Top 10 Observations of the 2026 World Cup

10. The Hosting Went Okay. Sure, the ticket prices for the games, the parking, and (at least on New Jersey Transit) the trains were insane. But there were no complaints about the stadiums, no complaints about the amenities, no unpleasant situations between fans. Not in the U.S., not in Canada, not in Mexico. Everybody seemed to get along.

We welcomed people from all over the world:

* North America: Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Curaçao.

* South America: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay.

* Africa: Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, South Africa, and Cabo Verde.

* Europe: England, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czechia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Türkiye.

* Asia: Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and, amazingly, visitors from Iran and Iraq were treated well, by the people if not by the government.

* Oceania: Australia and New Zealand.

And while there was certainly banter between fans of various countries, there were no unpleasant incidents. No fights. None of Mexican fans' tendency toward homophobic slurs, not even in the Azteca. No hooligans smashing up bars or store windows. Even the drunks were pleasant:

9. Scotland's Tartan Army and Norway's Rowing Fans. Scotland hadn't qualified since 1998, and hadn't won a World Cup match since 1990. I once read a book about soccer, by a Scotsman who lived in Mexico for a few years. He said that if the World Cup were decided by who had the most frustrated fans, the Final would be between Scotland and Mexico.

But the Scottish fans made the most of it, "drinking Boston dry," taking over Fenway Park, even filling a section at Yankee Stadium. They were a great contrast with the English and their arrogance of "We invented football" and "It's coming home." It's a shame their team couldn't advance to the Knockout Stage.

"Deep-fry yer lobsters, we're gonna deep-fry yer lobsters!"

And the Norway fans, also seeing their team in the World Cup for the 1st time in 28 years, wearing their horned helmets that Vikings never actually wore, and their synchronized air-rowing, delighted Americans all the way to the Quarterfinal. If only Erling Haaland didn't play for Manchester City...

"Rowing" in Times Square

8. It Was Good to See Arsène Wenger Again. Knowing that his protégé, Mikel Arteta, had finally managed Arsenal to the Premier League title, and that several current and former Arsenal players were playing, and that, in his official role with FIFA, he could watch the games without pressure, he looked happy. Older, but much more relaxed. Like a former President.

7. The Early Shocks. It just doesn't feel right to have a World Cup without Italy -- especially in the U.S., with New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto and San Francisco all having a heavy paesano presence. And for major powers Germany and the Netherlands to be knocked out in the Round of 32, it just didn't make sense. Granted, they both lost to good teams, Paraguay and Morocco, respectively. And it's never a surprise to see the Dutch lose on penalties. But Ze Germans, losing on penalties? That was a bigger shock than Scotland making it and Italy not!

Once Die Mannschaft and De Oranje were out, it felt like it could be anybody's tournament. Maybe the U.S did have a chance. Maybe it really would be "coming home" to England. Maybe it would be somebody that nobody expected.

This was heightened by Brazil losing in the Quarterfinals. Just as Benjamin Franklin once said, "Every man has two countries: His own, and France," every soccer fan seems to have two countries: His own, and either the Netherlands or Brazil. The two most stylist "football nations," and each has lots of beautiful women in the stands.

This time, though, Brazil were dull. Defense-minded. Neymar being hurt made things worse, but it looked like Vinícius Júnior was carrying the attack. Watching Brazil "park the bus" is like watching Ozzy Osbourne sing "You Light Up My Life." It's just... it's just... it's just wrong-guh.

6. The Saga of Cabo Verde. Formerly known as Cape Verde, this chain-of-islands nation is about 430 air miles off the west coast of Africa, and over 1,800 from Portugal, the nation from which it gained its independence in 1975. It wasn't the smallest nation by population to qualify for the World Cup -- Curaçao is home to 156,000 people, roughly as many as Paterson, New Jersey -- but it does have only about 490,000 people, roughly as many as Staten Island. And, at 2,506 square miles, it's the smallest nation by land area ever to qualify.

