The 2026 FIFA World Cup is over. Forty days, 104 matches, and one last extraordinary Sunday delivered a champion — and a send-off that this tournament fully deserved.
Yesterday's Results
Spain 1–0 Argentina (World Cup Final, MetLife Stadium) — Ferran Torres' goal in extra time was the difference, and Spain are world champions for the second time. Argentina — and Lionel Messi — gave everything, but couldn't find a way through a Spanish defense that has been the tournament's most suffocating. Rodri lifted the trophy in East Rutherford, and the image of Messi walking off without it will linger. Full AP match report
England 6–4 France (Third-Place Playoff, Miami) — If the final was tight and tense, the bronze medal match was the opposite: a glorious, chaotic, completely unhinged football match that England won after leading 4–0 at half-time and then nearly throwing it away. Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick. France pulled it back to 4–3, then 5–4, before Jude Bellingham — introduced from the bench — sealed it with a brilliant individual goal. Kylian Mbappé scored twice for France, becoming the first player since Gerd Müller in 1970 to score 10 goals in a single World Cup, moving two ahead of Messi in the Golden Boot race heading into the final. England finish third — their best men's World Cup result since 1966. Full Guardian match report
Today's Fixtures
There are no matches remaining. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is complete. All 32 knockout-stage matches have been played across 39 days, from June 28 through July 19, at venues spanning three countries. Source: Wikipedia knockout stage reference
Around the Tournament
Mbappé ends as the tournament's top scorer — and its defining individual story. His two goals in the third-place match pushed him to 10 for the tournament, a figure not reached since Gerd Müller in 1970, and he finishes two ahead of Messi in the Golden Boot standings before Argentina's captain played the final. It's a remarkable individual haul from a player whose team didn't reach the final — and a number that will be debated for years. Reuters on Mbappé's all-time scoring record
Deschamps steps down as France manager. The coach who guided France to a World Cup in 2018 and a final in 2022 has confirmed he is leaving his role after the tournament. He took responsibility for what he called an "unacceptable first half" in the third-place match, and Reuters reports he cited the atmosphere around the team as a factor in his decision. It's the end of a remarkable era for French football — and the beginning of a search for whoever comes next. Reuters
The tournament that rewrote the record books. The expanded 48-team format, three host nations, and 104 total matches made this the largest World Cup in history, and the BBC's retrospective captures both what worked and what didn't — from hydration breaks to high ticket prices to political noise around the venues. Whatever the verdict on the format, the football delivered: a final decided in extra time, a third-place match that finished 6–4, and a Golden Boot race that went to the last kick. BBC Sport
Spain press and possess their way to a second World Cup title, and Ferran Torres — not Yamal, not Rodri, not Pedri — scores the goal that wins it in extra time. Football is wonderful and strange. See you in four years.