The BBC had a headline on their website this morning which asked “Victory for football?”. I was thinking the very same thing last night as the Spanish finally ended Argentina’s resistance to record a 1-0 win and secure their second World Cup triumph. Only one side tried to play football and thankfully that side came out on top. Whether you were wanting Spain or Argentina to win surely there was no doubt in anybody’s mind that Argentina’s appalling spoiling tactics did not deserve to succeed. The constant time wasting, feigning injury, diving and slowing down the game by any means possible were painful enough to witness but all over the pitch were examples of Argentinian players pushing, elbowing, barging off the ball in attempt to intimidate the opposition. I know that all teams do this to an extent, with Spain themselves over the years having had their fair share of players adept at such tactics, but Argentina took it to the extreme last night. “Gamesmanship” it gets called. It’s a form of cheating really and, although it is generally accepted as part of the game, there is a line and Argentina crossed that line yesterday.
I think that if Argentina had actually looked to score a goal they might have had some sympathy for another World Cup final defeat (their 4th) but they simply did not seem interested until they went a goal behind, at which point they had to attack. The daft thing is that they are a decent side when they attack, they score goals, so why play so negatively? Yes, Spain are exceptional at keeping the ball and breaking teams down and Argentina are masters at disrupting the game but surely they could have been more forward thinking. They weren’t and they ultimately lost. No-one outside of the Argentinian players, coaching staff and fans looked too upset!
I have no idea what Lionel Messi, in perhaps his final World Cup match and having spent so many years at Barcelona, whose style of football many consider to be the template for the current Spanish footballing model, must have thought. Argentina did not have a single attempt on goal until the 117th minute by which time they were 1-0 down. Ridiculous. They got what they deserved.
The previous day saw the much maligned 3rd place play-off match between the two losing semi-finalists France and England. This turned out to be an extraordinary but very entertaining match where defending was optional. The French were not interested at all in the first half as England romped into a 4-0 lead by the break. It could have been more. Didier Deschamps clearly ripped into his players at half-time and their attitude was completely different in the second half as they reduced the deficit to 4-3 and ought to have drawn level and gone ahead before the excellent Djed Spence won a penalty to allow England to restore a 2 goal lead at 5-3. Still time for France to get back to 5-4 before Jude Bellingham scored a belting final goal of the match in the dying seconds as England ran out 6-4 winners, the highest number of goals in the 3rd place play-off in World Cup Finals history. The French did not look too crestfallen, they had already lost their main target a few days previously but had restored pride with their second half performance. England were happy to secure their best World Cup finish since 1966 and second best of all time despite their obvious disappointment at failing to reach the final.
So, was it a good World Cup Finals tournament? Overall, I would say yes. There were more goals scored (308) than yellow cards shown (266) with the number of goals per match averaging a smidgeon under 3. That is a good average. The expansion from 32 teams to 48 was criticised before the tournament began for a number of reasons, too many matches, too many weaker sides involved but in reality many of the weaker sides performed extremely well with only a couple nations looking out of their depth. Africa’s representation had doubled from 5 to 10 nations but 9 of those 10 qualified for the knockout phase suggesting the gap to the European and South American giants is now very small. Only the Asian teams really seemed to struggle but without the opportunity to play against the better sides they will find it hard to improve as the African nations have.
The 3 host nations all made it through to the Last 16 stage which helps any tournament. All went out at that stage, Canada to Morocco, the USA to Belgium and Mexico to England but all acquitted themselves well.
One negative was having some sides being able to play out draws in their final group matches that saw both qualify at the expense of other sides that completed their fixtures earlier. That was definitely unfortunate but, other than expanding the tournament again to 64 sides or reducing it back to 32 sides I am not sure how they get round this situation.
And what of the home nations? Scotland did well to qualify but once again failed to get out of their group. Bitterly disappointing for them but their failure to beat Haiti by more than 1 goal always looked like it might be crucial and so it proved.
England blew hot and cold. Their opening victory over Croatia increased optimism that this may be a side capable of going all the way but then came the struggles to break down stubborn, well organised defences in Ghana, Panama and DR Congo. They did just enough to get the results they needed. The win at the Azteca Stadium was a triumph. The quarter final win over Norway a little fortunate. Then came the semi final versus Argentina. We all know what happened there. They did look jaded by the end but performed excellently against the French in the 3rd place play-off in a thoroughly entertaining match. 3rd place is a good achievement. They have the nucleus of a very good young side but will likely need to replace Harry Kane’s goals and still need to find that defensive solidity that other sides exhibit. We’re not far away.
Euro 2028 is hosted by England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. Can the home nations or Ireland triumph? I intend to return for that if interest persists. The Premier League also returns next month with my prediction competition for that also running if sufficient interest remains. See you then!
World Cup Prediction Competition 2026
The World Cup 2026 is now over. Congratulations to Spain on their second triumph.
I would like to thank everyone for taking part in my Prediction Competition. It has certainly been a biggie this time but hopefully provided all with some entertainment and even some excitement for those challenging for prizes.
Apologies for the days I was unable to post my thoughts on all things World Cup.
We have raised an excellent £277 for charity. I will be requesting suggestions for the charity you would like the money to go to. I have had a couple of suggestions already and will send out voting options in due course.
Otherwise, my final duty is to disclose all winners as follows:
Spain winning the final meant that Alan Dadswell, aka “Mr Chops”, secured top spot overall and the top prize of £150.
Louis V clung onto second place overall by a single point, the crucial result being his prediction of France losing the 3rd place play-off to earn 2 points. Louis wins £80.
That meant that Gordon Annetts had to settle for third place to win £60.
John Faulkner was outside the prize places until the final but his Spain v Argentina final prediction enabled him to finish in 4th place and win £50.
Amanda Freeland climbed two places to finish 5th to claim £40.
Rebecca Corbould dropped down to 6th after the final but still wins £35.
Peter Sage had dropped out of the prize places in recent days but he clawed his way back to end in 7th place picking up £30.
Jamie Russell also managed to sneak into the prize places at the death, finishing in 8th place to win £25.
Many congratulations to the top 8. Many commiserations to all just finishing outside the prize places especially those who sat in them before the final match but dropped out due to not having predicted Spain as eventual World Champions.
Many congratulations to all bonus prize winners as well, the final ones of which were:
– Sarah Cuddy who was closest with the minute of the first goal in the final with 85th minute. No-one predicted extra-time. Sarah wins £20.
– Glynn Head who benefitted at the death by Argentina getting 2 red cards and countless yellow cards in the final to pinch the “Worst Disciplinary record” with Argentina. 29 people had Argentina but the tie-breaker looks for the person scoring the most points for that team, in this case Glynn was top with 35 points. He wins £20.
– Andrew Henley who benefitted from England winning the 3rd place play-off to pinch the “Most Points scored on England matches” with 32 points taking the prize after that match. Andrew wins £20.
I will be contacting all prize winners to ask how they would like to be paid.
Thanks all.
PLEASE INVITE ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN TAKING PART.