They began the Group Stage by holding Spain, Champions in 2010 and one of the favorites this time, to a 0-0 draw. Then they held Uruguay, Quarterfinalists in 2018 and Semifinalists in 2010, to a 2-2 draw. Then they held Saudi Arabia to a 0-0 draw. To put that in perspective: As I said, Cabo Verde has less than half a million people; Spain, 50 million; Uruguay, 3.5 million; Saudi Arabia, 33 million. Population-wise, they should have been pounded. Instead, those 3 draws allowed them to finish 2nd to Spain in Group H, and advance, rather than sneaking in as 1 of the top 8 3rd-place teams.

Then came one of the greatest games in World Cup history, at the Miami Dolphins' stadium on July 3. They trailed Argentina, defending Champions, Finalists in 2014, and a nation of 46 million people, 1-0 until just before the hour, and tied it up. It ended 1-1, and it went to extra time.

Argentina seemed to end the dream in the 92nd, but Cabo Verde found another equalizer in the 103rd. All they had to do was hold that 2-2 score for another 20 minutes or so. With a 40-year-old goalkeeper. Against a team led by Lionel Messi. They couldn't do it, with the Albiceleste forcing an own goal in the 111th.

Saluting their fans after the game

As occasionally happens in soccer, one team won the game, while the other team won the hearts of the world. Unfortunately, as also occasionally happens, the officiating seemed to suggest an agenda. For all of Argentina's usual dirty play, they were only given 1 yellow card, and that in the 115th minute.

5. The U.S. Sabotaged by the Manager -- Again. You would think that, after the awful experience of having Jürgen Klinsmann, a lousy manager and a former Tottenham Hotspur player, the U.S. Soccer Federation wouldn't be dumb enough to hire another "Spurs" man in the job.

How dumb were they? They hired Mauricio Pochettino, a former Spurs manager. As manager at Paris Saint-Germain, whose financial advantages over the rest of France's Ligue 1 suggest that they should win every trophy, every season, he won the Coupe de France in 2021 and Ligue 1 in 2022 -- and that's it. Those are his only major trophies as a manager.

He lost in the Finals of the 2015 League Cup and the 2019 UEFA Champions League with Tottenham, of the 2024 League Cup with Chelsea, and of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup with the U.S. And, famously, after challenging for the Premier League title with Spurs in 2015-16, he "finished 3rd in a 2-team race," behind Leicester City and Spurs' arch-rivals, Arsenal.

He was one Argentine who didn't do well at this tournament. The U.S. beat Paraguay, 4-1 at Los Angeles/Inglewood, and then beat Australia 2-0 at Seattle to assure Knockout Stage qualification. In the meaningless Group D finale, which should have told him which players should be played and in which positions, he lost 3-2 to Türkiye at L.A./Inglewood.

The U.S. failed to qualify in 2018; failed to get to the Knockout Stage in 1990, 1998 and 2006; got to the Round of 16 in 1994, 2010, 2014 and 2022; and got to the Quarterfinals in 2002. At this point in the program's development, and given home soil, getting to the Quarterfinals should have been the minimum for the World Cup run to be considered a success.

The U.S. beat Bosnia, 2-0 at San Francisco/Santa Clara. The controversy over the straight red card given to Falorin Balogun aside, the team should have played better in the Round of 16 against Belgium. Instead, they were dreadful, losing 4-1. Pochettino should have been fired before he even left the stadium.

It is true that the players simply aren't good enough. Christian Pulisic is never, ever, ever going to become our talismanic striker, no matter how much Fox and Men In Blazers' Roger Bennett try to promote him as "Captain America." And he's the best we've got.

It is also true that, whatever could be gotten out of these players, "Poch" wasn't going to be able to get it. You can take the idiot out of Tottenham, but you can't take the Tottenham out of the idiot.

4. England Trusted Arsenal... But Only So Far. Since winning the World Cup in 1966, with just 1 Arsenal player on the roster, George Eastham, and he didn't play a minute of it, England have avoided using Arsenal players. True, Arsenal have had a lot foreign players over the years: Scotsmen, Welshmen, "the Irish Connection" of the late 1970s, and Wenger's United Nations setup. But look:

* 1970: Arsenal had just won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Arsenal players on the England team: None. Result: Quarterfinal, lost to Germany in extra time.

