The 2026 World Cup came to a close on a bright afternoon last Sunday at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, in a match that seemed to be attended more by celebrities than actual supporters.

Watched on by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who was present at his scarcely believable 47th match of the tournament, and the inaugural winner of the Fifa Peace Prize, Donald Trump, Spain and Argentina faced off amidst a storyline written in Hollywood itself. The greatest to ever kick a ball, Lionel Messi, still going strong at 39, against the kid he baptised in a Unicef calendar shoot 20 years ago, Lamine Yamal.

The proceedings commenced fairly ordinarily, a closing ceremony followed by the trophy paraded around the pitch. But while normally you would have the teams come out next, the 2026 World Cup went down a new path. And why wouldn’t it? It was only fitting that the World Cup riddled with controversies ended with one too.

For some reason, the organisers thought it would be a good idea to have the US national anthem sung before a match the US was not playing in. And somehow the organisers also thought it would be completely fine to omit the national anthems of the other two host nations, Canada and Mexico. American obnoxiousness at its peak.

The Fifa World Cup final, expected to be a chaotic, thrilling contest between a spirited Argentina and technically matchless Spain turned out to be a dour game with no fluency

The Fifa World Cup final, expected to be a chaotic, thrilling contest between a spirited Argentina and technically matchless Spain turned out to be a dour game with no fluency

Anyway, the teams march out. Spain’s national anthem is played out by a band; Argentina’s by a mix of a singer and their raucous fan base. And finally, seven minutes past the official kick-off time, the biggest game in the world of sports gets underway. Late kick-offs were another highly contentious point of discourse, especially during the first week of the........

© Dawn (Magazines)