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What made the 2026 FIFA World Cup so special?

SB Nation · Jul 21, 2026 23:45 · 7 min read

What made the 2026 FIFA World Cup so special?

Whether you call it football or soccer, in the past month we all spoke in one language and that is the FIFA World Cup.

The pinnacle of football rose up from the fiery dunes of Qatar and flew down to North America, born again like a phoenix that comes alive every four years. The FIFA World Cup, the biggest spectacle of the planet unwrapped nearly every emotion that can be experienced through the medium of sport in another edition. Here are the moments that made this one special.

Blockbusters and nail-biters

The Hosts: The Estadio Azteca in Mexico City ushered in the World Cup with the opener between Mexico and South Africa. The charged atmosphere that turned the stadium into a buzzing cauldron when Julián Quiñones scored the opening goal for Mexico was a propitious sign for the tournament and its audience. Canada and the USA did not disappoint in their games either, seeing enthusiastic support push their teams to qualify for the knockout stages and reach the round of 16.

Unyielding Underdogs: Talk about the underdog spirit. DR Congo, Cabo Verde, Paraguay, Ecuador and more. The performances by these seemingly minnow teams who turned into nightmares for some of the biggest footballing nations like Germany, England, Argentina, Spain will be an important story in footballing heritage.

No matter the result of the games, they made their opponents suffer. These upstarts displayed what sheer determination, hard work, unrelenting spirit and some smart coaching can do against the giants in the game. The expanded format has been a welcome change in this particular regard that even the smallest team can put up the biggest fight.

Clash of the Titans: The blockbuster fixtures awaited by eyes all over the world did not disappoint. While the heat of the group stages kept many big teams on their toes, it all simmered down to a boil in the knockouts.

Spain vs Belgium was an even game that went down to the wire. Charles De Ketelaere’s goal past Unai Simón remains the only goal against the Spaniards in the entire tournament. The Belgians went down in the 88th minute after keeping it level until then.

The potential final as it was called, France vs Spain was the most anticipated clash. The manner in which Rodri and his team outplayed the stacked French side was unbelievable. Despite all of their attacking prowess, Kylian Mbappe’s side could not breach the defense of La Roja. Spain on the other hand took their chances early with lethal precision and scored 2 goals from their first 2 shots of the game. That along with their sturdy defense proved to be enough to qualify for the grand finals.

Finally, the bronze final or the match to decide the third placed team was a complete goalfest. England and France went all out in an end to end game that turned out to be an entertaining 6-4 victory for the Three Lions. Thomas Tuchel’s work with Harry Kane and team has been commendable except the gamble against Argentina in the semifinals.

Peak moments

Late goals: Undoubtedly a huge part of this edition of the World Cup has been the late goals. Many games went down to the wire and the thrill of getting a late goal after a long battle is irreplaceable. Not only did it build up to the joy of goal but also the tension from the clock created several do or die situations in the final moments for the teams who left it late.

A kaleidoscope of football philosophies amidst a galaxy of stars: From the methodical and systematic control of Spain, to the fast paced direct style of France, to the unpredictable tempo of Argentina that thrives on chaos, to the gritty defense and counter attack based style of Cabo Verde, different philosophies in football came together in a continent that is a melting pot of different cultures and peoples.

Packed stadiums: Before getting to the controversies of which there are several regarding USA being a far from ideal host for the beautiful game, there was one very redeemable quality of Uncle Sam. The sheer size of diaspora populations living there meant that games with teams such as Panama, Ecuador, Cabo Verde, Iran, Morocco drew massive crowds. Per FIFA, the stadiums operated with an unprecedented 99.7 percent occupancy! No other nation on the planet could have created the atmosphere for the smaller nations like the USA did.

Lowlights

Underwhelming outings from big teams: There is no way to sugar coat this. Some teams performed very poorly for their stature, Germany being the poster nation for this category. After starting strong in the group stage with a 7-1 win, Die Mannschaft withered out against Ecuador and needed a late rescue from Deniz Undav against Ivory Coast just to qualify for the knockouts. Their elimination against Paraguay in the Round of 32 was a disappointing but a deserved end to their run.

Runners up of the 2018 World Cup Croatia too went out without really making any mark. Joining them were Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal who had an acute deficit in team cohesion that consisted of quality players.

