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The tournament’s mascot came to herald the ubiquitous, commercial aims of a growing international spectacleDeep within a dark warehouse in Hillsborough, North Carolina, there sits a severed head. Encased in plastic, perfectly preserved and seemingly begging to be reanimated, it belongs to an American soccer legend.For a seismic summer 32 years ago, Striker the dog was more ubiquitous than any of World Cup 94’s players, plastered all over billboards, Coke cans, key chains, caps and hundreds of other items. Kids carried around Striker dolls. Grown men played Striker-themed pinball machines and Super Nintendo games and posed for photos with the pup in stadiums.As Striker’s remains – the foam and felt head, torso and limbs – lie in darkness at the US Soccer Hall of Fame archives, this summer’s World Cup has had its own trio of mascots. Canada’s Maple the Moose, America’s Clutch the Bald Eagle and Mexico’s Zayu the Jaguar seem caught in some bizarre liminal space between realism and cartoon fantasy, residents of a mascot version of the uncanny valley.That trio feel like AI slop, though. Striker? US Soccer chose a much simpler path with him, whipping together a cartoon dog. Years later, that choice has made him the one of the most memorable mascots in World Cup history.John Over and Joey Banaszkiewicz are responsible for some of the most well-known pieces of American animation of the late 20th century. They were young artists at Warner Brothers in the mid-90s, right around the time Steven Spielberg was leading that studio through an animation renaissance.The two had a hand in crafting the storylines and artwork for Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures, drawing characters that would become familiar to an entire generation of American children. Their work wasn’t always for kids – the first episode of Animaniacs that Over ever worked on was quickly pulled after Buster Bunny and Plucky Duck got drunk and stole a police car.The culture at Warner Brothers back then, Over and Banaszkiewicz will tell you, was something akin to the island of misfit toys.“I feel like some people got there right out of prison,” says Banaszkiewicz, who landed at the studio after graduating from Cal Arts. Over arrived after working for John Kricfalusi, the creator of another iconic piece of 90s animation: the Ren and Stimpy Show.“The currency there was ‘how hard could we make each other laugh,’” Over says. “We were just a bunch of 20-year-olds that were let loose. People were just doing foul drawings of each other and seeing how far you could milk a joke or an embarrassing situation. But it was fantastic, because that’s really how you get your creativity built up.”In the summer of 1992, in between seasons of Tiny Toons and Animaniacs, animators found themselves with nothing to work on. For a few weeks, they’d pass the time by taking hours-long lunch breaks or “playing several rounds of miniature golf across the street”, Over remembers, but eventually, higher-ups within Warner Brothers suggested laying employees off or furloughing them.Spielberg wanted nothing to do with that idea. At his insistence, staff were kept on, and Spielberg told executives to find them other work.Right around that time, the organizing committee for the 1994 World Cup was searching for a mascot. Alan Rothenberg, the US Soccer Federation president, picked up the phone and set a meeting with Jean MacCurdy, the president of Warner Brothers Animation.Thirty years earlier, Reginald Hoye and Richard Culley, employees at a London-area marketing agency, were handed their own brief. The 1966 World Cup was rapidly approaching and the two were tasked with doing something entirely new: creating a mascot.It’s hard to imagine, but World Cups to that point were largely bereft of the consumerism that so thoroughly permeates them today. There were barely any advertisements at all, really, or merchandise. And certainly no mascots.In 10 minutes, Culley and Hoye whipped up World Cup Willie, the first-ever World Cup mascot. There are layers to Willie. He sports the union jack and his shaggy, charming appearance was in line with England’s broader moment, as the country’s perception moved away from its staid past and migrated towards that of a cultural tastemaker. This was the era of the Beatles, the Stones and James Bond.Willie fit right in; he was an instant smash, and others followed. In 1970, Juanito – a small Mexican child decked out in a sombrero – was the first human mascot, a trend that continued into the 1974 and 1978 World Cups.Then came the produce. Spain rolled out Naranjito, an anthropomorphic orange, in 1982 and Mexico came back with Pique, a mustachioed jalapeno pepper, in 1986.Then things got weird. In 1990, organizers in Italy hosted a design competition and received 50,000 entries, portraying everything from dogs to eggplants to an anthropomorphic piece of ziti. A panel of judges, including such luminaries as famed Ferrari designer Sergio Pininfarina, settled on an entry from Lucio Boscardin, an unheralded painter and sculptor.Boscardin came up with his idea at a traffic light. He took the word “Italia”, broke apart the lettering and assembled it into a stick figure of sorts, employing a soccer ball as the figure’s head. The end result was Ciao, a modern art fever dream.Tournament organizers quickly realized that Boscardin’s cubist vision was impossible to represent in costume, so they just threw together a dozen or so sculptures of Ciao, toting him around from stadium to stadium.The designers of Striker weren’t going to make that same mistake, though their early concepts were just as terrifying.“There were a bunch of people trying to do a soccer ball thing,” Over says. “People didn’t know what to call it really. I think Joey’s version was called Soccerey Bally or something like that. It was like a humanoid soccer ball with arms and legs. Joey’s storyboards are always funny and outrageous, so he had like soccer players taking the thing out to romantic candlelit dinners, and there’s just balls sitting everywhere. The player is in bed with a ball, he’s having sex with a ball, he’s everywhere with a ball.”US Soccer was not in any rush to peddle soccer-based cartoon pornography, and thankfully animators at Warner Brothers began to explore about a dozen other possibilities, “both animal and humanoid”, said MacCurdy. There were space creatures. Cats. Cougars. Bears.“In the end we just ended up looking at a lot of the old World Cup mascots,” Over says. “A lot of them were just awful. One was just a giant orange? And a lot of them had historical significance or whatever. Soccer was sort of not super popular here, so we thought let’s do this ‘underdog’ kind of idea. That’s when we started doing versions of, you know, ‘soccer dog’.”With that, the two embarked on a design process that left them bruised and battered. Hearing Over prattle on about what happened will feel familiar to any artist or creative who has ever applied their craft to a commercial endeavor.“We ran into problems with these dorks at [US Soccer],” says Over, laughing. “They’d look at your drawings. As an animator you’re always exaggerating things. Somebody kicks a ball and you have the leg go way up. They would say – well, ‘a child could never kick a ball that hard.’ Like, it’s a freaking soccer dog, dude. It is a cartoon dog!”“It ended up being sort of a design by committee thing,” Banaszkiewicz says. “And in the world of animation, that’s always death. Pretty soon it’s ‘I don’t like these fingers’ or ‘I think his ears are too sharp’ or ‘can you give him a bigger smile?’ Pretty soon you don’t even recognize him any more.”The pup we now know as Striker was at that point still being called Soccer Dog over at Warner Brothers and the slightly more clever World Cup Pup in the halls at US Soccer, not exactly the kind of names that move merchandise. So the World Cup organizing committee, headed up by Rothenberg, decided to let the public name the mascot. They bought advertising space in hundreds of local and national newspapers, encouraging fans to call their vote via a 1-900 number ($0.95 per call, in case you were wondering) or mail-in ballot. To keep things simple, the organizing committee narrowed the list down to four names: Striker, Sweeper, Champ and Sidekick.About 25,000 people cast their vote over the six-week campaign, with Striker the clear favorite. At a cost of $2,500 each, the organizing committee ordered a dozen Striker costumes, thrown together by Scollon Productions, a mom-and-pop costume shop based in White Rock, South Carolina. They made a few refinements to his look, swapping out a rugby-inspired jersey for a soccer kit and positioning the ball at the dog’s feet instead of forcing him to carry it around in his hands.The pup needed a backstory, so the organizing committee put their best wordsmiths on the assignment, and they did not disappoint. Striker was birthed by Mr and Mrs Mutt, they wrote, graduating with honors from obedience school. His favorite song? Hound Dog, by Elvis Presley. As for whether Striker has a significant other – he’s officially listed as single. “Playing the field,” as they say.“He best represents sports and this country,” Rothenberg said at the time. “And, being crass and commercial, we want to sell as much merchandise as possible.” Tournament organizers estimated that they’d make more than a billion – yes, a billion – dollars off of merchandise bearing Striker’s likeness.One curious detail about Striker’s origin story is that promoters suggested the dog was neither male nor female. That idea didn’t seem to stick, though: the pup got male pronouns nearly every time he was mentioned.Striker’s boots are a size-24 wide, if you’re wondering. Huge shoes to fill. But somebody had to. That task fell to Carlos Parada.Back in 1986, Parada was a wide-eyed teenager with a dream to go to the World Cup in Mexico. So he did what any irresponsible college student would: he got a high-interest credit card and bought the next flight out, hoping to crash with a few friends he had south of the border.Parada ended up scoring free tickets to nearly every match at the Azteca. He watched Diego Maradona score with his “Hand of God” and then watched him score arguably the greatest goal in the history of the tournament moments later. He was there for the final, among the best ever played. He returned home to Los Angeles, determined to involve himself in soccer.“When the [organizing committee] moved from Chicago to Los Angeles before the World Cup,” Parada says, “I knew I had to get involved. You know. To get free tickets.”Parada signed up as a volunteer, then took a part-time post at the organizing committee’s headquarters, one that put him in the office at 6am, around the time Rothenberg arrived – “to get a jump on the east coast folks,” Parada remembers. The two became chummy, and when a full-time marketing position became available, Parada got the job.He was tasked with safekeeping two of the tournament’s icons. One was the World Cup trophy. The 27-year-old went continent hopping with it for months, always flying in first class. “One seat for me,” he remembers, “and one for the trophy, right next to me.”The other was Striker. Parada, assisted by Joann Klonowski, the tournament’s head of marketing, put together guidelines for those inhabiting the costumes –mostly volunteers, as Parada once was.“He never speaks,” Klonowski told a reporter at the time. “He is not allowed to remove any part of his costume in public; for instance, he can’t remove his head. That takes away the aura for the kids who see him. He – the character, actually – is neither male nor female. The character never acknowledges that there is a person inside. The character communicates through mime movements, or through a personal escort, who always accompanies the character.”Parada also contributed a training film which, like the guidelines, is a little surreal, with Parada cheering his volunteers along as they run through the motions in and out of costume.Striker was unveiled in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood in October 1993, where he sank his paws into the wet pavement beneath him, as is the tradition with any big star. He was at pre-tournament friendlies, hobnobbing and posing with fans, even crossing the Atlantic for promotional events. He was at the World Cup draw, and everywhere else, plastered all over billboards, TV ads, airplanes and a boatload of other merch.One place he wasn’t: the opening ceremony. Folks at US Soccer had visions of throwing Striker alongside Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton, Diana Ross and the rest of the crew but Striker was banished, collateral damage after a war between Disney (the original organizers of the ceremony) and Opryland USA (the company that ended up putting it on). Striker, said one Opryland employee, “is not here because we think he’s stupid.”Many others did not find this soccer dog stupid. Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos, Parada remembers, developed a strange fascination with the mascot and was insistent on standing next to him before matches. The Argentina squad also took a liking to Striker. In one of the tournament’s more remarkable off-field scenes, they tracked Striker down after crushing Greece 4-0 in their group-stage opener, throwing him in the air in celebration. After their next game against Nigeria, Maradona was led off the field for a drug test, one that ended his international career.Kids and adults alike were equally obsessed, in part owing to the fact that the dog could actually play soccer.“I learned pretty quickly that if you got a kid who played soccer in the costume and put him in Sambas, you could have pretty good control of his feet,” Parada says. “People would go insane when they saw Striker juggling a ball, which he could do pretty easily.”After the World Cup ended, after the banners came down and the collectible pin sets, hats and sweatshirts were shoved into drawers or sent to thrift shops, Striker drifted back into the ether. Others followed in his footsteps: a rooster (Footix, France 98), a lion (Goleo VI, Germany 06), a leopard (Zakumi, South Africa 10), a wolf (Zabivaka, Russia 18), a trio of aliens (Ato, Kaz and Nik, South Korea/Japan 02). By the time Qatar rolled around in 2022, we got La’eeb, a floating garment, albeit an adorable one.As the tournament has become more and more bloated and more and more commercialized, Striker evolved into a symbol for a simpler time, when the teams were fewer and the tickets were cheaper.Rothenberg, though, more or less forgot about him – when reached for this piece, he conceded that he didn’t remember anything about the mascot’s development. Neither did MacCurdy – the animation head at Warner Brothers – or Klonowski, the marketing head who ran the project for the organizing committee.Over and Banaszkiewicz had no idea whatsoever that Striker had had any sort of impact on a particular generation of soccer fans in America, not until they were contacted at least. Banaszkiewicz put it bluntly: “I had no idea anybody cared, honestly.”Over remembered the short-term effects, yes – seeing his co-creation on the side of an American Airlines 747, at games and on light-pole banners – but that was more or less the end of it for him. When Over and Banaszkiewicz hopped on a call together and chatted for the first time in years, though, the memories came flooding back.Neither artist feels a terribly strong sense of attachment to Striker. There were talks of an animated series at some point, but in the end the dog was just a drawing to them, or an intern in a costume.“I remember Jean MacCurdy and I went down to watch them unveil Striker, when he put his feet in the cement at Mann’s Chinese Theater, right next to Humphrey Bogart’s [hand prints.] It all felt so … forced. This love for this character was sort of forced. So it doesn’t rank that high as far as the stuff I’ve done, because you’re not infusing it with any personality as a film-maker. There’s no story to it, it’s sort of a graphic placeholder.”For an entire generation of American kids, though, Striker was part of that magical summer, one where they fell in love with the sport of soccer and never turned back.

