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Javier Tebas: ‘Fifa are making irresponsible decisions’‘Hydration breaks are a lie … it was a break for advertising’“Increasing the number of national teams makes no sense,” Tebas said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. “The football industry is not just the World Cup, which is the most important event. But not everything can revolve around the World Cup. It is national competitions that support this sport.“They are destroying the football industry, which generates tens of thousands of jobs, for an event that lasts 40 days and involves a minority of players. We need fewer national teams and more protection for national football, at all levels. They don’t realise, they are making irresponsible decisions.”Asked whether Infantino should leave his position, Tebas said: “In my opinion, yes, I think his time is up. However, he has the support of the system, of the federations, so there’s not much more to add, is there?“There’s no opposition candidate, nobody wants to stand just to lose. This is the system, and it’s a system rotten at its core. These past few days here in America I’ve heard many people who are against Infantino, who disagree with what he does. They say it, but then they do nothing.“I don’t know if silence or complicity is worse, because those who are silent are perfectly aware of the damage that football is suffering.”Infantino has been a controversial figure during his 10 years as Fifa president. The Swiss is poised to be re-elected for a fourth term in Fifa’s March 2027 congress, although Tebas believes Infantino might have been brought down by the Folarin Balogun affair if the USA had beaten Belgium in their World Cup last-16 tie.The USA striker’s one-match ban was suspended by Fifa’s disciplinary committee, allowing him to play against Belgium, after a phone call to Infantino from Donald Trump. Infantino has said the decision to revoke Balogun’s ban was taken independently by the disciplinary committee “based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts”.Tebas said: “The suspension of the American player’s ban was absolutely serious; they were lucky that Belgium eliminated the USA, because otherwise, a case could have arisen that might have cost Infantino his job. Since Belgium won, they managed to bury the matter. But these things are just the tip of the iceberg.“Fifa arranges things as it wants, for what it wants, for its own interests, certainly not for football. So, if they need a 27-minute half-time break, they’ll have it. Hydration breaks are a lie.“We have them in La Liga, but when it’s genuinely hot. Here, the pitches in Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta had air conditioning; I had to put on a jumper in the stands. It was a lie, a break for advertising.”

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Our cartoonist looks back at the final game of the 2026 World Cup as Donald Trump watched Spain triumph againBuy David’s cartoons | Some of his favourite worksAnd his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...

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If you thought the 2026 tournament was sprawling, think again with six host countries over three continents getting involved in four years’ timeIf the 2026 World Cup was the tournament’s largest edition yet – featuring 48 teams for the first time in its 96-year history, being played in three different countries – the 2030 World Cup is going to have an even bigger footprint.Technically three. The tournament is set to be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain, marking the first time the World Cup will be held in more than one confederation and the first time it will visit north Africa.In addition, though, and in honour of the World Cup’s 100-year anniversary, a special match is scheduled to be held at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay – the stadium that hosted the 1930 World Cup final. There will also be one match each in Argentina and Paraguay.The bidding process for the 2030 World Cup began in earnest in 2022, with the host to be officially selected at the 2024 Fifa congress. The governing body’s rules for rotating the tournament between continents meant that football federations from Asia (AFC) and North America (Concacaf) were ineligible to host following the Qatar 2022 and North America 2026 bids respectively.In October 2023, the Fifa council unanimously selected the Morocco-Portugal-Spain bid over the South American bid.The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, announced that Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay would host one match each to celebrate the centenary of the World Cup “in the most appropriate way”. Uruguay hosted – and won – the tournament’s inaugural edition with Argentina beaten 4-2 in the final. A game will also be played in Paraguay in recognition of the country’s role as the home of Conmebol, the only confederation in existence in 1930.Initially the idea was for it to be 48 teams again, but during this World Cup Infantino raised to prospect of it being expanded with a further 16 nations.“That’s definitely ​an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” Infantino said. “When organising ⁠a World Cup, it’s important to organise it for the whole world – not just Europe and South America – but effectively the ⁠entire world.An expansion had already been suggested in 2025 when the Conmebol president, Alejandro Domínguez, put forth an official proposal to expand the number of participating teams to 64 in honour of the tournament’s centennial. “[It] will be unique because 100 years are celebrated only once,” Domínguez said.Spain last hosted the World Cup in 1982, the final of which involved Italy defeating West Germany in the Bernabéu. Co-hosts Portugal and Morocco have hosted various major sporting events, among them the 2004 Euros and the 2025 Afcon.The 2030 World Cup will take place across 17 host cities – one more than the 2026 edition – with 11 of the proposed 20 stadiums located in Spain. Among the 17 host cities are Marrakech and Tangier in Morocco, Porto and Lisbon in Portugal and Barcelona, Madrid and San Sebastián in Spain.Without a doubt the inclusion of the centenary match hosts. By rejecting the South American host bid but declaring that Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay would host one match each Fifa ensured that Conmebol would be ineligible to bid for the 2034 World Cup with Asia and Oceania the only two continents able to host. (The 2034 edition has since been awarded to Saudi Arabia, a decision that has been heavily criticised by human rights groups).Well, who knows? After the shenanigans of Donald Trump’s intervention and Folarin Balogun’s red card being suspended, could we see the Spanish king, Felipe VI, get involved after an over-zealous Lamine Yamal tackle in the last 64? With these guys in charge, nothing is off the table.

