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After five weeks and 102 matches across three countries, Argentina will face Spain on Sunday evening, as a World Cup that has raised further doubts over Fifa’s integrity reaches its climax.
So what? It is also perhaps the most entertaining World Cup of modern times. For all the legitimate worries about extortionate ticket prices, America’s immigration policy and Gianni Infantino’s sycophantic posturing, the football has delivered. This tournament has featured
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the most goals scored per game of any World Cup since 1970;
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some of the best international matches ever, including Argentina’s victories over Cape Verde and Egypt, and England’s head-spinning win over Mexico at the Azteca; and
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football’s greatest stars growing with the occasion, with the top five goalscorers in the tournament also among the world’s 10 best players.
Bigger is better. The expanded format of 48 nations was largely successful, with few overwhelmingly one-sided matches and DR Congo and Cape Verde qualifying from their groups. This was partly fuelled by smaller nations selecting diaspora players either born in Europe or trained in elite academies.
To wit, nearly a quarter of the 1,248 players were born outside the country they represented.
New world order. Nine African teams reached the round of 32, only bettered by Europe’s 13, evidence of football’s shifting power base. Meanwhile, the three most successful World Cup teams didn’t show up. Italy failed to qualify, Brazil were knocked out by Norway in the last 16, and Germany suffered a penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay in the first knockout round.
Water into whine. Perhaps the most controversial addition were hydration breaks, which took place even in air-conditioned stadiums or bad weather. Booed by fans in most matches, these allowed American broadcasters to air adverts during matches for the first time. The Premier League and Uefa have both indicated that they will not adopt these breaks.
Breaking America. The American public have largely bought into the World Cup spirit, and have attended en masse, often wearing the box-fresh shirts of other nations. This was always going to be the most attended World Cup because there are more games than ever. But Fifa claims 99.7% of tickets have sold, despite their pricing and some evidence of empty seats, with fans regularly paying upwards of $1,500 to attend knockout matches.
Trumped up. For all he dominated the build-up, Donald Trump has been conspicuously absent. Sunday’s final will be the first game he attends, likely because of the reaction he received at recent sporting events. He was booed heavily during the US Open tennis and the NBA finals.
Important contribution. But Trump did ask Infantino to review a red card shown to Folarin Balogun, an American player, during the last 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Fifa then suspended Balogun’s mandatory one-match suspension, invoking a little known rule not used since 1962 and clearing the striker for the next round,
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Nothing to see here. This decision, which Fifa claims was unrelated to Trump’s intervention, was made solely by Mohammad al-Kamali, chair of the governing body’s disciplinary committee. Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Thank you to Fifa for doing what was right.”
All the president’s flights. Unlike Trump, Infantino has been everywhere, travelling by private jet and sometimes appearing at several matches in a day. While the red card controversy has put Infantino under scrutiny – he has been reported to the International Olympic Committee – this World Cup has only strengthened his position and standing.
Easy peasy. Fifa is exploring a further expansion to 64 teams, which will secure Infantino more votes ahead of a presidential election in 2027. He won the previous two unopposed.
What’s more… Resale tickets for the final are being advertised between $7,000 and $100,000. Justifying this cost demands a level of entertainment perhaps as yet unseen by humanity. But, for better or worse, the tournament has delivered on everything it has promised.
Photograph by Image Photo Agency via Getty Images