⚽FIFA World Cup · retrospective
Spain are your world champions, grinding out a 1-0 win over Argentina in the final to lift the trophy. The whole tournament, though, was really about how Spain won it — a back line that just refused to break, stacking clean sheets and 1-0s until the job was done.
- 01the championSpain took it, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final on the only goal that mattered. Their knockout run was a masterclass in boredom-as-a-weapon: 1-0 over Portugal, 2-1 past Belgium, 2-0 on France in the semi, then 1-0 in the final. Nobody could crack them.
- 02the runThe semifinal was the statement. Spain drew France — group-stage winners who'd scored for fun — and shut the door completely, a clean 2-0 that never felt in doubt. Argentina, for their part, went a perfect nine points in the group and rode three straight one-goal knockout wins to the final.
- 03the heartbreakBrazil. Topped their group, looked the part, then got bounced 2-1 by Norway in the round of 16. A tournament heavyweight packing their bags early to a team nobody had circled — that's the one that stung.
- 04remember whenThe third-place playoff, of all games, turned into a track meet — England 6, France 4. Ten goals in one match while the actual final was settled by a single strike. People will bring that scoreline up for years.
- 05exitAnyway, Spain are kings for now — we'll see if anyone's built to knock them off when the big one rolls around again.
Group A| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1MEXMexico | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +6 | 9 |
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| 2RSASouth Africa | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 4 |
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| 3KORSouth Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 3 |
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| 4CZECzechia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 1 |
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Group B| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1SUISwitzerland | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +4 | 7 |
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| 2CANCanada | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +5 | 4 |
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| 3BIHBosnia-Herzegovina | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 4 |
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| 4QATQatar | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -8 | 1 |
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Group C| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1BRABrazil | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +6 | 7 |
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| 2MARMorocco | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +3 | 7 |
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| 3SCOScotland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 |
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| 4HAIHaiti | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -6 | 0 |
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Group D| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1USAUnited States | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +4 | 6 |
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| 2AUSAustralia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
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| 3PARParaguay | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 4 |
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| 4TURTürkiye | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 3 |
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Group E| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1GERGermany | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +6 | 6 |
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| 2CIVIvory Coast | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 6 |
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| 3ECUEcuador | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
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| 4CUWCuraçao | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -8 | 1 |
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Group F| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1NEDNetherlands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +6 | 7 |
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| 2JPNJapan | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | +4 | 5 |
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| 3SWESweden | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
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| 4TUNTunisia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -10 | 0 |
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Group G| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1BELBelgium | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | +4 | 5 |
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| 2EGYEgypt | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 5 |
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| 3IRNIran | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
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| 4NZLNew Zealand | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -6 | 1 |
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Group H| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1ESPSpain | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +5 | 7 |
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| 2CPVCape Verde | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
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| 3URUUruguay | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 2 |
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| 4KSASaudi Arabia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -4 | 2 |
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Group I| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1FRAFrance | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +8 | 9 |
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| 2NORNorway | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 6 |
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| 3SENSenegal | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 3 |
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| 4IRQIraq | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -11 | 0 |
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Group J| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1ARGArgentina | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +7 | 9 |
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| 2AUTAustria | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
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| 3ALGAlgeria | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 4 |
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| 4JORJordan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -5 | 0 |
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Group K| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1COLColombia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +3 | 7 |
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| 2PORPortugal | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | +5 | 5 |
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| 3CODCongo DR | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 4 |
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| 4UZBUzbekistan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -9 | 0 |
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Group L| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
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| 1ENGEngland | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +4 | 7 |
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| 2CROCroatia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
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| 3GHAGhana | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
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| 4PANPanama | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -4 | 0 |
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June 2026July 2026
The marquee event on the slate is the FIFA World Cup Final, with Argentina taking on Spain at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford tomorrow evening — about as big as football gets. Argentina arrive as defending champions looking to go back-to-back, while Spain will be desperate to deny them and claim the trophy on North American soil.
A nil-nil draw through ninety minutes would push it to extra time, but expect both sides to push for a winner early rather than settle into the kind of cagey affair that ends in penalties.
World Cup · The week ahead