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The two substitutes combined on the World Cup winning goal not by changing the game, but by offering it what it needed, when it was neededAs Spain built into the second half of extra-time of Sunday’s World Cup final, it was already clear that Argentina hoped to make them suffer. Every challenge left no stud unshown. Their defenders labored to prevent striker Mikel Oyarzabal from his typical lanes of service, with Spain taking eleven of their 20 attempts from beyond the box.Lionel Scaloni’s side may have been aggressive, but they were also just structured enough to withstand the endless monsoon of Spanish pressure. Ever since the 62nd minute, when Luis de la Fuente brought his first two charges off of the bench, Spain had adapted to find new avenues to attack, adjusting with Enzo Fernández’s sending off near the end of normal time.In his 106th minute at right-back, and with Lamine Yamal sizing up Argentina’s defensive shape at the edge of the box, Pedro Porro looked at the developing scrum outside the box. Fresh from the kickoff, his teammates were largely running parallel to him, but were just restrained enough in their movement to create precious yards of open terrain beyond the backline. As Yamal passed back to his flank-side running mate, many in the stadium thought it was another of countless recirculations to start an approach up another pathway.Instead, Porro lobbed in a cross. The Tottenham defender bent it to perfection, powerful enough for some defenders to be in two minds about how to react but not so overhit that it risked crossing the byline. Nico Williams was quick to it, finding that his supporting numbers were trailing a bit beyond the ball for late arrivals into the box.Williams spent far more of his time at the 2026 World Cup watching on from the sideline than he would’ve liked. A starter for all six games of Spain’s triumphant run through Euro 2024, Williams arrived stateside with a groin strain and hamstring issues incurred late in the La Liga season before leaving the group stage finale against Uruguay with an adductor injury.The Athletic Club winger never started a game at this World Cup, with his 45-minute shift against Argentina being his longest of the tournament. On Sunday, his entrance promised greater verve and unpredictability than the winger he replaced, Alex Baena, who had largely been ineffective as an outlet before exiting.Better late than never, Williams did not waste his opportunity once it finally arrived. As Porro’s cross fell back to Earth, the 24-year-old got his head to the ball not to square right into the heart of the six-yard box, but instead to deftly doff it beyond the nearby defenders and into the stride of another second-half substitute, Ferran Torres. It was a goal borne of preternatural assessments of space, the only way Spain could break down a dogged Argentine side desperate to get Emiliano Martínez into penalties.Like Williams, Torres had checked into try exploiting Argentina’s approach to the final. While Oyarzabal proved invaluable for a possession-dominant Spain, able to drop deep and help with buildup while backing himself to find seams along the backline to move into, Argentina had structured themselves to allow that, but prevent him from getting the ball any closer to goal. Torres offered a bit more finesse, more of a natural off-ball mover in the game’s most dynamic phases, but also came on with more gas in the tank that helped him stay sharp against a rapidly tiring group of Argentine veterans.In a final of clattering challenges, Torres’ run went entirely unchecked. Giuliano Simeone, the player closest to Torres, had almost cartoonishly taken himself out of the play right as Torres blew past him. Just before Williams kept the ball from going out of play, Simeone had assessed the pass to have come in overcooked and was already bent over to adjust his sock as Williams’ header bounced to Torres. Three Argentine defenders had glommed on to Mikel Merino, who scored match-winners against Portugal and Belgium, leaving Torres with equally unusual time and a void of defensive pressure to finally get Spain on track for their second men’s World Cup title.Throughout the tournament’s business end, Spain were discussed as being the best team of the tournament. The collective approach had become so cohesive that, even if they didn’t score, the team’s focus on their buildup seldom waned. Players had gotten so confident in their mettle under de la Fuente that each seemed eager to embrace their role even if it meant less of an individual spotlight in a World Cup headlined by its stars.That’s a rare balance in modern international soccer. While the club side of the game has gotten meticulously curated, with every pressing trigger and passing sequence being carefully rehearsed, playing for a national team is usually where stars go to enjoy their game with a team largely built to account for their strengths in weaknesses. Thomas Tuchel tried to foster a similar culture with his squad selections, but found himself light on midfielders after Jordan Henderson’s klutzy celebration.It makes it all too easy to distill teams down to the star they’re designed to support. When it works, as it largely did for Messi’s Argentina, few question the wisdom of the approach. When it doesn’t, as we saw with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, it’s an equally obvious problem that the coach was unwilling to solve.Like the world’s best clubs, de la Fuente was able to change Spain’s approach during games by bringing in players who could occupy identical spaces to the starters they would replace because each interpreted their role differently. Williams's approach on the wing gave him greater license to put the opponent on the back foot than Baena’s; Torres came into the game and would later successfully stretch a shorthanded Argentina. Even Pedri – who checked in with Torres just after the hour mark – made life more difficult for Argentina, as a more dribbly midfield complement to Rodri than Fabián Ruiz.While Argentina looked to labor in the mid-afternoon New Jersey sun, Spain adapted. Their continued to morph to find new methods to make the defending champions sweat further. And, with an expert looping cross, a brilliant and deft header, and an opportunistic scamper into space, it’s Spain who will enter the 2030 World Cup cycle at the pinnacle of the sport.