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Guardian analysis finds 19% of games reached heat levels warranting delays, as Fifa defends its player safeguardsThe climate crisis has come for football.During this year’s World Cup, nearly one in five of the tournament’s 100-plus matches took place in levels of heat and humidity that a football players’ union has previously said should trigger delays or postponements, a Guardian analysis has found. An additional 23 matches were played in cities as they reached those heat levels, but in stadiums where conditions were mitigated by air conditioning.“The climate crisis is hitting the things we all need, like a stable climate, clean air and affordable food, as well as the things we love, like football and other sports,” Simon Stiell, executive secretary for the United Nations climate body, said in an emailed comment.Our analysis looked at conditions where the tournament’s 104 matches were either already played (102) or the forecasts for the two remaining matches.The findings are a sign of a broader challenge facing football as the planet warms. The climate crisis is making extreme heat more frequent and intense, raising new questions about whether the conditions in which major tournaments are played can remain safe for players and supporters.“The 2026 Fifa World Cup matches have introduced a true stress test of heat mitigation and preparedness,” said Joshua L DeVincenzo, an assistant director at Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness. “Fifa, spectators, stadium operators, and others … were tested firsthand on the disruptions and complications that extreme heat and weather can pose.”The findings come as a record-breaking heatwave scorches much of the United States, with more than 125 million Americans spanning from California to New England under dangerous heat alerts. Sunday’s final seems set to be played in conditions with a wet bulb globe temperature estimate of just under 26C (79F), with low humidity alleviating the effects of high air temperatures. However, another climate-fueled concern could plague attenders: Wildfire smoke is expected to continue to degrade air quality in the region, with New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, warning of health impacts.Our analysis found that an estimated 20 matches were played in conditions with wet bulb globe temperatures (WBGT) that may have been at or over 28C (82F).Under those conditions, the players’ union Fifpro has argued, games should be delayed or postponed to protect footballers’ health. Other match attenders can also face risks, said DeVincenzo.“We learned from this World Cup that, in addition to player safety and health, important precautions must be considered for spectators, volunteers and stadium staff long before the day of the match,” he said.Fifpro declined to comment on the latest analysis, but previously told the Guardian: “The lesson for everyone in the industry is that with a warming planet, heat conditions will play a bigger part in tournament and league scheduling decisions in the future.”WBGT readings account for humidity, direct sunlight and wind to provide a more accurate measure of heat stress and the body’s ability to cool itself through sweating. At high enough levels of heat and humidity, sweat can no longer evaporate efficiently, preventing the body from cooling itself and leading to rapid overheating that can cause heat illness or even death.Official WBGT measurements require specialized equipment on site, but the Guardian compiled approximations based on air temperature and humidity data for the time and place of each match, with data from the open-source weather service Open-Meteo. Estimates were calculated using a formula created by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and used by institutions including the Canadian military.The hottest game played in a non-air-conditioned stadium was held on the Fourth of July in Philadelphia. During the France v Paraguay round of 16 match, temperatures at the city’s stadium reportedly reached 38C (100F), and WBGT during the game may have reached or exceeded 33.9C (93F), the Guardian’s analysis found.The hottest game overall was played when Argentina defeated Austria 2-0 on 22 June in Dallas, Texas. Though the game was played in one of the only three fully air-conditioned World Cup 2026 stadiums (the other two being in Houston, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia), the Dallas match still exposed those outside the venue to sweltering conditions. The asphalt outside the stadium, for instance, reportedly reached a sizzling and dangerous 50C (122F).“Spectator experiences created a secondary risk in the heat; factors such as long walking distances without cover, unshaded areas, sun-exposed seating in the stadium, and long wait times in heat-emitting spaces like parking lots put people at a much higher risk of heat stress and related injuries,” he said. “These experiences can be addressed ahead of future games by training volunteers to identify signs of heat stress and to know the appropriate actions to take when fans experience dizziness, fainting, or falls.”Every match played in three cities – Dallas, Houston and Miami – appears to have been contested in conditions that breached the 33.9C threshold. At the Miami, which does not have air conditioning, players, workers and spectators alike blistered under WGBT readings of approximately 32.5C (90.5F) during Norway’s match against England last weekend. Temperatures reached 33C (91.4F) with 65% humidity, and sweat poured off of every face in the venue.Record-breaking heat and humidity are set to blanket the midwestern and eastern US this week, potentially making conditions even more challenging for players and fans at some games. In the future, conditions could deteriorate even further.The 2030 World Cup, for instance, is set to be staged across Spain, Portugal and Morocco, each of which is already experiencing significantly more extreme heat due to the climate crisis. Four years later, Saudi Arabia is expected to host the 2034 tournament during the northern hemisphere winter, a scheduling shift designed to avoid summer temperatures that regularly climb above 40C (104F).

