Can you say that football won when Spain won the World Cup? Possibly.
In any case, it was logical that the best team in the World Cup who also wanted to play football won the World Cup title. Not having conceded more than a single goal in eight matches is sensationally good and it took a long time before even Argentina came close to scoring the Spanish goal.
No, it wasn’t a final that goes down in history books because the football was entertaining or dramatic or beautiful. However, it goes straight into history books because Spain won their second World Cup title after winning the European Championship two years ago. Luis de la Fuente selected a historic World Cup squad without Real Madrid players and he has created a confident collective that knows exactly what to do.
If there’s one thing to complain about, it’s that Spain are a bit too blunt and boring going forward. The sensationally skilled defensive play comes at a price, and that is that you lose some attacking power and you don’t have a Haaland, Kane or Mbappé in the team. Is that lucky? Otherwise, they could have been even more superior.
Ferran Torres scored 1-0 behind Emiliano Martinez and then it was barely a minute into the second quarter of extra time of the World Cup final. Pedro Porro’s cross was headed back by Nico Williams and there Torres came and did what many had been waiting for, given the Spanish dominance. Until the opening goal, it had been a very monotonous final that was far from what it had been built up to be.
Until that goal, it was a strange match where Argentina almost seemed to be playing with a view to penalties right from the kick-off. It is clear that the Argentine team was worn out. They have been forced into two extra time on the way, had a day less rest than Spain before the final and suffered some injuries during the final. Of course, they played tough and a bit ugly and the fact that Enzo Fernandez received a second yellow card when he cut Cubarsi was just stupid of the Argentine.
Spain certainly had difficulty creating clear scoring chances despite their dominance and Emiliano Martinez was involved in the shots that did come. No, it was far from the goal-happy World Cup we have experienced with fairly open play. Instead, we got a locked and closed match where Argentina did everything to just protect their goal with the hope of holding off and that maybe Lionel Messi could shine and give the team an opportunity.
In many ways, Sunday’s World Cup final was reminiscent of one of the worst World Cup finals in modern times, the one from the 1990 World Cup in Italy. At that time, Argentina was the defending world champion and consisted of a cynical band of robbers who lived on the brilliance of Diego Maradona, and the team had made it to the final, much like a defending cynical band of robbers led by Lionel Messi made it to the 2026 World Cup final.
That time in Rome, Argentina was sent off just like Argentina did during the final in New York New Jersey and there was also a second red card in 1990, which it did in 2026 as well but it took a while after the match when Leandro Paredes embarrassed himself. The final result was also the same, but the difference was that the 1990 World Cup final was decided in regular time after Andreas Brehme sent in a penalty to make it 1-0.
The Spanish lead goal Argentina dared to take risks and suddenly created several equalizing chances. Why didn’t they try to play like that earlier? Not only did they get the first shot on goal in the whole match, Giuliano Simeone was involved in a couple of sharp chances and he will have nightmares about the huge chance he got but where he shot over rather than equalize just before the final whistle.
Instead, it was Spain who got to enjoy a final whistle that proclaimed that they were world champions. Not just a fair one but a real triumph for the national team that really wanted and could play football. Of course, it is up to all national teams to do what they can to win and that it is then up to the referees to stop if it goes too far. I would not have minded Argentina winning, but I also understand the value of a team that wants to play football winning.
It was hard not to be moved by Lionel Messi’s tears after it sunk in that his last World Cup ended in defeat. Where he almost single-handedly carried Argentina to the final, but where it wasn’t enough for the team to play for him and where Messi was supposed to be the one to provide the creativity. It’s understandable the pain, but even he must have realized the near-impossibility of defeating Spain.
Before the awards ceremony, there was a lot of booing when Fifa boss Gianni Infantino, US President Donald Trump, Canada’s Mark Carney and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum entered the pitch. Many of the 80,000 in the stands made their voices heard and then everyone can have theories about who was booed. My money is on Trump and Infantino, but it’s up to each person to think about it.
It was undignified in any case when Trump tried to hang on but where the Spanish team captain Rodri was careful that the US president would slip out of the picture before the trophy was hoisted. From the Spanish side, they did not want a replay of the awarding of medals and the World Cup trophy from last summer’s Club World Cup when Trump hung around among the Chelsea players. Here Spain made sure to celebrate on their own, which they deserved.
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The World Cup final was exactly the spectacle that many feared. That Fifa can ignore the rules of a maximum 15-minute break and run 27 minutes and 23 seconds to try to become some kind of Super Bowl is just silly. Some of the artists gave strong performances but in the stadium it was obvious that this was for the television audience of 1.5 billion viewers. It is incredible that Fifa boss Gianni Infantino can get away with this just because he pulls in billions and then indirectly buys the support from the national associations. It is also happening completely openly and very few say anything, which is unworthy of football.
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Donald Trump’s visit to the World Cup final not only caused a stir but also caused real chaos. Security around the US president is of course tight and ahead of the final, the Secret Service had surrounded the Met Life Stadium and taken over control of all admissions. Compared to previous World Cups, security checks took a very long time and many people had to wait for hours to enter the stadium and there were different reports about what was going on. There was definitely a sense of unrest at some of the entrances and it was really irritating, which Fifa could sense but the president’s security officers were unfazed.
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Even before the World Cup final, Fifa was able to establish that the championship in North America had a turnover of 15 billion dollars (approximately 145 billion kronor), according to the Guardian. Something Fifa president Gianni Infantino told all the national presidents who were in New York for the World Cup final earlier this weekend. The organization had previously believed in a turnover of 12-13 billion (116-126 billion kronor) for the 2026 World Cup and that the surplus for Fifa would land at a record level. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar gave Fifa a surplus of 7.6 billion dollars (approximately 74 billion kronor), which was the largest profit it had made. Everything indicates that Fifa will break that record by many billions after ensuring that it maximized revenue through high prices on everything.
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The 2030 World Cup is currently scheduled for June 8 to July 21, 2030. Fifa will investigate whether to expand the World Cup to 64 teams by then, which is mainly being pushed by South America, given that it is 100 years since the first World Cup finals in Uruguay. The reason for this is that South America has only had three matches in the World Cup and that the rest will be in Portugal, Spain and Morocco, and that the South American countries believe and hope that they can then have some groups. It remains to be seen how Fifa will sort it all out with another expansion of the World Cup after having gone from 32 to 48 for the 2026 World Cup.
By Olof Lundh