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Germany’s 2014 World Cup winning goalkeeper and a Brazilian icon are among those who have have called time after the 2026 tournamentFirst participated in the World Cup in 2010 before winning the trophy four years later. Germany have had little success since and their penalty shootout defeat by Paraguay marked the end of Neuer’s international career. He initially retired after Euro 2024 but reversed that decision a few weeks before this tournament. “Despite the bitter end, I don’t regret this decision,” he said after his 23rd and final World Cup appearance. The former Germany defender Robert Huth criticised the decision to bring Neuer out of retirement: “I think the big one that really unsettles the squad was the Neuer inclusion. I think [it was] really unexpected, he came late to the table.”Made his World Cup debut this summer having left an impression at Euro 2020. Schick failed to score as Czechia went winless and were eliminated in the group stage. The striker announced his international retirement hours after the final group game. “Today, my national team chapter is coming to an end,” he said. The official Czechia statement paid tribute: “Thank you for every match, every goal, and the pride with which you represented the Czech Republic.”Cemented himself as a fans’ favourite in 2014 when he kept a famous clean sheet against the World Cup hosts, Brazil. His playing time was limited this summer, but he got 12 minutes against Czechia, where he was celebrated by teammates. After full time the manager, Javier Aguirre, said: “The moment he stepped on to the pitch, it overshadowed everything else. He is a world-class legend, and I am incredibly proud of him.” Ochoa later posted: “It was the greatest privilege of my life. Thank you for believing, for always accompanying us. I love you Mexico.”Having made one appearance at the 2014 finals, Mahrez had to wait 12 years to add to his tally. He scored two goals against Austria before Algeria were eliminated in the last 32 by Switzerland in his final game. Mahrez said: “Representing Algeria has been a dream of mine ever since I was young, to play for my country. It’s been an immense honour and a great source of pride.” A Confederation of African Football’s statement said: “You gave us memories that time can never take away. Thank you, Riyad Mahrez.”The forward got six goals in as many matches across the 2014 and 2022 finals but was unable to add to that tally for an Ecuador team who lost to Mexico in the last 32. “I’ve played my last match with the national team,” he said in the tunnel after. Ecuador’s official X account showed appreciation to their record scorer: “The GOAT. Super Enner. Thank you for giving yourself to the country and representing it in the best way.”The uncompromising defender played every minute as Argentina triumphed in Qatar, having made his World Cup debut in 2010. Playing time was harder to come by in North America, though he featured in every game bar one, having revealed his intention to retire in March. “It’s my last World Cup, from there I’ll be a fan,” he said. Otamendi’s final home match became a tribute, with Lionel Messi letting him score a penalty at La Bombonera.This was the striker’s first and last World Cup. He scored twice as Austria reached the last 32, where they were defeated 3–0 by Spain. Arnautovic revealed his departure in an emotional post-match interview, saying: “Playing for Austria was the biggest highlight. It hits me that from now on I won’t see my second family any more.” In a social media post, the Austrian Football Association said: “What a career. What a character. Thank you for everything.”Participated in 2018 but injury ruled him out four years later. Following Senegal’s capitulation against Belgium, Mané released a statement regarding retirement via Senegalese outlet Le Quotidien – although there have been questions about its authenticity – saying: “Know that I sacrificed everything for this flag. I gave the very best of myself and I always fought fiercely for our homeland.” Pape Thiaw was asked about Mané’s retirement in January and replied: “We want to keep him as long as possible … when we say it’s his decision, it doesn’t just belong to him, he belongs to the people of Senegal, and they want to see him carry on.”The goalkeeper amassed 84 caps, making his debut in 2004, but did not get off the bench at his first World Cup. “I’ve never wanted it to end, but it must,” Gordon said, calling time on his club and international career. Gordon’s spell was described as “a career unlike any other” by the Scotland national team’s social media account.Made his World Cup debut in his side’s 2–0 victory over Curaçao, his 64th cap. In a social media post, the former Fulham midfielder later said: “After 11 years in the national team, and one World Cup played, I announce the end of my international career today.” Seri received a wealth of tributes below his post. “Congratulations on all that you’ve accomplished with the national team,” replied the captain, Franck Kessié. “Thank you for all these moments shared under our colors.”Announced himself on the World Cup stage with two goals on debut in 2014. Restricted by injury at the current tournament, he managed 55 minutes before Brazil’s exit against Norway and announced his international retirement shortly after full time. “It started here at MetLife Stadium,” he said, referring to his debut against the US in August 2010, “and I finished here. It is now over.” Zlatan Ibrahimovic, working as a pundit for US television, said: “An amazing player, and the skill set he had was just crazy. So, sad moment for Brazilian football.”