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Spokesperson says islands belong to the UK‘PM wishes both teams well for the final, especially Spain’Keir Starmer supports the idea of Fifa investigating Argentina players who displayed a banner touting their country’s claim to the Falklands Islands after their World Cup semi-final win against England, Downing Street has said.Starmer, who watched the match while travelling to Ukraine by train for the final overseas trip of his premiership, endorsed a call by Peter Kyle, the business secretary, for Fifa to investigate what rules may have been broken.After Argentina’s 2-1 win in an occasionally fractious match in Atlanta on Wednesday, some players held up a banner that said: “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, using the country’s term for the South Atlantic islands.Argentina face Spain in Sunday’s final. Asked who Starmer would be supporting, his spokesperson said: “The PM wishes both teams well for the final, especially Spain.”Asked for Starmer’s reaction to the sign, they said: “The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are. Our position is unchanged. Self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.“More broadly, potential action is a matter for Fifa, but it’s been a fantastic World Cup and we’ve said throughout that politics should stay out of football.”Earlier on Thursday, Kyle told the BBC that the banner was “an egregious violation of the rules of not having political activity as part of the football”.He added: “The World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football. That is now a matter for Fifa. I expect Fifa to do its investigation thoroughly.” The PM’s spokesperson said Starmer endorsed Kyle’s comments urging Fifa to investigate.As to whether Thomas Tuchel should consider his position after England were comprehensively outplayed for long sections of the match, the spokesperson said this was a matter for the England head coach. “Thomas Tuchel and his team have taken us deep into the tournament this World Cup, giving us thrilling matches against teams like Mexico and Norway that people in England will never forget, and he thinks that the team have represented England wonderfully, both on and off the pitch.”The semi-final was predicted as potentially likely to inflame disagreements over the Falklands. A 1982 war after Argentina invaded the islands killed more than 900 people.Argentina has complained that HMS Medway, a Royal Navy vessel, went through its national waters without permission while sailing from the Falklands to Chile this month.Starmer’s spokesperson said the UK rejected this. “We notified the Argentinian government in advance of HMS Medway undertaking a routine logistics visit to Chile between the 5 and 8 July to support British Antarctic Survey operations, which will deliver essential stores and supplies to sustain scientific research in Antarctica.“The Royal Navy always operates in full compliance with international law and the transit from the Falkland Islands to Chile was carried out via the most direct practicable practical route, considering operational safety and weather factors to ensure timely delivery.”The Falkland Islands government said: “The Falklands government is disappointed – though regrettably not surprised – that the Argentine football team decided to tarnish the result of last night’s World Cup football semi-final – a game that did not in any case involve the Falkland Islands. “That said, it is hardly news to anyone that the people of the islands were victims of an aggressive invasion in 1982, which left many traumatised. The banner displayed by Argentina last night, therefore, was particularly insensitive for many people in the Falklands … We hope Fifa will make good on their promise to keep politics out of sport, and sanction all behaviour of this nature in line with its own rules.”

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Watching England lose is one thing. Watching them lose surrounded by millions celebrating Argentina’s march to another World Cup final, is completely differentLook, most people were awfully good about it. Our waiter at a restaurant near Plaza de Mayo shook our hands warmly and said nice things about Jude Bellingham. On the metro ride back from the fan zone there was no massive gloating either, just bright-eyed kids in Lionel Messi shirts swept along by the nationwide euphoria. “Vamos, Vamos Argentina!” they sang, barely able to believe their team were once again in a World Cup final.And to be a stray English bystander in a city totally awash in sky blue and white was … a rare privilege. Some of us currently over here covering England’s rugby union tour have been lucky enough to visit a few iconic sporting cauldrons, but to be in Buenos Aires in the aftermath of Argentina defeating England at a football World Cup is right up there.From train drivers triumphantly honking their horns at every underground platform to people dancing in the streets and old ladies waving flags from balconies high above the traffic, it made even a frenzied cricket World Cup fixture between India and Pakistan feel like a garden fete. “Tell them you’re Scottish,” advised my Argentinian friend, concerned for our welfare in the event of an English victory. In the event there was no need for any such subterfuge.For a while, though, that was not a certainty. Imagine, if you can, sitting in a deserted library in the tiniest hamlet in deepest Tierra del Fuego. It still would not be as quiet as the aghast silence that greeted Anthony Gordon putting England 1-0 up. Forty years on from Diego Maradona’s Hand of God, the Foot of Gordon threatened to be almost as legendary. Momentarily it felt like Buenos Aires had had all the ‘air’ sucked out of it.Alas, poor England, we all know how it finished. And, leaving aside the idiot fan zone announcer briefly yelling about the ‘Malvinas’ and someone setting fire to a homemade flag of St George as the celebrations ramped up in town, the main takeaway is just how football crazy this country is. Lorries and cars with national flags draped across dashboards, Messi’s face on every billboard … Mexico and Brazil may say otherwise but Argentina belongs in an obsessive league of its own.Goodness knows how frenzied the atmosphere will be during Sunday’s final. After Argentina won the World Cup four years ago, around four million people took to the streets of the capital. The city was so ridiculously congested that a planned open-top bus parade had to be abandoned; in the end the players flew overhead in helicopters instead. I asked one local resident how long the public celebrations had lasted. “They’re still going on,” came the dry reply.And beating the English always adds a certain extra frisson. En route into town from the airport this week, our parka-wearing taxi driver made teasing ‘Hand of God’ gestures at us as soon as he found out our nationality. It might have been more amusing had he not been hammering down a busy dual carriageway at 90mph at the time.Subsequently, having made absolutely sure to charge us a vastly inflated fare on the grounds that his meter “wasn’t working”, our man also made a point of winding down his window and shouting “Campeones, Argentina!” as he pulled away. For some people, getting one over Los Ingleses never loses its appeal.Happily, though, there are also those determined to reject crass parallels between a mere football match and the 1982 Falklands crisis. Argentinian war veterans even put out an eve-of-game statement calling on politicians not to use the semi-final as a platform to push for sovereignty over the South Atlantic islands, asking fans instead to honour the memory of the Argentinian soldiers killed in the conflict.That said, “El Que No Salta Es Un Inglés” – “Anyone who doesn’t jump is an Englishman” – remains very definitely the local chant of choice. Incidentally, the recent death of Bonnie Tyler also made headlines here because her hit single, It’s a Heartache, supplies the tune for another extremely popular terrace ditty, the lyrics of which are probably best left to the imagination.Either way, it now falls to Messi and co to finish the job. Argentina’s population is about 46 million – the wider Buenos Aires metropolitan area is home to about 16 million people alone – and the scenes at the capital’s Obelisk monument, where fans traditionally go to celebrate major wins, will be off the charts should Spain be beaten.

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“I think there's not much to say. For now, everyone has to process what's just happened,” Harry Kane said after the defending champions, Argentina, rallied to beat England 2-1 and reach the World Cup final against Spain on Sunday.Trailing 1-0 going into the last five minutes of regulation time, Enzo Fernández and the substitute Lautaro Martínez scored for Argentina. Anthony Gordon had given England the lead, but Lionel Messi and co had other ideas. Argentina pushed for an equaliser and the pressure eventually led to Fernández scoring in the 85th minute. Martinez headed the winner two minutes into injury time.“Everyone's gutted. I'm gutted for all the boys, all the staff, everyone behind the scenes, because we know how much everyone puts into being a successful national team,” said Kane. “When you're so close, when you're 10-plus minutes away and it slips out of your hands like that, obviously, the lads are devastated.”England hearts broken after turnaround in AtlantaIn pictures: our pick of the best big-match images Continue reading...