* 1974: In the interim, Arsenal had won the Premier League at the FA Cup in the same year, "doing The Double," reached another FA Cup Final, and had 2nd- and 3rd-place finishes. Arsenal players on the England team in 1973, as they attempted to qualify for the World Cup: None, although midfielder Peter Storey was sometimes a reserve. Result: They failed to qualify. Could they have used forwards Charlie George or John Radford? Midfielder Ray Kennedy? Winger George Armstrong? Left back Bob McNab? Yes.

* 1978: Arsenal were in a down period, so I can't blame England this time. Result: They failed to qualify.

* 1982: Arsenal had been to 4 cup finals, but won only 1, the 1979 FA Cup. They finished 3rd in 1981. So they had talent, although, as I pointed out, a lot of it was Irish, not English. Arsenal players on the England team: Left back Kenny Sansom and midfielder Graham Rix. Result: In a format not used since, England advanced to the 2nd Group Stage, making them one of the last 12 teams, but they did not finish 1st, and did not advance to the Final. Can't blame this one on not selecting Arsenal players.

* 1986: Arsenal were in a down period. Selected for the England team: Sansom and right back Viv Anderson. Result: Quarterfinal, England defeated by a cheating Argentina. It's hard to imagine that adding English players from Arsenal would have made the difference. That would not be the case the next time:

* 1990: Arsenal had won the 1987 League Cup and the 1989 Football League title. Players on the England team: None. Centerback and Captain Tony Adams was not selected, and would have had to be dropped anyway, due to his drunken-driving conviction which came after the selection. Result: England reached the Semifinal, and were defeated by Germany on penalties.

Would a sober and selected Adams have made a difference? By himself, probably not. Would having Lee Dixon at right back instead of Queens Park Rangers' Paul Parker, Nigel Winterburn at left back instead of Nottingham Forest's Stuart Pearce, David Rocastle on the right wing instead of former Tottenham star Chris Waddle, and Alan Smith up top along with Tottenham star Gary Lineker, instead of Aston Villa's David Platt in central midfield, have made a difference, first against Germany, and then against Argentina in the Final? Probably.

* 1994: Arsenal had won the 1991 League title, both domestic cups in 1993, and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1994. This time, Arsenal players Adams, Dixon, goalkeeper David Seaman and forward Kevin Campbell were on the team, but it didn't qualify. Adding Smith and Winterburn would have helped.

* 1998: Arsenal had won The Double again. Players on the England team: Seaman, Adams, and centerback Martin Keown. Result: Quarterfinal, losing to Argentina on penalties. I'm not sure having Dixon instead of Gary Neville of Manchester United at right back would have made a difference, although Dixon was known as a good penalty-taker.

* 2002: Arsenal had won The Double again. Players on the England team: Seaman, Keown, centerback Sol Campbell (with Tottenham when he was selected for the 1998 squad), and left back Ashley Cole. Result: Quarterfinals, losing to eventual Champions Brazil. This is probably as good as it could have gotten, for both club and country.

* 2006: Arsenal had won the FA Cup in 2003 and 2005, had their "Invincible" Premier League title season in 2004, and reached the Champions League Final in 2006. Players on the England team: Campbell, Cole and Theo Walcott. This time, England made the opposite mistake: Walcott probably wasn't ready. Result: Quarterfinals, losing to Portugal on penalties.

* 2010: Arsenal had been good but not great in the interim. Players on the England team: None. Walcott was not selected. Jack Wilshere was injured, and would have been selected, but probably not chosen as a starter. Result: Round of 16, losing to Germany.

There was no other Arsenal player from England who could have made a difference. Still, by this point, I had become an Arsenal fan, and the idea of rooting for 4 Chelsea players (including the defected Cole), 3 Liverpool players, 2 Manchester United players, and 5 players for arch-rival Tottenham was sickening.