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People gather at cafes and outdoor screenings to support team after Spain’s backing for Palestinian rightsThe Spanish football team’s World Cup win has been celebrated in the streets of Gaza, where Spain’s support for Palestinian rights and Israel’s backing for the Argentinian team turned the competition into more than a football showdown.Gathered at cafes and outdoor screenings, Palestinians defied the risk of Israeli attacks to cheer on a team they had taken to their hearts.Many waving Spanish flags paid tribute to teenage star Lamine Yamal, who brought a Palestinian flag to celebrations for Barcelona’s La Liga win in May.“Whoever raises the Palestinian flag deserves to raise the World Cup,” the Gaza al-Irada amputee football team wrote in a pre-game video message for the Spanish team.Saadi al-Masri, 40 and captain of the amputee team in Gaza, watched the game with friends in a cafe. “I support Spain because we see it as a country that stands with the Palestinian cause and supports Palestinian rights,” he said.Spain has been among Europe’s most vocal critics of Israel’s war on Gaza and state-backed violence in the occupied West Bank. It is pushing for stronger European Union action over human rights violations, including suspension of a broad free trade pact.When Israel’s defence minister attacked Yamal for raising the Palestinian flag, accusing him of “inciting hatred”, the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, was quick to defend the young player.“Lamine has only expressed the solidarity with Palestine that is felt by millions of us in Spain. Another reason to be proud of him,” he said in a social media post.Israeli support for Argentina was led by Netanyahu, who has cultivated close ties with far-right president Javier Milei, and posted a good luck message for the team ahead of the final.The Palestinian delegation to the United Nations responded with an image of the Spanish team, under the headline “world champions”.Even keen fans in Gaza have struggled to keep up with matches during the World Cup. Most of the 2 million Palestinians in the territory live in tent camps after Israeli attacks destroyed their homes, with little access to power or internet connections.Arkan al-Walaida, 23, went to internet cafes to seek out match highlights each morning during the tournament, looking for short videos on TikTok or Fifa’s official YouTube and Instagram pages.When she found out on Monday that Spain had won, she was overwhelmed. “Honestly, I felt like I was about to cry from happiness,” she said. “We see their support as a sign of humanity.”Al-Masri watched the match at a cafe, packed with an excited crowd. “We were very happy when the final whistle confirmed Spain’s victory,” he said, but fear of Israeli airstrikes meant there were no late-night parties.In early July, an Israeli bomb killed Mohamed al-Wahidi, a Palestinian aid worker who organised screenings of World Cup matches in Gaza.The strike, just before the game between Egypt and Argentina, also killed brothers aged eight and 10, and a second man. The Israeli military confirmed the attack but said it had not targeted al-Wahidi.

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Luis de la Fuente’s team was the best at the tournament by some margin but are not satisfied yet with focus now on ‘the next game in September’On the night that Spain won their first World Cup in 2010, Rodrigo Hernández was on camp somewhere lost in the woods of Connecticut. He had been canoeing when the selección beat Germany in the semi-final, upset to have missed it, and for the final he convinced one of the supervisors to let him watch, alone, on a mini-laptop in the hut where the staff slept. When Andrés Iniesta scored the winning goal in the 116th minute, he ran off screaming, doing laps of the lake. He was 14.On the night that Spain won their second World Cup 16 years later, Rodrigo Hernández was back in the USA, not so far from there. When Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the 106th minute, he ran off screaming in a straighter line and accompanied this time: towards the corner where his other family were. And then, when it ended, when the fighting finished too, he collected the trophy, pausing just long enough for Donald Trump to leave centre stage before lifting it, his timing perfect even here.It wasn’t the only trophy he had, but those could be handed over and this could not. By the time Rodri departed at 9.38pm eastern time, the last man out of the dressing room at the New Jersey New York Stadium, he couldn’t carry them all: walking with him, just ahead, Ladis had to lend a hand. A football team is never just the players, nor even just the coaches. When he departed the dressing room nine minutes earlier, the same happened for Pau Cubarsí. Nuria helped him, their boy: just 19, looking like a kid down here in the stadium in real life but not on the pitch where he’s a leader. Luis de la Fuente was accompanied by Paloma.Rodri came with the trophy for the tournament’s best player too. Cubarsí had the young player award, Unai Simón the Golden Glove. They also had two World Cups, every Spain player did: a replica of their own in a black Louis Vuitton trophy trunk, not easy to fit under an arm, and another in Lego. Rodri had three: both of those and the cup. They departed laden down, great big plastic bags full, pieces of the history they made. Shirts, in red and yellow and blue and white. Balls, boots. They had cut the net and taken pieces of that too. They had been given rings, NBA style.Before the final began, Marc Cucurella had sneaked off towards the touchline and buried a coin in the pitch, like that other left-back Joan Capdevila had done in 2010. Iniesta had been out there, his name chanted, as he showed the cup to the stands. After it, Sergio Ramos brought it back again. Dashing out, excitedly kissing it, he placed it on the plinth for this new generation, achieving the impossible in emulating them, to go and collect. One by one they passed, Borja Iglesias and Lamine Yamal among the most evasive in shaking Trump’s hand, until Rodri took the trophy and lifted it to the sky.Nico Williams went to find his mum in the front row and handed over his medal. Lamine Yamal had made his way across to Lionel Messi, who was sitting but who stood for him, embracing the boy in the bath, the successor: a rite of passage, an image that will be for ever. The actor Javier Bardem was hugging Iglesias, his new friend and idol. Ferran Torres was talking about a “great liberation”: he had suffered, felt how cruel this game could be, how people could be too, but he said: “destiny is written: God gives to those who deserve.” And Keyne was, well, Keyne. In the dressing room – the same one, Cucurella noted, where he had been at last year’s Club World Cup – the champagne was cracked open.It was brief – the flight to Spain was scheduled for 11pm and they wanted to get back – and soon they were on their way again. Behind the screen, along the corridor they came, way down in the depths and the half-light of the stadium. The president, the staff, all the players; the many, many people who made this so. Iglesias carried a bag so big it was like he was a student taking his washing home, and he was struggling to stop that box slipping. In the other hand he wheeled a big red speaker. Now playing: Dirty Cash (Money Talks) by PAWSA & Adventures of Stevie V. Lamine Yamal came, via the anti-doping room, in orange sunglasses, four chains, black cap on backwards. He didn’t wear his medal, but most did, thick discs round their necks. And commemorative shirts, ordered up in case.Back in Dallas, at a celebration after the semi-final victory, someone had joked to the federation president, Rafael Louzán, that the