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Head coach has no regrets but admits he will be judgedBellingham appears to strike Argentina’s Barco on headThomas Tuchel shouldered the blame for England becoming far too passive after taking the lead as Argentina ended his team’s World Cup dream with a dramatic late comeback.England were within minutes of a first men’s World Cup final on foreign soil after going ahead through Anthony Gordon early in the second half. But the reigning champions equalised through a piledriver from Enzo Fernández before the substitute Lautaro Martínez scored the decisive goal in the second minute of injury time to send Argentina through to Sunday’s final against Spain in New York.England’s players slumped to the turf at the full-time whistle, with the captain, Harry Kane, leading them over to the travelling fans to thank them for their support and Jude Bellingham wiping away tears. There were contrasting emotions for Lionel Messi, who sank to his knees and pumped his fists in delight when Argentina’s second successive final was confirmed.Tuchel, who opted to withdraw Declan Rice and Reece James three minutes before Fernández’s equaliser as England switched to a back five, could not hide his disappointment and acknowledged he had had played a part in England’s downfall.“We decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open,” said Tuchel. “Argentina played with more risk, played with more rhythm and played with the feeling maybe that they had nothing to lose any more, which freed them up and pulled us back. Because we obviously played suddenly with a feeling that we had a lot to lose. Of course the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn’t go well it’s easy to say it was wrong.”Asked whether England’s tendency to throw away leads was a question of mentality, he said: “I don’t believe so much in an English thing and a curse or whatever. It’s repeating itself in different moments. It’s different coaches, different players, different situations.“What cost us today was that we were not active enough in any structure. I can understand these discussions are out there and of course a million coaches after the game know it better. You can discuss this with a million coaches. I have to make a decision on the pitch. It’s how I analyse the match and I take the responsibility.“At the moment no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very very close. We deserved to be up 1-0. We played one of our better matches, maybe our best match under the circumstances. The team was top – we couldn’t bring it over the line.”England managed only 12% possession between Gordon’s goal and conceding the winner and Kane felt they had been overwhelmed by Argentina.“Just gutted, gutted for the boys, gutted for everyone: the team, the staff, the fans,” he told the BBC. “We played well for the vast majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up we just seemed to try to hold on which, at this level, is not enough. After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us being able to match them man for man, it just was wave after wave and we were just trying to hold on, put the blocks in, but in the end it wasn’t enough.”Bellingham appeared to strike the Argentina substitute Valentín Barco on the back of the head after the game had finished and had to be dragged away by the reserve goalkeepers Dean Henderson and James Trafford. He was not punished by the officials.The Manchester United defender Lisandro Martínez celebrated on the pitch after the game with a banner that read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (“The Malvinas are Argentinian”) in reference to the Falklands war.Argentina came from 2-0 down to beat Egypt in the last 16 and Lautaro Martínez said the team had again never given up. “England pressed hard for about 60 minutes. After finding the goal, they dropped back, and that gave us more composure in circulating the ball and spreading the play..”An emotional Lionel Scaloni paid tribute to his side’s fighting spirit. “This team plays best when they are facing adversity,” Argentina’s head coach said. “We had a challenging situation, there was blood in the water and we went for it. We had six or seven chances and the ball wouldn’t go in but the team fought until the end. After they scored, we really proved ourselves – it shows what football means to us and it goes beyond tactics.”

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While England shrank away in Atlanta, Argentina’s No 10 was not finished making his mark on the biggest stageTo strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Well, not to this lot anyway. On a day of ceaseless rolling noise under Atlanta’s vast refrigerated dome, England reached the end of the road, the end of their own capacities at this World Cup, the end of the gears within this team. Mainly they ran into Lionel Messi, who wasn’t ready to be done just yet. Not like this anyway.With 55 minutes gone England were actually winning this game, 1-0 up thanks to Anthony Gordon’s goal, the only real moment of clarity they produced all match. At which point they simply disappeared as an animate entity from the stage.England played poorly here. The substitutions had no effect. Harry Kane basically did some light cardio quite close to a World Cup semi-final. But it was the change that really did for them, one of those moments where the clock starts to tick backwards, the skies darken, the cow really does appear to have jumped over the moon, and the energy inside the stadium is suddenly revolving entirely around that slouching, mooching figure in dark blue, who from a walking start had begun to do strange, painful things, to draw the spaces together, to make the objects around him revolve in his favour. And feeling also the lack of resistance coming the other way. Suddenly everyone out there was in the Messi space.Fast forward to 91 minutes, the score somehow still 1-1, a scoreline that looked by now like a glitch, like temporary signage, and it was of course Messi who produced the final cut. By that stage England were strung like shipwrecked mariners around their own box, scurvy-ridden, desiccated, a single skinny hand somehow still fixed on the tiller.Alexis Mac Allister had just struck the post with a low shot. Djed Spence, who chased the day to the end here, managed to nip in front of Messi for a second and nick the ball away. But it was only ever on loan. Facing two full-backs now, Spence and Nico O’Reilly, Messi simply eased into the space where a third should have been, all alone in that portable little patch of green.The cross from his right foot was perfectly, tactfully floated into the only logical area, like somebody very slowly and patiently explaining a maths problem. For a moment the ball just seemed to hang there, a lovely soft white orb, the day stretching out, as everyone in the stadium became Messi, seeing the moment before it happened.Time clicked forward again, Lautaro Martínez nodded the ball past a splayed Jordan Pickford and into the England net. And that was it, the outcome that was always coming from the moment Messi began to see the end of this game, to feel the snags, the subplots disappear, to see that it was time to apply his full force to the shapes in front of him.There were some final spasms from the corpse of England’s tournament, although this was like watching a hackneyed stage-show version of England football, Dan Burn hurling his body around the Argentina box under the high ball, flopping to the turf like a double mattress hurled from an upstairs window.But the game was done. England had shrunk from this occasion, had failed to press when they might have, had ultimately been aura-mogged, erased by a form of sporting genius that even on its quieter, more muddled days will eventually find its shape.The final whistle brought an endless rolling wave of noise. Although even here Messi kept on walking, finding space, dipping away from the prone bodies of his teammates, both fists pumping the air in the middle of all that heat and light.England were undeniably poor here, a semi-final that they basically tossed away. They produced almost no threat, no energy, no sense they had the capacity to seize the day. There will be time to assess that entropy, to find the faultlines, to wonder what might have been different, from selection to the deeply familiar sense of blinking in the light.But this was Messi’s day, and Messi’s moment. He will now play his third World Cup final, the oldest outfield player ever to appear on that stage, as well as the greatest. It has been different this time too. There had already been something new in Messi’s appearances through that edgy run to the final. He looked at times on the brink of something, like a man waking up with a start.Messi has always had one key advantage over every other player. He gets to play with Messi every game. And Messi makes every other player in his team better. He brings a separate gravity field, bathing teammates in that borrowed light, And he always has the best time, because every game is a Messi game. Think about it: this is a man who has literally never played a game of football where Messi is not in it. Every day is a Messi day. No wonder he loves football. As a spectator there are times when you feel like tapping him on the shoulder and saying: “You do know it’s not always like this, don’t you?”How would England approach this, because Messi will always be schematised, planned for, played around. Thomas Tuchel went for power and speed generally, with Morgan Rogers in on the right. For the Messi detail at left-back, Spence, the form horse, spirit animal, and cultish hero of this England team.Atlanta Stadium is a proper, city‑centre venue, appearing out of the grid of high rises and glass hangers like a huge jagged silver meteorite crash-landed in the urban incline.The colours and shapes were mesmeric at kick-off, those blocks of deep blue, white, red gold so perfectly matched. The anthems before kick-off were just energy, indistinct electricity.With a minute and 20 seconds gone Jude Bellingham was chopped down by Leandro Paredes, and it felt like a necessary formality, like Black Rod announcing parliament is now open.Messi’s first act was to wriggle through a crush of bodies, moving as always in his own plane of space and time. He fell. No foul. Outrage. Almost immediately Paredes hacked down Anderson and was booked. The first crush of shirts the coming together, the formal dance.From there, the game didn’t really start. England had their moment in that first half to apply pressure, to push with greater energy. Messi kept on walking, playing at the edge of things, a man for whom the game is so often waiting.But they failed to rush into the space when it was there, took the lead, then almost immediately collapsed as Messi began to twitch on the threads, to glide past white shirts, to release those malevolent, dipping passes.By the end this felt like two things at once. An England team that blinked, that failed to respond to its manager’s urgings; but which was also swallowed by the inevitability of Messi, and a grand, all-time talent that is somehow out there walking across this stage, shrinking it to his size, and which isn’t ready to be denied just yet.