VAR and officiating: VAR interventions have been a irksome issue. The inconsistent tolerance for physicality in games, the extent and frequency of intervention by VAR, the inaccuracy of technology that failed to pick the ball deflection in the England vs Norway game were some of the sore points that made the officiating a very talked about topic.

The controversy train: USA was muddled in controversies of all sorts that tarnished the reputation of the host as well as of FIFA. With domestic and international politics getting involved in sport, players of nations like Iran were not allowed, save for the duration of their games, on American soil. The ban on Somali referee Omar Artan only furthered the rigid image of the host that did not even spare a certified ref. The slogan “Football unites the world” championed by FIFA was brought into question due to some of the events that transpired leading up to and during the duration of this World Cup.

Per the BBC, American authorities have subpoenaed FIFA to investigate world football’s governing body on the issue of ticket sales and inflationary practices around it. New Jersey attorney general Jennifer Davenport labelled the ticket sale process a “gauntlet confusion, fake scarcity and impossibly high prices.” Aside the price, confusion and opaque practices around misleading seat locations is also expected to be taken up during the investigations.

A major issue for fans was absence of adequate and affordable mass transit to and from the stadiums hosting games. Unlike on the other side of the pond, cars are indispensable for moving around in the States and for travelling fan contingents, that became a serious hurdle in accessing the stadiums.

Best player: Lionel Messi

Argentina’s tweaked system to support and extract the best out of a 39 year-old Messi was an effective one. Despite the tactical guile of the Argentine coach Scaloni, the run to the final would not have happened without Messi. He was the heartbeat that turned La Albiceleste from a knockout contender into a championship contender. Of the seven victories of Argentina, Messi won the player of the match for six.

In the finals against Spain too, the moments when Messi got involved in the play, his side looked completely different and very potent in attack. In an attempt to preserve his energy, perhaps Scaloni went overboard and under utilised the attacker against a near impenetrable Spanish defense. Taking his nation to three World Cup finals in six appearances and lifting the trophy in the previous edition, it has been a very respectable showing from one of the greatest to ever grace the game.

Best player under 23: Pau Cubarsi

Pau Cubarsi, the young Spaniard was the deserved winner for best young player of the World Cup. He was a vital cog in an exemplary defensive performance by Luis de la Fuente’s team that only allowed one goal and kept seven clean sheets. Despite his age, the Barcelona defender showed grace, maturity and a calm head to handle the defense as well as contribute to the dominance of Spain’s possession.

Breakout stars

Every edition of the World Cup brings out a host of breakout stars who make their mark with some stellar performances, sometimes in very clutch moments. The tournament rewards great performances with clubs moving to secure promising talents.

This time too some players stood out for their teams with a distinct showing. Morocco’s Ismael Saibari and Ayyoub Bouaddi were two forces of nature in Mohamed Ouahbi’s side. For France, Manu Koné was an absolute machine in midfield. Replacing the injured Aurélien Tchouaméni, the box-to-box midfielder has already come under the radar of clubs from the Premier League.

Spain’s goalkeeper Unai Simón had a spectacular campaign. His anticipation is honed to perfection as his reading of runs from opposition attackers was impeccable. Against France and Argentina, he made crucial runs out of his box that saved the day for his team. The 29 year-old, currently at Bilbao, would be a superb scoop for any top European team. Pau Cubarsi and Pedro Porro had memorable campaigns and were important fixtures in the formidable Spanish backline.

Market corrections

The German squad will see market corrections in attack and midfield. Kai Havertz, Nick Woltemade, Aleksandar Pavlović were expected to hold up the standard for the rest of the team alongside their captain Joshua Kimmich. But, the trio were a major disappointment and any potential interest in them should cool down.

The duo of Michael Olise and Lamine Yamal had no ceiling to their price considering their age and talent. But, they have shown their limitation in their ability to affect any game under any situation. Olise was neutralized in the Spanish encounter and could not change his team’s fate from the playmaker role. Yamal on the other hand was restricted by Luis de la Fuente’s system that utilized him like a typical winger that could not bring out his complete impact to the fore.

While neither of their valuations would be dropping anytime soon, the proof that they can be stopped would ground some of the sky high expectations and insane transfer fee rumors.

Who was your breakout star and team of this World Cup ? Do let us know your thoughts and stories from this edition’s World Cup. And as always, thank you for reading and your support!