Celebrating the best of us, and 25 more thoughts on the 2026 World Cup

From the time of the opening kickoff in Mexico to the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup final Sunday evening at New Jersey’s Meadowlands, most of 39 days will have passed. So length alone would make this one of the most eventful “months” in North American sports history.

We have been privileged from June 11 to July 19 to witness the second men’s World Cup contested primarily in the United States. The world came to North America and the collective show had pretty much everything we expected and more.

These are 26 lasting impressions from the 2026 World Cup.

2026 WORLD CUP HQ: Latest World Cup news | Full World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup tickets

Mike DeCourcy's 26 Thoughts on the 2026 World Cup

1. Processing the good and bad of the USMNT

It has been nearly two weeks, and it still is difficult to come to a coherent conclusion about the United States performance in this World Cup.

They did so many positive things they’d never done: they bossed games, they created chances, they won three times and clinched first in their group after just two games. In the modern era, over the course of eight World Cups, they’d only ever won a second game once, in 2002.

And then they did one negative thing they’d never done: They got embarrassed in the knockout rounds. Not beaten – humiliated. And it happened at home, with a wildly supportive crowd gathered in Seattle.

Those who want to dismiss this entire experience as a failure because of that last game, against Belgium, they have all the evidence they need. Maybe the ending really was all that mattered, especially on U.S. soil.

But there was so much good on the way there: great soccer in the 4-1 win over Paraguay, great heart in surviving the bogus red card against Folarin Balogun to win 2-0 against Bosnia.

It remains hard to understand how there could be so much distance between these two extremes when so little time passed.

BONN: What to make of the USA's brilliant start, dreadful end

2. The VAR conundrum

When Egypt had a goal taken off the scoreboard in the 58th minute of their quarterfinal game against Argentina, it was the product of a video assistant referee (VAR) review that flagged a foul that happened at the other end of the field, during the buildup toward the goal.

It was a foul. It was not seen by the on-field ref or the sideline assistant. So the play continued until Mostafa Zico put the ball in the net for a 2-0 lead. And then the VAR signaled something was amiss – a foul that had occurred nearly 100 yards away from the goal. The goal was removed; Egypt eventually lost the game.

Indeed, the rules allow for this.

So change the rules.

Offside, potential penalties, potential red card offenses – if we must have replay review, these are the reasons for it to exist. Not something that happened 100 yards away from a goal.

Those who watched England’s loss to Argentina in the semifinals might have seen the great Lionel Messi appear to step on the foot of England left back Djed Spence only 10 yards from the goal just before creating the game-winning cross to teammate Lautaro Martinez. There was no obvious review on that play. It was one more circumstance that favored Messi and Argentina. This is how such conspiracy theories develop.

3. No debate

If anyone uses the word “arguably” in advance of calling Argentina’s Lionel Messi the best ever to play his sport, you’ll know they’re trying way too hard.

There’s no argument, now.

Pele, Maradona, Beckenbauer, Cristiano Ronaldo – all were legends, all among the greatest.

With what Messi has accomplished in his career, with what he continues to do, it is likely to be years before we see anyone begin to approach his achievements. It’ll probably happen; we never thought we’d see Michael Jordan’s equal, and then along came LeBron James.

Imagine how great the player will need to be to surpass Messi, though.

TAYLOR: Messi magic appears once again when Argentina needed it most

4. Hey, Jude

Striker Harry Kane was a valuable player for England throughout the tournament, but it was odd to see the media continuing to focus on him as a key to the team as the World Cup advanced and his influence waned.

He still mattered, but it was midfielder Jude Bellingham who dominated the biggest games: two goals in the Round of 16 victory at Mexico, two more in the quarterfinal against Norway. Coming off a challenging season with Real Madrid, he consistently showed why he is one of the best players in the world.

Perhaps because he is willing to speak for himself, which can be rare in the world of soccer, there were attempts to draw him into controversy. When he disagreed with an assessment by coach Thomas Tuchel that England had not played well on a hot Miami afternoon against Norway, Bellingham said, “Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those conditions” against Norway stars Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard and Antonio Nusa. When he didn’t like a foul during the first half of the semifinal loss to Argentina, he was comfortable exchanging words with Messi.

If England can build a better team around him than Tuchel was willing to take to this World Cup, Bellingham could be the singular star of the next.

5. Anyone know yet what those Chalamet ads are about?

I’ve seen Timothee Chalamet on those adidas “Backyard Legends” ads for more than a month and I still have no idea what point they’re trying to make.

It is cool to see Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal supposedly sitting in the same backseat of a car driven by Chalamet, with Trinity Rodman in the shotgun seat, but the story of a three-player crew that dominates a soccer playground for three decades never seems to make its point.

Even the one episode where three stars of the 90s supposedly fall – one is Zidane, the other is an imprecise David Beckham, but the third? Is that supposed to be Maradona? No, it’s Alessandro Del Piero of Italy and Juventus. I only know this because I Googled.