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England head coach made changes that would have led to Southgate and Eriksson being hammeredLionel Messi has seen buses reverse into position before. England did not confront the greatest player of all time with anything new when they dropped back with a place in the World Cup final within reach. The negativity was lamentable and it was no surprise when punishment arrived in the form of a clinical Argentina fightback in Atlanta.This was a tale as old as time. There was a chance for England to push on after Anthony Gordon fired them ahead early in the second half, but they reverted to type. The mentality was passive and they looked scared to win. No one put a foot on the ball and offered control. Harry Kane? Invisible in another game. The midfield? Outplayed, outrun and outclassed by Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández. Thomas Tuchel? Outwitted by Lionel Scaloni, whose substitutions made a difference, and too quick to retreat when there was so long left for England to defend their lead.This was supposed to be where Tuchel came into his own. The master tactician, the expensive foreign coach, the finisher capable of succeeding where Sir Gareth Southgate failed. It had been a good tournament for Tuchel until this point. His changes had worked in successive knockout wins and for a moment it even seemed his big call here, starting Morgan Rogers on the right, was going to work.Rogers made the opening goal in the 55th minute, his cross converted by Gordon at the far post. From there, though, England were miserable. Forget about mustering an attack, they barely completed a pass. Incredibly, they seemed to think they could survive with ultra-defence, panicked clearances and scare after scare for more than 30 minutes. Inevitably, they were wrong.It is a very English trait, that inclination to hold what we have against the best sides. It happened under Sven-Göran Eriksson at Euro 2004, advantages against France and Portugal frittered away, and it was a failing under Southgate, who was criticised for not being proactive enough when England lost big knockout games against Croatia and Italy after scoring early.The idea was that it would be different under Tuchel. He was key to Chelsea defying the odds against Manchester City in the Champions League final in 2021. The German is a whir of activity on the touchline, always thinking about his next move, always strategising, and it is worth stressing that England’s uneven run to the last four has been powered in part by smart in-game management from Tuchel.Equally there has been no true identity to England’s play. They have laboured against low blocks and produced horrible spells in every game. Tuchel failed to produce a complete performance and his side handled this situation terribly.There was an immediate shift after Gordon’s goal, a heroic Djed Spence tackle denying Giuliano Simeone. For a while a robbery was on the cards. Cristian Romero drew a spectacular save from Jordan Pickford. Mac Allister headed against a post. England wilted, offering no intensity. They were defending like a lower-league side in an FA Cup tie, mustering just 12% possession between going 1-0 up and falling 2-1 behind. Kane was back in his box to bash the ball away. Jude Bellingham barely had a sniff. Rogers had one break but his shot was blocked.For England, who finished with one shot on target, going through to face Spain would have been a travesty. There was no jeopardy for Argentina to endure, no sense they could be caught out if they pushed forward. The only surprise was that it took so long for them to equalise through Fernández, who was under no pressure when he scored from long range.England were not even defending their box well. Argentina exposed them in the air and Scaloni felt the mood swing. He removed his defensive shield and brought on a winger, Nicolás González replacing Leandro Paredes.Argentina showed intent. Tuchel showed fear. It felt premature when he switched to the back five that saw England over the line against Mexico and Norway. England were asking for trouble when Gordon, one of their few outlets, made way for Ezri Konsa.There was exhaustion everywhere. Reece James and Declan Rice, just back from illness, faded. Tuchel kept making defensive changes. Nico O’Reilly joined Rogers and Elliot Anderson in midfield. Suddenly Dan Burn was marking Messi. It was only ending one way.These were changes that would have led to Southgate and Eriksson being hammered. Tuchel succeeded only in neutralising England’s attacking threat. He could have kept Argentina honest by bringing on the fresh legs of Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Eberechi Eze or Noni Madueke. There was a period when both Argentina’s centre-backs were on bookings but they were never exposed.There will be focus on the midfield choices. Kobbie Mainoo, a nimble technician, was not given a minute. Jordan Henderson has a story to tell about a broken wrist. There were no replacements for Anderson and Rice when they tired. Tuchel made his choices. He never knew why he picked Mainoo over Adam Wharton and Alex Scott.England deserved their punishment. Bellingham tried to carry the ball forward at 1-1 but was crowded out by four blue shirts. It was never going to extra time. Mac Allister hit the same post. Lautaro Martínez, another attacking substitute, headed in the winner.England lobbed aimless balls towards Burn and Ivan Toney during added time. Emi Martínez claimed a cross and went down with an apparent injury, but who was he kidding? Argentina’s goalkeeper had barely had a kick since England’s goal. How could he possibly have been cramping up?