shirts should say world champions on one side and Finalissima winners on the other, two trophies in one. Tempting, but these bore just the one trophy, “Spain 26” on the back. The war in the Middle East had prevented the Finalissima from going ahead in Doha as scheduled in March and every time another option was offered, Argentina said no, the impression that of a team, a federation, running scared. “Good job we didn’t play,” Emi Martínez had said then, after they scraped past Mauritania in a hastily arranged friendly that filled the hole. “If we had played [Spain] like this …”Something like this might have happened. Not just because Argentina played like this but because Spain made them play like this. “We gave them a battering,” came the verdict from one of those heading out of the dressing room. This wasn’t just a win; this was more. Has a 1-0 ever been as dominant? There was a moment late in the game, still at 0-0, when the Spain fans chanted: “Look at them! Look at them! How they shit themselves!” and they weren’t wrong. Argentina could not get out all game; as Spain turned the screw, still less, the goal seemingly inevitable; the surprise was that it hadn’t come yet, that there would be just one. When it did it came as a liberation but also an act of irresistible logic.Torres’s shot was Spain’s 20th. Argentina didn’t manage one until the 115th minute. They didn’t manage any on target, all game. Across 900 World Cup games for which Opta has the stats, it is only the third time that a team has failed to shoot. And this in the final. They had done to Argentina what they did to France and to everyone, choking them. For the whole tournament Spain had an xG against of 0.3 per game. “If my gloves could talk, they would say they didn’t have much work to do,” Simón said. “Many teams depend too much on the back line,” Laporte said, but not Spain.This was the triumph of a collective, of a group; it ended in New York, but it was built in Chattanooga and beyond, over 51 days. It is the triumph of an idea, a conviction and of a coach too: a victory for Luis de la Fuente and the system he leads and the system that made him. He began his coaching career at Deportivo Alavés in the third tier, where he lasted just 11 games. It was November 2011 when he left and he has not had a club job since. For months, no one returned his calls. He was on the dole for a year and a half until he saw an advert for a job: the Spanish federation was looking for a coach for the youth system. He started in the under-17s. He won the European Championship with the under-19s and the under-21s. Then he won it with the senior side; now he has won the World Cup.“They asked me what there is left to win; we said the next game in September because they’re insatiable,” he insisted afterwards. Simón said: “The manager is outstanding; he has been our leader.” Cucurella, meanwhile, was in trouble. He had promised that if Spain won the World Cup, he would get a tattoo of De la Fuente’s face and now he had to decide where to put it to minimise the damage, the flight home an opportunity to think. Not least to think what a fool he had been.“I said: ‘You made a bad mistake’,” the coach joked. “But it’s not like I am so horrendously ugly that you have to put it somewhere it can’t be seen. And they are men of their word.” For all the laughs, that final line really mattered, and he knows: 10 of them played with him at junior level. The first title he ever won was the Under-19 Euros in 2015. In the middle of his midfield that day was Rodrigo Hernández.Eleven years on, 16 since he watched Spain’s first World Cup win, motivation sought and identification found in what they achieved, Rodri was back in the US. The embodiment of that idea, a player who approached perfection here, no one played more passes nor made more tackles than him. No one had his weight either, the captain leading Spain out and leading them back too. Like so many of his teammates at a tournament that was an expression of justice and vindication too, he had suffered for this, a torn cruciate ligament overcome.“It doesn’t matter if you fall, there’s always a reason to get up again,” he said and now he had it right here in his hands. It was 9.40pm when he boarded the bus bound for the airport, carrying the actual World Cup.

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Midfielder’s supreme passing was too much for Argentina to handle in the final but his work without the ball proved just as crucialRodri is back to his best after multiple injury problems. The former Ballon d’Or winner has started only 22 games since rupturing his ACL in September 2024 but you would have no idea from his performances at the World Cup that he had suffered so badly in the previous two years.The 30-year-old was already leading several statistical categories coming into Sunday’s final. He pushed them higher than perhaps even Luis de la Fuente could have hoped. Opta noted ahead of the game that Rodri’s 94.0 completed passes per 90 minutes played was the highest average anyone with at least 400 minutes had ever recorded at a single World Cup. He led the standings for line-breaking passes too.To some extent this is the inevitable result of playing in central midfield for the team that averaged the most passes per match this summer. The accuracy is even more impressive than the volume, though. Rodri completed 93.2% of his passes at the tournament, with his 95.3% success rate against Argentina his highest from any of the eight matches. The Manchester City man misplaced only five of his 106 passes in the final.Rodri’s accuracy barely dropped in dangerous areas. He led the World Cup for passes completed in the final third (204) by completing 91.9% of the 222 he attempted. His excellent ball retention helped Spain to concede an incredibly low 2.37 expected goals in the tournament, a mere 0.28 per 90 minutes (and only 0.22 in the 120-minute final).Rodri’s work when his side didn’t have the ball was just as crucial. He made 26 tackles, the most of any player in the competition. Again, he was above his World Cup average in the final, with four, and was not dribbled past as he had been in four of the preceding six matches.The varied locations of Rodri’s defensive work was impressive. He tackled Enzo Fernández in the Argentina box, Julián Alvarez near the centre circle and Nico González on the edge of Spain’s defensive third. Most crucially, he dispossessed Lionel Messi in the 92nd minute of normal time as he approached the penalty area. There’s a plausible alternate universe in which missing that challenge allows Argentina to retain their title.Tackles represent part of the ground duels metric, which also incorporates dribbles and fouls. The average success rate is 50%, as for a duel to be won there has to be an opponent on the losing side. Rodri was the victor in 63.3% of his 60 ground duels at the World Cup, markedly above his team’s below par rate of 48.6%. None of the other 27 players who contested more than 46 for any country were as successful as often either. As with his passing, the Golden Ball winner exceeded his tournament average to win 80% of his ground duels in the final.Rodri’s influence is best highlighted by Spain’s record with Opta-defined big chances. They only allowed five in their eight matches. Cape Verde’s one came from a corner after Rodri had been substituted, while Darwin Núñez failed to make proper contact when another came his way in the Uruguay match.The other three, none of which occurred after the quarter-final, were all headers. For two, the creating cross came from Spain’s left, not Rodri’s side. Teams very occasionally played around their midfield but never through it. Not even Argentina with the trophy on the line. Rodri was a worthy player of the tournament, better still in the final.