The only good thing about the World Cup ending is the likelihood these will go away soon.

Los Angeles World Cup Host Committee

6. SoFi is a palace

I’ve been in sports facilities that have more character, more history: Allen Fieldhouse, Ohio State’s Horseshoe, the San Siro in Milan, Liverpool’s Anfield, Fenway Park.

I’ve never been in one as spectacularly beautiful as SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area. I was on the grounds daily for nearly a week and inside five times, even getting down to the field when the Iran squad was doing a “familiarization” walk along the field the day before its opening World Cup game.

From every angle – inside, outside, looking up, looking down – the stadium is an architectural marvel, to an untrained eye worthy of the great modern designs of someone like Frank Gehry.

The HKS architecture firm has video of the stadium as the centerpiece of its website. The company’s Lance Evans is credited as the principal designer of the venue. Maybe it’s because he works on football stadiums and not concert halls, but his work is worthy of more public recognition.

7. What’s in a name?

The American preference for the name “Cape Verde” over the “Cabo Verde” listed on the U.S. State Department website, the World Bank and the United Nations is one thing that continues to vex weeks after their spectacular exit from the tournament.

The small island nation off the coast of Senegal validated its presence in the World Cup with a scoreless draw against finalist Spain in the opener and a scintillating effort in a 3-2 extra-time loss to finalist Argentina in the Round of 32.

Cabo Verde was originally colonized by Portugal in the 1400s and became independent in 1975. They officially petitioned the UN to change the country’s name to Cabo Verde in 2013. And it only makes sense.

Cabo translates as “Cape” in Portuguese.

Verde means “Green”.

So it’s either Cabo Verde or Cape Green.

Only way it makes sense. And the first one sounds much more inviting.

8. Ranch hands

Europeans who traveled to the U.S. for the World Cup apparently discovered ranch dressing while they were here. Some were flagged trying to ferry large bottles back across the Atlantic in their carry-on bags.

They are welcome to take all of it back home with them.

9. One thing FIFA got wrong

Perhaps the desire to play as much of this tournament as possible indoors led to the selection of two sites inside the state of Texas. Including Dallas and Houston, as well as Santa Clara, which served no great purpose but to get my boss Elliott to a game, meant only one city from America’s heartland was involved in the tournament.

It was too coastal, as a result. More Americans deserved to be close to this event.

Cincinnati was a finalist and should have made the cut.

If a bunch of Europeans had fallen for Skyline Chili, though, not sure how we’d have handled that.

10. Seeds planted just in time

This was the first World Cup tournament in which the four top teams in the FIFA World Ranking were placed on the bracket so they could not meet until the semifinals.

And that’s how it turned out: No. 1 Argentina, No. 2 France, No. 3 Spain and No. 4 England. They all made it, and the semis were spectacular.

Why it took so long for tournament organizers to recognize the value and fairness of this approach is hard to say. Let’s hope they’re open to similarly smart changes in the future.

BONN: Why Spain will beat Argentina in World Cup final

11. Now get a proper appeals process

The weirdest thing about this World Cup might have been the U.S. president interjecting himself to get American star Folarin Balogun’s eligibility restored to compete in the Round of 16 after he was ejected for a poorly applied red card.

It likely wouldn’t have happened if FIFA had an appeals process for red cards similar to every single major league on the planet: La Liga, Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, MLS.

What was really weird was FIFA citing the abundance of these mechanisms in leagues around the world to justify the suspension of Balogun’s suspension. If they’d just put an appeals body in place for the biggest sporting event on the planet, it would have been so much simpler.

How about we not repeat this in 2030?

12. Remember Brazil?

I watched the opening game between Brazil and Morocco at a bar in Santa Monica. So I know Brazil was involved in this tournament.

But it never felt like they arrived, did it?

The last time the World Cup was here, Brazil won in a penalty shootout over Italy, then went on to reach the next three finals. Once by far the greatest soccer nation on the planet, still the only one with five World Cup victories, this is a national team program that totally lost its path.

When will they make it all the way back?

13. Take me home

During a discussion on the “Today” show about the singing of “Country Roads” following U.S. victories, co-host Al Roker seemed bothered that the whole national team would adopt a song that focuses on West Virginia as its anthem.

He very assertively pointed out: It’s only one state.

That’s not what should catch one’s attention, though.

The most astounding thing is that a song that was co-written, recorded and released by John Denver in 1971 would be sung, word-for-word, by a team full of 20-somethings. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 that August. Christian Pulisic would not be born for another 27 years, but he sang along as if it was a product of his days as a teen.

As someone who was a kid when that song was a hit, it helps me say with confidence: 70s music is still the best music.

Singing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” with 70,000 friends after a USMNT World Cup knockout win is the best America 250 pre-party pic.twitter.com/MkUXJSoSqp

14. The point god

The obvious disappointment connected to France’s departure from the tournament at the semifinal stage is not getting the chance to see Kylian Mbappe ring up more goals in the final.