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Banner refers to Falkland Islands conflict in 1982Players celebrate on the pitch with the messageThe Argentina players celebrated their World Cup win over England with a banner saying “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, making reference to the 1982 Falklands war.Argentina were 1-0 down with five minutes to go of the semi-final in Atlanta but rallied and scored twice in quick succession to reach a second straight World Cup final, where they will face Spain in New Jersey on Sunday.The banner refers to the dispute over the territory, which is referred to as the Falkland Islands in Britain and Islas Malvinas in Argentina, which led to a 74-day conflict 44 years ago. More than 900 people – 649 Argentinians and 255 Britons – lost their lives in the conflict.Lisandro Martínez and Giovani Lo Celso held up the banner, grinning, and waved to fans in the stands. It was unclear where the banner had come from.It is ​not the first ​time the question of ​political banners has come up ­during the World Cup. ​Last month ‌in Los Angeles, ​Iranian Americans ​waved pre-revolutionary flags that are symbols of protest against the Tehran government when Iran played. Those matches proceeded without incident.After beating Switzerland in the quarter-final to set up a meeting against England, some Argentina players could be heard chanting: “For the Malvinas, for Diego [Maradona] and for Leo [Messi]’s last one.”The Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul said: “We understand it’s a football game that transcends; it brings back memories of what Diego did. We sing songs about our Malvinas heroes, mainly to remember them, but we have to understand that it’s a football match and that the Malvinas have to be discussed elsewhere. What happened was an atrocity and we always remember the fallen, but what we want is to win this match to get to the final.”Fifa’s stadium code of conduct bans “banners, flags, flyers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature” inside stadiums. Fifa did not immediately reply to a request for comment.Argentina’s security minister, Alejandra Monteoliva, said on Tuesday that ‌enhanced security had been discussed at a meeting in the US on Monday. “There will be 1,600 officers. We want the celebration to be peaceful,” she told local radio in Argentina. “The entry of elements that have any type of provocative message, whether of political or racial content, is prohibited.”

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Lionel Messi was at his effervescent best while Harry Kane struggled to make an impactJordan Pickford Had little chance with either goal. Pulled off a sensational save from González but that will be forgotten now. 7Reece James Dominated his flank and fully justified being brought back into the side after injury. 7John Stones A rock at the back until the last 10 minutes when his lack of game time caught up with him. 7Marc Guéhi Mr Reliable in England’s defence didn’t put a foot wrong again and was unlucky to be on losing side. 7Djed Spence Has won over the doubters and then some. A Bobby Moore-esque tackle to stop Simeone. 8Elliot Anderson Another all-action display. Booked for taking out Messi brutally but belongs at this level. 7Declan Rice Looked far more his usual self. But had to be taken off as England tried to protect their lead. 6Morgan Rogers Preferred in unusual role on right flank and showed why, by setting up Gordon brilliantly. 7Jude Bellingham Fired up from the start, came close to losing his rag in injury time – couldn’t save England this time. 6Anthony Gordon Has come of age at this tournament. Will never forget scoring in a World Cup semi-final. 8Harry Kane It was from his long pass that England scored. But he will be hugely disappointed not to have had more of an impact. 5Substitutes: Ezri Konsa (for Gordon, 72) Slotted into back three but at fault for Martinez’s equaliser, 5. Dan Burn (for James 83) Third time unlucky after his cameos against Mexico and Norway, 5. Nico O’Reilly (for Rice 83) Could not prevent Messi’s cross for the winning goal. Ivan Toney (for Stones 90+3) Far too late to make an impact, 6. Marcus Rashford (for Spence 90+3) Tried his best to drag England level, 6.Emiliano Martínez No chance with Gordon’s goal but was largely a spectator for the rest of the match. 6Nahuel Molina Struggled to contain Spence’s and Gordon’s strong combination play down England’s left flank. 6Cristian Romero Squared up to Bellingham inside the first minute and showed some nifty footwork to get himself out of trouble. 8Lisandro Martínez Walked the tightrope after being booked in the first half so was no surprise to see him taken off. 7Nicolas Tagliafico Had his hands full with Rogers and it was from his error that Gordon was able to score. 5Leandro Paredes Early reducer on Anderson set the tone, but he could not exert his usual dominance in midfield. 5Enzo Fernández Inches away from an amazing goal in the first half before breaking England’s hearts with a stunning equaliser. 8Alexis Mac Allister So unlucky not to score after hitting both posts. The Liverpool man was back to his best. 8Giuliani Simeone Like father, like son. Always in the thick of things but couldn’t take his chance when clean through. 6Lionel Messi Some imperious touches and mazy runs that belied his age. Deserves to sign off on the biggest stage of them all. 9Julián Alvarez Caused huge problems for England down Argentina’s left flank all afternoon. Messi’s heir in waiting. 8Substitutes: Nicolás González (for Paredes 65) Denied equaliser by Pickford but added impetus to Argentina’s attacks, 8. Nicolás Otamendi (for L Martinez 72) Incredible that he is still playing at his age, 7. Gonzalo Montiel (for Molina 72) A massive upgrade on Molina as Argentina chased an equaliser, 7. Rodrigo De Paul (for Simeone 72) Surprise omission but made up for it by helping to change the game, 8. Lautaro Martínez (for Tagliafico 81) Argentina’s hero with a brilliant header, 8.