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This was a good rather than great World Cup on the field. In the background, things were a lot less edifyingPerhaps it’s too early, with the shreds of gold tape still fluttering through the New Jersey sky, to make a proper assessment. That will only come when everything has sunk in properly, when memories have had the chance to settle and shape themselves, when the consequences of certain events have become clear. But let’s try anyway to make some sort of assessment of where the World Cup that ended with Leandro Paredes grappling with Gavi ranks historically.The Balogun Affair could yet have major consequences. At the moment, it feels that the world has moved on, but that’s the nature of tournaments. They have a momentum of their own, a drive towards the finish that tends to sweep everything else aside. But there can be little doubt that the bending before political pressure, sweeping aside 64 years of precedent to ensure a particular player could take the stage, just as Gianni Infantino had done with Cristiano Ronaldo, just as he had done in gerrymandering the qualification criteria for the Club World Cup to ensure Lionel Messi played, represents a milestone.Perhaps in the future we will simply accept the principle that famous players get dispensation because making money is more important than justice or the good of the game – the prioritisation of revenue generation has been a feature of the 2026 tournament – or perhaps this will stiffen the sinews of opposition to Infantino; it’s been notable, for instance, how many British politicians – and some American ones – have taken to criticising Fifa and its president. An immediate consequence could be the expansion of the World Cup to 64 teams as Infantino looks to shore up his base, particularly given the damage US (and Canadian) immigration policy has done to his claims to be a champion of the global south.Other issues that have sunk into the mulch of games will surely resurface. The treatment of Iran, for instance, was scandalous, and sets a worrying precedent. Ticket prices may be lower at the 2030 World Cup, but the idea that a reasonable proportion should be available to the regular fans who go to league football every week is now gone. The World Cup is no longer a mass movement but a luxury event.The price paid by the host cities, similarly, will only become truly apparent in retrospect. That is financial, but it’s also social. In the US and Canada, there have been street sweeps of the homeless, people with very little deprived of what few possessions they have, ID and medication. In Mexico, there has been an outcry about water extraction and environmental damage linked to World Cup projects.The Italian newspaper la Gazzetta dello Sport ran a double page on Saturday calling the World Cup a “disaster”, outlining certain major issues: ticket prices, Balogun, the weather, the increase in games, the decrease of rest. That may be an overstatement, but what followed really was a disaster as the newspaper found its ticket allocation for the final slashed from five to two. It’s not entirely clear whether the two were linked, but the idea that a media outlet could be denied access for rejecting the official narrative that this World Cup has been the greatest ever is dystopian.That fitted the generally contemptuous attitude of Fifa towards the media at this tournament. While some venues – notably Houston and Atlanta – went out of their way to be welcoming, basic organisation and facilities were the worst for at least six World Cups. Quite understandably, nobody in the real world cares about journalists and whether the wifi works, but it’s indicative of a more general approach: fans are revenue units to be milked mercilessly; the media an irritating imposition.The football, meanwhile, was good but not great. There were a number of fine and dramatic games – Brazil v Japan, Morocco v the Netherlands, England v Mexico, Argentina v Cape Verde, Norway v Côte d’Ivoire, Belgium v Senegal, Norway v Brazil, Argentina v Egypt – but unfortunately almost all of them were in the last 32 or last 16. The quarter-finals were not especially inspiring. Argentina’s win over England in the semi was thrilling and involved a collapse that will be discussed for years, but Spain’s win over France was almost too easy; Spain quickly established a degree of superiority over the French that was never really challenged.And the final was dismal, an awful affair. The right team won, in their familiar bloodless way, but the grim spectacle was a direct consequence of the indulgence shown Argentina earlier in the tournament. The ending, inevitably, colours what went before, and drags this tournament behind 2022 and 2018, let alone the glorious World Cups of the 1980s or 1998. Posterity can judge where exactly in the middle rank it sits, whether above or below 2014 and 2006. It was not great but it was good and, beyond the Fifa bluster, that’s fine.This is an extract from Soccer Desk, a newsletter from the Guardian. Subscribe for free here.