* 2014: Arsenal had been good but not great, but they had just won the FA Cup. Players on the England team: Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Result: England finished last in its group. Who could have made a difference? Walcott was injured, and might not have been selected, anyway. Right back Carl Jenkinson and left back Kieran Gibbs weren't selected, and shouldn't have been, anyway.

* 2018: Arsenal had finished 2nd in 2016, and won the FA Cup again in 2015 and 2017. Players on the England team: Forward Danny Welbeck. That's it. Wilshere was injured again. Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain was no longer starting for Arsenal, so he wasn't going to be selected for England. Nor were backup centerbacks Rob Holding and Calum Chambers.

Result: Semifinals, losing to Croatia in extra time. A healthy Wilshere could have helped, but would it have been enough to beat Croatia and then France in the Final? I don't think so. So, for the 6th World Cup in a row, this one doesn't fit the narrative.

* 2022: Arsenal had won the FA Cup again in 2020. Players on the England team: Forward Bukayo Saka, centerback Ben White, and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. Result: Quarterfinals, losing to France -- with the winning goal scored by Olivier Giroud of AC Milan, formerly of Arsenal.

Would starting Ramsdale in goal instead of Jordan Pickford have made a difference? Would having Eddie Nketiah available as a forward? Would having Emile Smith-Rowe available as a midfielder? Put the three of them together, and they might have beaten France, who went on to lose the Final to Argentina on penalties.

* 2026: Arsenal had finished 3 years in a row, and finally won the Premier League. Players on the England team: Saka, midfielders Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze, and forward Noni Madueke. This was the most Arsenal-laden England team since the 1930s. And it was the England team least dependent upon Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man U in my lifetime.

Result: England reached the Semifinal against Argentina, including beating Mexico at the Azteca Stadium, which counts as a massive upset; and eliminating Norway in extra time in the Quarterfinal. But manager Thomas Tuchel refused to start any of them in the Semifinal against Argentina except Rice. Result: England led 1-0 in the 85th minute, and blew it, losing, 2-1. If Saka had started, who knows?

So: England would have done better with more Arsenal representation in 1970, 1974, 1990, 1994, 2022 and 2026; but probably not in 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 or 2018.

3. The Other Arsenal Connections. Aside from the 4 players selected for England, these Gunners chosen by their national teams for the tournament: Backup goalkeeper David Raya, midfielder Mikel Moreno and midfielder Martin Zubimendi of Spain; centerback William Saliba of France; midfielder and Captain Martin Ødegaard of Norway; centerback Gabriel Magalhães and forward Gabriel Martinelli of Brazil; Forward Kai Havertz of Germany; forward Leandro Trossard of Belgium; forward Viktor Gyökeres of Sweden; and left back Piero Hincapié of Ecuador. And Argentina's goalie, Emiliano Martinez, used to play for Arsenal.

2. The Deserving Team Lost. Putting aside everything about the country itself, from its internal racism to its welcoming of surviving Nazi war criminals after World War II, from its "Dirty War" and the tens of thousands of people its Fascist government made to "disappear" to the fixing of the 1978 World Cup they hosted to the stupid invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982: Historically, Argentina have been one of the dirtiest national teams in soccer.

Granted, Spain were no prize, either. But the world seemed to be divided into 2 camps going into the Final: People who were rooting not so much for Argentina but for Lionel Messi; and people who might not have liked Spain, but were rooting for them because they hated Argentina.

This included, outside of Argentina, pretty much every Spanish-speaking country on Earth, including those that had once been part of the Spanish Empire, which had devastated those lands' indigenous peoples, from the Tainos of Puerto Rico to the Aztecs and Mayans of Mexico, from the Incas of Peru to the natives of the Philippines.

And they were justified by Argentina's behavior in the Final. Only one of their players was sent off, Enzo Fernández, for two yellow cards, both late and dumb: One for dissent in the 85th minute, and one for a pointless foul in the 93rd, stoppage time. But they should have had at least two others sent off.

