards England, are my favourite images of the tournament.An absolute cracker to start with. In this picture, the cavernous Kansas City Stadium sweeps around a small corner of grass on which the world’s most famous footballer stands alone. You can’t really see it’s Lionel Messi, but somehow you can tell it’s him. It feels as though everybody’s eyes are pointed in his direction, as though they’re worshipping a deity in an epic footballing cathedral.Technological improvements have led to the creation of high-quality miniature remote-operated cameras which can be placed inside goalmouths. Seeing the game at such close quarters feels wonderfully dynamic. This frame in particular captures a mad scramble between Brazil and Japan; the wonky angle adds to the sense of chaos.A self-referential choice, but this was a big news story at the time: England played Croatia in their first game and the England manager, Thomas Tuchel, was so furious he couldn’t see the players during the national anthem that he asked Fifa to move the photographers for subsequent games. In fairness to him, you can see why. Four weeks later, Tuchel would garner headlines again after his substitutions in the semi-final against Argentina helped to trigger England’s collapse.At first glance it looks innocuous enough, then you notice Tarik Muharemovic’s right ankle buckling under the pressure applied by Folarin Balogun’s mistimed challenge. Replays of the incident suggested the foul was unintentional, though the Bosnian was lucky to escape injury. Balogun received a red card following a VAR review, but his one-game ban was suspended by Fifa after lobbying from Donald Trump. With Balogun back in the team, the USA were dumped out of their own tournament by Belgium in the next round.I’ve relished seeing so many photographs from inside the tunnels at this World Cup because the players seem to reveal a little more of themselves away from the public eye. This candid shot of Scotland players Findlay Curtis and Jack Hendry shows them in the wake of their 3-0 loss to Brazil – a defeat that was filled with calamity, and which ultimately led to Scotland’s early exit. They look like they’re outside a head teacher’s office waiting to be reprimanded.I love a good diving header and this one by Jude Bellingham against Mexico was peachy. From a photographic point of view, you seldom get shots from tribune positions like this during a Premier League season, so they have a real novelty value during major tournaments. But it’s more than just novelty: the elevated vantage point helps to remove the surrounding clutter and give a proper fan’s eye view of the goal. I also love the verdant grass, the shocking pink goalkeeper’s jersey and the sense of anticipation because the ball has yet to cross the line. It reminds me of the signed photograph of Coventry’s Keith Houchen, from the 1987 FA Cup final, that hangs proudly on my dad’s office wall.So many hydration breaks, so much Powerade, but only one player managed to look like a Portuguese water dog fresh from a dip in a lake. The Brazil midfielder Bruno Guimarães is pictured here dousing himself in H2O when his side faced Morocco in their opening game at New York New Jersey Stadium. Brazil ultimately went home for an early bath after losing to Norway in the last 16.The mass rowing displays performed by Norway’s fans this summer have been a viral sensation. Seen everywhere from Times Square to Miami Beach, they also became a fixture of the team’s post-match partying, with Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard both banging a fan’s drum as the side progressed to the quarter-finals. The Vikings were stopped by England, but their journey was one of the feelgood stories of the tournament.A gorgeous pool of afternoon sunlight spilling on to the pitch, surrounded by deep shadows. You couldn’t really create better low-key lighting conditions if you tried. The photographer just had to nail the exposure and wait for a subject to pass through. The fact that it’s Kylian Mbappé who’s skating across the turf in his rich blue France top adds a nice splash of colour and gravity to the scene.Luka Modric has spoken in the past about not wanting to let his people down, and of carrying memories of his grandpa, Luka, with him. He appears to be deep in thought here before playing Panama. Perhaps it’s just a fleeting moment – a man simply massaging his temple or visualising the first tackle – or maybe he’s remembering his war-torn roots and the family member he was named after.At the ripe age of 40 and with a club career that has taken him to Cyprus, Moldova, Portugal and Slovakia, the Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha became the breakout star at this year’s World Cup. His numerous saves against Spain in the group stage earned him global praise as well as 17 million followers on Instagram. Another stellar display against Argentina, in which he memorably denied a quick free-kick by Messi, further enhanced his reputation. I like his expression in this photograph as he soaks up the adulation from the crowd following the Blue Sharks’ remarkable goalless draw with Spain.This photograph shows the power of football while also putting the World Cup into perspective. These Palestinian residents in Gaza may have lost everything, but they gathered amid the ruins of their former homes to watch a screening of Egypt’s game against Argentina. A moment of normality amid the horror and heartache.Erling Haaland’s first goal against Brazil left his old Premier League rival, Gabriel Magalhães, in a heap. In this shot you can see water (or perhaps sweat) flying off the striker’s forehead, his neck fully strained after connecting with the ball. Haaland scored seven goals in five World Cup games: he netted from inside the box, outside the box, with his left foot, right foot and of course his head. Norway have still never been beaten by Brazil after five matches. No other nation can say that.This image was shot before the tournament, as part of Fifa’s official player portraits, but I’ve only recently seen it – and it’s well worth a mention. You don’t see many players with braces, but Lamine Yamal, who only turned 19 this month, wears his with pride. This frame was shot using a 24-70mm lens on a Canon R5 Mark II which has a whopping 45 megapixels, so I suspect it’s been cropped quite hard in post-production to achieve this composition.Some penalty misses are worse than others. Germany’s Jonathan Tah and Manuel Akanji of Switzerland both had Chris Waddle moments as they blew their chances from 12 yards over the bar. Ordinarily I’d say you need to see the crossbar to illustrate that the shot went over, but the way the ball is rocketing skywards – almost as if it could escape the stadium roof – tells the story perfectly.Even when your ego is as big as the sun, sometimes you just need a cuddle. This