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Kazakhs cheering Uzbeks, Bengalis wild for Argentina … This tournament was once a playground for nationalism. Now it shows how flimsy that allegiance isIt’s the World Cup final, so you pick a side. And don’t worry if you happen to be part of the 98.9% of the human race that is neither Spanish nor Argentinian – just make something up. Maybe you like the Spain kit. Maybe you’ve always been an admirer of Lionel Messi. Maybe you’re still raw about the Falklands or Diego Maradona, maybe you disagree with the Pedro Sánchez government’s stance on Palestine/Israel, maybe you once ate a dodgy empanada on your gap year. Nobody needs to see your working. Only two rules really apply: be partisan and be quick about it.The MetLife Stadium on Sunday night was a melting pot of colliding incongruities and temporary identities. The former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was wearing an Argentina shirt. The comedian Trevor Noah wore a Spain shirt. Indeed, ticket sales data suggests that an overwhelming proportion of the crowd was American. The most consequential fixture in international sport was, as it turned out, little more than a grand cosplay for the New Jersey leisure market.And beyond the final, perhaps this has been one of the hidden stories of the World Cup: the gradual reimagining of national allegiance as a kind of single-use consumer brand. For six weeks, the entire nation of Bangladesh went crazy for Argentina. A group of central Asian friends in north London put aside their internecine rivalries to cheer for Uzbekistan. The Arab diaspora swung firmly behind Morocco and Egypt as the tournament progressed. Leftwing progressives who revile the cross of St George when painted on a mini-roundabout were suddenly daubing it on their cheeks.All of which upends what we have been told for decades about the World Cup, and international sport in general. A tournament that should in theory be the ultimate playground for nationalism has in fact demonstrated the very opposite: the increasing fragility of nationhood as an idea. What the social psychologist Michael Billig termed banal nationalism – the subliminal everyday symbols of nationhood – has now become so banal as to be in essence disposable. If national identity is now something that can be slipped on and off as easily as a football shirt, then what use is it, really?We live in an age where the boundaries of nationhood are both ever-more piercingly evoked and ever-more hazily defined. Again, football illustrates this confusion better than almost any other human endeavour. Across western Europe, far-right voices preach the doctrine of nationalism while reviling their own national teams for having too many black players. In Colombia and Brazil, many leftwing fans have chosen to spurn the national team shirt as a result of its appropriation by rightwing populists.This is before we even address the teams themselves: in many cases not so much cogent expressions of national identity or even recognisable products of a system as they are snapshots of a sprawling diaspora at a particular moment in time, splintered on multiple planes by globalisation and migration, assembled out of convenience and expediency. Forty of the 48 competing nations contained a player born overseas. Only one member of the Curaçao squad was actually born on the Caribbean island. The Cape Verde squad that held the eventual champions, Spain, to a heroic 0-0 draw in the group phase featured more players born in Rotterdam than in the country’s capital.And so the modern World Cup serves two abrupt functions. First, it forces us to confront the idea that most of us have multiple identities cutting across or even against national boundaries, that everywhere is the product of everywhere. Second, it interrogates the criteria by which we pledge allegiance to a country, a process that most of the time lies latent and unspoken, only bursting to the surface in the form of an urgent binary question: “Who do I support for this game?” The historian Eric Hobsbawm’s famous quote about football gestating an “imagined community of millions” takes on a subtly different resonance when you realise that very often this is a community with no defined borders or polity, a community that for 90 minutes draws its number from every corner of the planet.Weirdly, this is a phenomenon that has become neither exclusively left- nor right-coded. If nationalism was long regarded as the preserve of the populist right and internationalism as the preserve of the intellectual left, these days the picture is far more nuanced. Today’s rightwing agitators are as likely to pledge allegiance to Donald Trump or wave an Israeli flag as they are to champion the country they’re actually from. The Trump administration has consistently demonstrated greater solidarity with white South Africans than with Black Americans. Across the English-speaking world, conservative outlets freely make alliances across national borders and appeal to abstract concepts such as “Judeo-Christian values” or “western civilisation” while denouncing and dehumanising many of their fellow citizens as traitors and scum.Football’s role as a nation builder is often overstated. France’s World Cup triumph in 1998 was hailed as a vindication of the country’s multiethnic identity, but four years later it sent Jean-Marie Le Pen into the final round of the presidential election. Argentina’s 1978 victory on home soil generated a surge of popularity for the country’s military dictatorship, but by 1983 it had collapsed. England’s run to the European Championship final in 2021 did not, for all the good vibes and open letters, arrest our wider descent into gutter politics and culture war.But occasionally it can hold up a mirror. And perhaps what this World Cup reflects back at us is a kind of messy hope: that a world of hardening physical borders is doomed to disintegrate on contact with reality. That for all the flags and pageantry, nationality is ultimately little more than a brand, a consumer choice, a piece of content – a mask anyone can happily wear for six weeks, and shed just as easily.

