2026 World Cup ended as awkwardly as it began, but was a huge success nevertheless

We almost made it. We almost hosted a World Cup without an awkward ending.

But America couldn't quite bring it across the finish line.

Sunday's World Cup final concluded an event that, for the past five weeks, had consumed the world, and - for the first time ever - most of the United States.

As it almost always is, the competition was fantastic. The World Cup tournament remains, to many of us, the world's greatest and most compelling sporting event, a delicious mixture of skilled players, passionate fans, national identity, international tension, ecstatic joy and crushing heartbreak.

Even corrupt FIFA, an opaque, money-grabbing organization, can't ruin it. And their leaders are fully aware of that. Which is why they continue to gouge and obfuscate, beholden to nothing but lining their own pockets.

The average resale price of Sunday's final was five figures, the most expensive sporting ticket in history. Ticket prices weren't the only thing bloated: this was the biggest, longest World Cup in history. But fears that expanding the tournament to 48 teams would dilute its impact and bring down the competitive level were never realized.

The expansion brought joy to countries traditionally left out and created new favorites like tiny Cape Verde. New stars emerged; Norway's towering Erling Haaland became a global treasure. New traditions were learned (or relearned) like the Viking row and the words to "Wonderwall."

The stars delivered - Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, Haaland, Harry Kane - creating magic on the field. The big teams came through; the world's top four advanced to the semifinals. The intriguing final pitted the world's next great player, Lamine Yamal, against Messi in likely his final World Cup. What could go wrong?

Well, a petulant performance by the reigning champions for one thing. Most of the tournament's competition was exhilarating and the sportsmanship exceptional. The final game was an exception. Argentina used "dark arts" tactics to try to break down Spain's clinical dominance. Postgame scenes, which didn't make it onto television screens, showed near brawls instigated by the Argentinian players. The entire Argentinian team broke custom by turning their backs on the Spanish champions on the field and then left the building without adhering to mandatory protocols that require speaking to the media. It was an ungracious, embarrassing exit for the previous champions.

It wasn't the only stain on the World Cup ending. Another was absurd American overproduction, like having Tom Cruise - not exactly a noted football personality - give a weird speech that sounded like a boilerplate motivational seminar. The fire hose of superstars at halftime made any Super Bowl production seem modest by comparison. And of course, we required that our own national anthem be played despite the Americans being eliminated from competition a mere 13 days earlier; the World Cup traditionally only plays the anthems of participating national teams.

Most awkward of all, President Donald Trump, lacking any self-awareness, drew a torrent of boos from the crowd that should have been cheering the victors and then forced himself into Spain's celebration as FIFA president Gianni Infantino frantically tried to pull him offstage. By Sunday evening, Trump had been photoshopped by the Spanish team out of the celebratory picture.

Such interference created a dismal but bookend final image of the World Cup, which officially began seven months ago with the World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center. There, Infantino fawned over Trump and gave him a ridiculous little FIFA peace prize trophy, 10 weeks before the president launched a war against a World Cup participant.

Trump's fingerprints all over the event will be one of the lasting memories of the 2026 World Cup. After all, World Cup faux pas last as long in history as the glory. Trump's pressuring FIFA to overturn the red card on U.S. striker Folarin Balogun, allowing Balogun to play in the match against Belgium, outraged the rest of the football world and could lead to future repercussions for Infantino.

The U.S. team's performance, following that controversial decision, was one of the biggest disappointments of the American hosting experience. Balogun later said he thought the controversy had an impact, creating "a bit of nerves" for the team. None of the three co-hosts made it past the round of 16.

While the American public proved to be fantastic co-hosts, and the scenes from almost every host city were ones of community and fun, much of the rest of the world resented the "Americanization" of their beloved sport, particularly the "hydration breaks" that stopped the momentum and flow of the games, effectively turned a match into quarters, and was seen as a distasteful cash grab to sell more advertisements.  

The swallowing up of tickets and price-gouging on the resale market is also a World Cup trend that fans found frustrating, one that shut out many who simply couldn't afford a ticket. Those who could, held their noses and paid exorbitant prices for a "once in a lifetime" experience.  Exactly what FIFA was betting would happen.

The tournament set records for attendance, not only because of the additional games, but because American stadiums are much larger than most stadiums around the world.  That means it also broke records for revenue. Because of that, Trump - through the bullhorn of Fox - is already demanding another World Cup immediately. Never mind that the 2030 and 2034 editions have already been awarded.

Spain, a worthy new champion, became the first nation to be crowned simultaneous men's and women's World Cup champions. Spain will also co-host the 2030 World Cup, along with Portugal, Morocco and even three games in South America to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the World Cup.

And for those of you now wondering what to do without a World Cup in your life, don't worry. You don't have to wait four years. The women's World Cup begins next June in Brazil. Don't miss it.

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