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England’s destiny is tournament heartbreak. The only question concerns when it comes and how the fates will contrive to make it as painful as possible. This was an implausibly brutal new low.Thomas Tuchel’s team had fought fire with fire on an occasion that was overloaded with shredded nerves. The first half was a physical fight; it was gripping all the same. And the possibilities seemed endless for England when Anthony Gordon put them in front shortly after half-time. A first appearance in the World Cup final since 1966 looked on.Argentina were not finished. There has been a feeling during this tournament that they are beatable, and yet nobody has beaten them. There is a reason for that. Their champion courage. They dug deep into it in the closing stages to complete one of their greatest fightbacks. That it came against England, the old enemy, made it even sweeter.The regrets belonged to England. Tuchel sought to preserve what he had in the final quarter with a switch to a back five, Ezri Konsa coming on for Gordon and playing as the right‑sided centre-half. The head coach had successfully seen out the 3-2 win against Mexico in the last 16 with five defenders on a night when his team were down to 10 men. There was no repeat here.The frustration was that the tactical shift invited Argentina to press on to the front foot. Tuchel played with fire. Argentina dominated the closing stages. It was their attack versus England’s defence and the equaliser was well signposted. That it came as late as the 86th minute only added to England’s devastation. They were so close.Enzo Fernández scored it with a fierce drive after Argentina had worked a short corner via Lionel Messi and England were floored before they could stagger on into extra time. They thought they had escaped when Alexis Mac Allister sent a low shot against the post. It was the second time he had hit the woodwork. But Messi recycled the move on the right, jinked and crossed deep. Lautaro Martínez was unmarked and when the Argentina substitute headed home England were primed to do likewise.It has been a strange tournament for Tuchel and his players, the feeling difficult to shake that the results up to this point had outstripped the performance levels. They did not do enough when it mattered the most against Argentina, especially in creative terms. They barely threatened Emi Martínez’s goal. And when defensive resilience was demanded towards the end, it was not there.Argentina deserved to advance to the final against Spain on Sunday. For England, there was only the beginnings of a familiar inquest.It was a night when the history framed everything. Nobody could ignore it and not only because of how loudly the Argentina supporters chanted the line about Las Malvinas in their World Cup song. The echoes could be felt from the pitches of Mexico 86, France 98, and Japan & South Korea 2002 – the most recent tournament clashes between the nations.The nervous tension pulsed and the first half was best summed up by the expected goals statistic: England’s stood at 0.05; Argentina’s was 0.03. The first effort on goal of any description did not arrive until the 33rd minute, John Stones heading well wide from a Declan Rice free‑kick. Fernández fizzed a drive high on 38 minutes.The tackles flew in and tempers were rarely far from boiling point. A snapshot of the first 45 minutes? It was when Messi got the better of Djed Spence in the 37th minute and then evaded challenges from Harry Kane and Gordon. A split second later, in came Elliot Anderson to halt him with a body check. The England midfielder, who revelled in the intensity of the contest, was booked. It was a long way from being the only tactical foul.England felt they shaded the war of attrition in the first half. They just had to stay patient and wait for their moment. It came in the 55th minute, shortly after Jordan Pickford had denied Julián Álvarez at the other end.One of Tuchel’s main moves at the start was to play Morgan Rogers at right midfield. The idea was to add a bit more physicality. But Rogers is a creative force and he was at the heart of the breakthrough. After Kane’s searching ball up the inside right was repelled only in part by Nico Tagliafico, Rice went wide to Rogers and it was just a lovely cross from him. Gordon worked the position on Nahuel Molina and the cool close-range finish had England in dreamland.At that point England had the belief and, in Spence, a man on a mission. The left-back had started with a determination to take on his opponents, to surge forward. He was fearless. And as Argentina tried to respond to the Gordon goal, they were denied when Spence crashed into a saving slide tackle on Giuliano Simeone. Spence celebrated it like a goal.Pickford did well to keep out a close-range Leandro Paredes header before the second-half hydration break but the tide had begun to turn. The feeling only intensified after England emerged for the final quarter in the back five. It was all Argentina. Mac Allister hit the post with a header when he had to score and Fernández forced Pickford into another save. Argentina would not be denied. England are coming home. Football is not coming with them.

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France’s captain has played with a sense of unfinished business but he will be 31 when the next World Cup beginsIt was only last month that Kylian Mbappé suggested all roads may lead to Florida. He was in sufficiently mischievous mood to reveal David Beckham had been chewing his ear off about a move to Major League Soccer, dangling the prospect of a reunion with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami.“We will see, I don’t know,” he said. “The American culture is different. There are no limits to ambitions, I like it.”Yet Mbappé will walk out in Miami on Saturday nursing clipped wings and thwarted aspirations. The third-place playoff retains some prestige given the names involved. But it pales in comparison with the broken dream of another final; the regrets from France’s semi-final defeat by Spain, their third in three years against the European champions, will linger into the American summer.France’s no-show on Tuesday makes the sands of time run a little faster for Mbappé. It feels a cruel trick that he will be 31 when the next World Cup comes around. At his current rate, he will have made about 700 appearances by then and there are no guarantees a body of work defined by explosive power can hold up into his fourth decade. Mbappé has nothing to prove, but this tournament had seemed a natural stage for a mid-career rubber stamping of his legacy.That may still come around in diluted form. No player has won two consecutive Golden Boots and, even when looking to the sky upon the final whistle and mopping his head with his shirt, Mbappé stood top of that ranking by virtue of having more assists than Messi. The pair were tied on eight goals.It is not quite enough for him. His frustration was made clear in a dissection that, interpreted one way, could be regarded as a rebuke to Didier Deschamps for tactical failures.France were outnumbered in midfield, Dani Olmo able to provide balance in a way Michael Olise could not, and Mbappé was seen only fleetingly before taking a number of pot shots in the later stages. They could not get the ball to him before that; ultimately any collective idea was sacrificed to the flailing hope that individual genius would, as so many times before, hold sway.The angst is greater because Mbappé had hit the ground running, shaking off an anticlimactic end to the season with Real Madrid and battering through the early challenges in France’s path. The sense of unfinished business was laid bare.“I would change Argentina 2022,” he has said when asked, if permitted, how he would rewrite the past. “That final comes to mind more than the one we won.”The hat-trick in Lusail and subsequent defeat on penalties are a sore that refuses to heal. Facing Messi and Argentina one last time in New Jersey could have been the palimpsest for a fresh version of the story and a coronation as the world’s undisputed best.Instead, a less glittering volume must begin. “We have to move on to the next chapter,” Mbappé said. “Because football waits for no one. We have to start over, put this failure behind us, and learn from it.”There is no suggestion he will call time prematurely on commitments with France. Zinedine Zidane will almost certainly succeed Deschamps and the tantalising question is whether Les Bleus’ two best players of all time can forge a partnership that works.Even if it passes the vibe check, Zidane has been out of the fray for five years since leaving Real. He and his captain must find a way to harness those moments of star quality while honing the kind of coherent method that has ultimately allowed Spain to outstrip France convincingly.What version of Mbappé will France find in 2030? It may depend on whether he has finally won a Champions League, with or without a European Championship title in two years’ time. It would have seemed unthinkable, when he tore a trail through Russia 2018, that a dozen years might pass without Mbappé claiming another of football’s majors.The opportunities will keep coming, but that prospect is, if nothing else, becoming a talking point. Mbappé would be repulsed by the very notion of long-term association with near misses.Maybe Beckham and Inter Miami will indeed tempt Mbappé one day, just as Messi was lured to a late-career role that has done no harm to his longevity for Argentina. Perhaps it would mean the World Cup tilts keep coming.In theory, Mbappé could carry France’s hopes to Saudi Arabia 2034 and even beyond. But it did not take a huge leap, on watching his features contort with multiple agonies at Dallas Stadium, to wonder whether his clearest shot at satisfying those big ambitions has drifted away.