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Squad arrived home at 2.30pm local time on MondayVictory festivities to centre around the Plaza de CibelesLa Roja, who beat Argentina 1-0 in the final in New Jersey on Sunday night, were afforded the first of many heroes’ welcomes when they touched down at Madrid’s Barajas airport at 2.30pm local time on Monday.Spain’s captain, Rodri, waved the trophy aloft as he emerged from the plane, his medal from the previous night around his neck. The team posed for a photo before heading into terminal four where hundreds of delighted fans, many in Spain strips and carrying the country’s red-and-yellow rojigualda flag, waited and hoped for a glimpse of the freshly minted champions.The team’s first official stop is the Zarzuela palace, northwest of Madrid, where the players and staff will be received by King Felipe and Queen Letizia at about 4.30pm. After that, they are due to head to the Moncloa palace – the office and residence of the prime minister – for a meet-and greet with Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, at around 6pm.The victory parade will then kick off in earnest, with the team travelling into town by bus from Moncloa. The focus of the festivities, which will feature music and are expected to draw massive crowds, will be the Plaza de Cibeles just outside Madrid city hall.Madrid’s mayor, José Luis Martínez Almeida, told Radio Nacional de España that the capital was working to give the team the homecoming they deserved. He also hailed the peaceful and joyous scenes that had greeted Spain’s victory.“Even though there were thousands and thousands of people on the streets last night, there were practically no incidents in the city,” he said.“We’re getting everything ready for tonight and the musical events should start at Cibeles from about 6pm, with the parade scheduled to start at 7pm – but all this is depends on various factors … The thing we’re focusing on is how to celebrate and greet a team that will live for ever in our memory.”The victory – Spain’s second men’s World Cup win after their triumph against the Netherlands in South Africa in 2010 – was seen by hundreds of thousand of Spaniards who followed the match in bars, parks, fairgrounds, bullrings, and on giant screens in the centre of Madrid. The Spanish press have hailed it as “a unique collective experience” made possible by a young team that reflects all that is best about a modern, diverse and determined country.The win has also been enthusiastically hailed by the country’s political class.“WE ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!” Sánchez wrote in a social media post. “What an amazing national squad. Thank you, team.”Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of Spain’s conservative People’s party, was equally free with the capital letters. “Well-deserved WORLD CHAMPIONS! Values, hard work, humility, and faith. You have made history. There are no limits for this team … Long live Spain!!!” he wrote on X.Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party, also offered his congratulations to the team for carrying “the flag of Spain so far and so high”.The Spanish postal service, Correos, has announced the creation of a special stamp to commemorate what it called “one of the greatest achievements in the history of Spanish sport”. The red-coloured stamp will bear the word CAMPEONES and feature two stars – one for each of Spain’s World Cup victories.

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Maybe Donald Trump was simply confused. He must have seen the ticker tape, a group of men cavorting around an American field clad in red and thought he’d stumbled into one of his Maga rallies. That is the only logical explanation for his bizarre behaviour on the champions’ plinth in (a stadium near) New York as Spain hoisted their freshly won trophy aloft, Trump having to be dragged off the stage by notorious wallflower Gianni Infantino as Rodri exhibited his trademark composure, patiently waiting to bask in his team’s glory moment. This is the way the Geopolitics World Cup ends, not with a bang but a desperate grab for attention from the US president. The GWC final had already witnessed its own on-field disgrace of course, in the shape of Argentina’s shameful performance. La Albiceleste tarnished their proud footballing history with a display completely devoid of ambition, pride and, well, quality. No shots in regulation time, no shots on target in the entire 120 minutes and Enzo Fernández sent off in ignominy. Even Lionel Messi embarrassed himself for snitching to Slavko Vincic, pleading with the referee to brandish a red card after Marc Cucurella dared to put his hand to his mouth. The full-time scenes were even more debasing for Argentina, losing their heads in such a manner it made their first-half roughhouse tactics in the semi-final against England look like child’s play. This is the way the Geopolitics World Cup ends, not with a bang but a thump from Leandro Paredes. Stay classy, lads. With no little hyperbole, Trump proudly proclaimed the GWC to have been “one of the greatest events of any kind ever held”. Does that sentiment hold muster? Well, it’s certainly been the biggest World Cup ever, with more teams, more matches, even more hosts than ever before. But of the 104 games (up from 64 in 2022), many have felt like a slog. UK readers, can you look Football Daily in the eye and truthfully say you stayed up until 3am to watch the conclusion of Ecuador 0-0 Curaçao? There has been plenty to enjoy, of course. Cape Verde were a genuine breath of fresh air, the only nation to play Spain and come away unscathed, while their near-miss in the last 32 against Argentina will be forever etched in World Cup folklore – oh what might have been but for Messi’s genius. We hope to see the Cape Verde lads back in 2030. Belgium’s late comeback to down Senegal was pure cinema, while England’s 6-4 win over France will live longer in the memory than a third-place playoff should simply for its pure weirdness.Speaking of the Three Lions, who will ever forget Mexico and the Battle of the Azteca? Not Dan Burn and certainly not us. FD also enjoyed Mauricio Pochettino’s swashbuckling USA USA USA side in this tournament before Trump’s attempted assist for Folarin Balogun backfired spectacularly and the co-hosts became co-toast. Ultimately, perhaps a tired final in which the better team were stifled by one that refused to play the game entirely was fitting of the tournament as a whole. It was both exhaustive and exhausting and, as a footballing public we have discovered there is such a thing as too much football. The fatigue is real. Thank god it’s all over …. Now, who fancies watching South Shields versus Harrogate in pre-season on Tuesday? Anyone?There’s no more live football for a little bit, so for now you’ll have to make do with the GWC farewell news blog.“I like a lot of them artists, but I thought it was crap” – Wayne Rooney with a magnificently succinct live review of the GWC half-time show.double quotation markFootball 1-0 Sh!thousery. Thank god anti-football failed” – Paul Landaw.double quotation markCan you start a Stop Argentina campaign? – Gordon MacLeod.double quotation markWhen will the photograph of Donald Trump giving a baby Gianni Infantino a bath surface?” – Krishna Moorthy.If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day goes to … Gordon MacLeod. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.