Martinez made 11 saves, a record for a World Cup Final. But Argentina had only 2 shots in 125 minutes, none of them on target. They seemed to determined to park the bus and play for penalties, which, despite the 3-3 result, was how they won the 2022 Final against France.

Unai Simón, of Athletic Bilbao, a goalie good enough to make Raya, the goalie of the Premier League Champions, his backup, led a defense that allowed just 1 goal in 7 games. Merino saved Spain with very late goals against Portugal in the Round of 16 and Belgium (the only team to score on Spain) in the Quarterfinal. Forward Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, only 19 years old, was Spain's breakout star. But it was another Barcelona player, substitute Ferran Torres (no relation to Fernando Torres), who broke the deadlock in the 106th minute.

After a career based on benefiting from his teammates cheating, both club and country, Lionel Messi was beaten, and beaten fairly. Did the team that deserved to win win? Yes. Even more so, the team that deserved to lose lost.

1. Trump Got Booed Like He Deserved. He can spin it however he wants, but did he really believe he could go into a stadium in New Jersey, close to New York, filled with Spanish-speaking people, most of them immigrants or at most 2 generations removed from immigrants, and not get booed?

The only sporting event he can go to now and not get booed is the Army-Navy Game, where everyone is under orders to cheer. He even got booed at a NASCAR event. There was an Iowa vs. Iowa State football game, in a State that he won with 51, 53 and 55 percent of the vote, increasing over time, and he got booed and had people giving him the finger. He's been booed at the Super Bowl in 2017, the World Series in 2019, and the NBA Finals and the World Cup this year.

But he's also a jinx. In 2019, he went to the World Series, hosted by the Washington Nationals, and they lost the game -- but won the Series. A month later, he went to the Alabama-LSU game, a home game for 'Bama at Tuscaloosa. 'Bama were ranked Number 3, LSU Number 2. LSU won, so it wasn't exactly an upset, but 'Bama should still have been able to defend their home field. Trump jinxed them.

This year, he went to Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, and it was the only game the Knicks lost in a 16-game Playoff stretch. Then he tried to intervene on the U.S. soccer team's behalf at the World Cup, and we got slaughtered in the next game. Then he said he was rooting for Argentina, because he sees Messi as "a winner," and because Argentina's President, a conservative named Javier Milei, has been friendly to him, while Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, a Socialist, has opposed him.

Yesterday afternoon, on Deadline White House on MS Now, host Nicolle Wallace, who had been White House Communications Director in George W. Bush's 2nd term, and a key adviser in both Bush's 2004 re-election campaign and John McCain's 2008 campaign, interviewed Kevin Blackistone and Pablo Torre, both veterans of the late, lamented Pardon the Interruption on ESPN. Referring to the Balogun situation, Blackistone, who is black, said, "Once again, Donald Trump trampled on the ethics of a particular institution, and this gentleman suffered the consequences."

She asked if FIFA's appeasement of Trump with the newly-made-up, and totally unearned "FIFA Peace Prize" had come back to bite them when Spain cropped Trump out of their official victory photo -- and then came back to bite Trump when FIFA, themselves, did the same with theirs. She said, "Appeasement never works out for the appeaser."

Torre, of Filipino and therefore also of Spanish descent, said, "FIFA is a bit of the apex predator when it comes to sports' corrupt governing bodies. So this, for them, I think, is almost literally the price of doing business." He then brought up Robert J. Hanlon's line, known as Hanlon's Razor: "Never ascribe to malice that which can be blamed on incompetence." He said, "At certain point, your incompetence becomes malice, because you are the literal President." He went on:

I like to imagine how the athletes that Trump has publicly picked and rooted for have felt over the last year. Because we have seen the New York Knicks, Nicole, when he showed up to that game, lose the one Playoff game in their entire magical run. That was the game that he attended. We have seen him mention that he played, I believe it was golf with England's Harry Kane. England loses. We have seen him say that he's going to pick Leo Messi and Argentina, and Argentina loses. It's just a bit of a running joke in sports.

So, once again, what former Republican strategist turned anti-Trump crusader Rick Wilson titled his book has come true: "Everything Trump Touches Dies."