photograph captures Neymar Jr’s visible distress as he realises his international career is over and his childhood ambitions of lifting the World Cup will never be fulfilled. His teammate Raphina is there to support him. It lacks the humility of Freddie Flintoff consoling his opponent Brett Lee in the Ashes, or the stoicism of Derek Redmond being helped across the finish line by his father at the 1992 Olympics, but it still packs an emotional gut punch.This photograph was flipped around by Getty Images before being transmitted to us. Manipulation of this ilk feels almost heretical in the world of photojournalism, and yet I’m inclined to say it’s compelling. It shows Julián Alvarez celebrating his late winner against Switzerland, and it makes me question my fundamental photographic principles. Would I print it in the newspaper like this? Absolutely not. Would I include it in an online gallery of images that caught my eye this summer? Evidently so.The stadums in the US have been mind-blowing in scale. Atlanta Stadium, home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and the city’s MLS and NWSL teams, has a maximum capacity of 75,000 people, a climate-controlled environment and a 335-metre display known as the “halo”. This picture from up in the gods looks suitably epic. Initially I assumed the camera was remote-controlled, but it transpires some photographers were actually working up there on the gantry. What a view they had!This is a beautiful example of a photographer using a slow shutter speed while panning gently with the action. I especially like the details within: Anthony Elanga’s facial expression is crisp, and the pink boots leave a painterly trail.Harry Kane’s late strikes against the Democratic Republic of Congo in the last 32 led to an outpouring of emotion from the England captain. I was torn over which frame to select – there are some lovely ones of him sprinting across the turf, flanked by Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon – but this one of him being embraced by Bellingham serves as a perfect reminder of their twin heroics at the tournament. It’s clean, nicely balanced and full of bromance.The guaranteed agony and ecstasy of penalty shootouts always makes for brilliant images. This year, Gustavo Gómez of Paraguay takes the crown for the wildest reaction. After beating Germany during sudden death, Gómez, who scored his own spot-kick, surges across the pitch like a heron taking flight, almost vaulting his teammates José Canale and Orlando Gill as he went to embrace them. He then careered through the photographers behind the goal in pursuit of a mobile phone so that he could document the moment himself.Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, also known as Lumumba Vea, is dubbed a “living statue” because he doesn’t move during games. Instead, the DRC fan poses on a plinth for the entire match, raising his right arm to mimic the statue of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the First Congolese Republic, which stands in Kinshasa. Why anyone would go to a football match and not respond to the on-pitch action is beyond me, but Mboladinga insists it’s his patriotic duty.Youri Tielemans scored twice in Belgium’s stunning comeback against Senegal in the last 32. This 89th-minute header might have been a little trickier to control had the defender Moussa Niakhaté competed for the ball instead of diving theatrically to the ground at the first sign of contact. The virtue of modern cameras, many of which shoot 30 frames per second, is that the full sequence of this goal was captured, and we could choose the exact frame when Tielemans’s head connects with the ball.Sasa Kalajdzic overcame three anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the years and months prior to the 2026 World Cup, but the Austrian enjoyed a moment to savour when he netted a 96th-minute equaliser against Algeria to keep his side in the tournament. The game ignited accusations of fixing, because a 3-3 draw ensured both sides went through, but a finale like that – and celebrations like this – cannot be scripted.Australia’s Connor Metcalfe needed three stitches in his eyebrow after being clipped by a stray boot from Andrés Cubas during the Socceroos’ group match with Paraguay. Maybe it’s the slumped shoulders or the shirt pulled up around his neckline, but he looks like a forlorn child who needs a parent to clean him up.You could say this is just another “two men and a ball” photograph (an expression the Guardian’s photographer, Tom Jenkins, uses to describe generic images of sporting action). But I particularly like this one because of the contrast of sporting prowess – the acrobat versus the brick wall – and for the misshapen ball which appears ready to pop. Dan Burn has become a cult figure for England, in the mould of Peter Crouch. Many supporters call the 6ft 7in defender Big Dan Burn, but Bellingham apparently calls him Burninho. There’s no way Raúl Jiménez, the Mexico striker, was ever getting the ball past him.Ismaël Koné’s eyes say it all. The Canada midfielder had just broken the tibia and fibula bones in his lower left leg after a challenge by Qatar’s midfielder Assim Madibo, who would receive a red card and a five-match ban. As a photo editor, when incidents like this occur you have to weigh up decency and news value before publishing (I still feel traumatised by the uncensored images I saw of Eduardo’s broken leg in 2008). I think this image conveys the severity of the incident without being unduly graphic. Koné left the pitch on a stretcher but waved to fans as he exited.The composition of this photograph is simple but beautiful. The intersecting diagonals, the contrast between light and shade, and the depth within the scene … it all makes for rich viewing.Let’s be honest, Lionel Messi is not very good at penalties. He’s missed four of eight in World Cup matches and 34 of 151 in his career, including shootouts. A botched effort against Egypt, in a match which the African side went on to lead 2-0, could have been a harrowing ending to his gilded international career. Instead, Messi did what Messi does: he scored the equaliser and drove his team to a remarkable 3-2 win in normal time. This picture, taken after the match, speaks to the weight he carries on his shoulders. Is he feeling relief or guilt? Either way, he looks tortured by expectation.Ordinarily I’d select a celebration photograph from the World Cup final among my favourites, but this ‘tackle’ by Enzo Fernández was so bad – and the image of Pau Cubarsi flying through the air so striking – that I couldn’t look beyond it. An absolutely dreadful final sparked into life at this moment. Cubarsi rose from the turf to claim the title of ‘best young player’ of the tournament and, more importantly, a World Cup winner’s medal.
Jonny WeeksMon, 20 Jul 2026
Source: The Guardian
