And so, the 2026 World Cup is over, after 104 games, 308 goals, 15 players sent off, one suspension lifted and one winner
Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in the final thanks to a Ferran Torres goal in extra time, an uncharacteristic dog of a match in a tournament that, for the most part, was gloriously entertaining
How will we think of this World Cup in years to come? The one that featured the best goals-to-game ratio since 1970? The one that went on for too long? The one in which most of the big stars delivered? The one where the president of one of the hosts leaned on FIFA to make an unprecedented disciplinary decision?
Or the one which, in the end, the best team won…
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1. Spain
Spain were not the most dazzlingly exciting team at the World Cup. They scored the same number of goals as Belgium, who were eliminated in the quarter-finals. Their style is control, control, control, which is sometimes not especially entertaining
But dazzling excitement is not always how you win tournaments, especially this one, the longest World Cup yet. Spain won because they were the most consistent, the most stable and the best unit. They contained teams then beat them surgically, and did so without having one outstanding individual attacking performer, winning games as a team
They are deserved champions, and a lesson to teams everywhere to abandon the hero complex that so many are in thrall to
Spain defeats Argentina to win the World Cup
David Ornstein and Lia Griffin
2. Argentina
FIFA ranking: 3
In the end, it was just one step too far
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Argentina didn’t really turn up in the final: two of their knockout games went to extra time, and in the other two they came from behind to win with late goals. They were presumably emotionally as well as physically exhausted
Even so, to not have a single shot on target in a World Cup final is pretty disappointing to say the least. Argentina only seemed to come alive in the knockout stages after going behind, or at least after suffering a setback: they were pegged back against Cape Verde, and went behind against Egypt, Switzerland and England
Against Spain, it happened again, but they did not have time to drag it back
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5. Norway
FIFA ranking: 21
Ultimately, Norway were fairly disappointing in their quarter-final defeat by England
They looked the better side for big chunks of normal time but when England sat back following Jude Bellingham’s second in extra time, you felt they could have done more to try to break through
As it was, they politely knocked on the door rather than hammering on it, and they would have stood a much better chance had Erling Haaland been on the pitch until the end
Still, at their first World Cup since 1998, Norway reached the quarter-finals for the first time and beat Brazil on the way. The future is surely bright for this special generation of players
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Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported which team had the worst goal differential in the tournament. It was Iraq, not Tunisia. The article has been corrected.