But the most fun player to watch with Les Bleus was Michael Olise, who ran the team as if he were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Tyrese Haliburton.

With five assists in seven games, quite possibly none of them less than extraordinary, Olise was the most elegant player in this tournament.

15. El Tri ascent

One of the compelling byproducts of the North American World Cup was Mexico’s performance in winning four consecutive games by shutout – a combined score of 8-0 – and then pushing England to the limit in the Round of 16.

Forward Julian Quinones scored four goals, striker Raul Jimenez rang up three and goalkeeper Raul Rangel was a shutout machine.

A Mexico squad this strong will be a compelling opponent for the USMNT over the next several years. American fans who’d grown bored with this rivalry because of El Tri’s brief and not-so-significant decline better watch out for what they're about to bring.

16. Young blood?

The favorite to win the FIFA Young Player Award – given to the best World Cup player under 21 – is Spain’s Lamine Yamal, which seems incongruous given he’s already finished runner-up for world player of the year honors as signified by the Ballon d’Or.

One thing we haven’t really seen come out of this World Cup is a series of new, young stars.

The brightest newcomer to the world soccer scene probably was Cabo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, relatively unknown until he shut out Spain in the opener. He’s 40 years old.

Morocco’s Auyyoub Bouaddi caught some attention but was subbed early out of a quarterfinal defeat. Pau Cubarsi has been quietly outstanding, part of a Spain defense that’s only yielded a single goal in seven games.

Mostly, though, the older guys have controlled this Cup.

David Butler Imagn Images

17. Of course it was a smash

From the weather to politics to transportation, one might have thought in advance of this tournament that the 2026 World Cup would be a disaster.

Doesn’t anyone have any sense of history?

When the World Cup was here in 1994, an attendance record was set that stood until this one blew it away, even though that event included 24 teams and seven subsequent tournaments featured 32.

People always were going to fill the stadiums. The Scots and Dutch and Norwegians always were going to have a spectacular time.

And so they did.

There’s no place like the U.S. for big events. When people start gloom/dooming the LA 2028 Olympics, remember what just happened.

18. DNA?

What was a hit song for Kendrick Lamar never should have been a refrain for England head coach Thomas Tuchel following his team’s blown lead and 2-1 defeat to Argentina in the semifinals.

He blamed the team’s inability to possess the ball for the loss. He said it was “maybe not in our DNA”, as with Spain and Argentina.

It’s the worst excuse I can remember a coach making for a defeat — especially one who subbed on multiple defenders until his team fell behind.

19. Small consolation

Do you care who finishes third? Does anyone? The France and England players have been involved in seven games already at this tournament.

That’s plenty.

They should be permitted to go home and sleep.

20. Looking for love

If you were intrigued by soccer or fallen completely in love after five weeks’ exposure to the 2026 World Cup, indulge that new passion by getting out and going to a game near you: Major League Soccer, National Women’s Soccer League, United Soccer League, or a college or high school

The beautiful game is even more so in person.

21. Up the Reds

If you’re one of those people new to soccer who believes you now must pick a team in England’s Premier League to follow, the only correct answer is Liverpool.

YNWA.

22. The women are coming

If you can’t wait four years for another World Cup, we have excellent news: There’s one in less than 12 months.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup arrives June 24, 2027 in Brazil, where it will be contested over the course of a month in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and six other cities.

Spain is reigning champion, which means if the nation’s men defeat Argentina in Sunday’s final, they’ll be the first nation ever to hold both World Cup trophies at once. Germany is the only other nation to have won both at any point.

23. We’ll always have Paraguay

After 45 minutes of the USMNT’s World Cup, they held a 3-0 lead on one of the best defensive teams in the tournament, a Paraguay squad that had yielded only 10 goals in 18 South American World Cup qualifying games (and that would go on to allow only one each to Germany and France).

What a moment that was.

Anything seemed possible.

DECOURCY: The USMNT shows it is all grown up in rout of Paraguay

24. Yes, the game will grow

There will be no soccer revolution in the U.S. as a result of this World Cup, and some will present that as evidence there’s been no impact.

We’re farther along as a soccer nation than that. We’re 36 years into the modern era, far enough advanced to be angry over the abysmal performance against Belgium. In 1990, the USMNT was just happy to be at the World Cup. In 1994, they were thrilled by the opportunity to play Brazil in the Round of 16. Now, they expect more, and so do their fans.

More people will have fallen in love with the sport as a result of this occasion.

Millions? Maybe not. But still more. And every person who comes into “the tent” has the potential to make it better.

25. The heart of Iran

Near the start of my World Cup adventure, I covered the first game involving the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose team faced New Zealand in Los Angeles.

Outside the stadium, there were some protests from exiles against the current Iran regime, but also a vast group of Americans with Iranian roots there to support the national team of their homeland.

I met Maz and Michael Vasseghi of Los Angeles on may way into the stadium. There had been a dispute over whether fans would be allowed to carry in pre-revolutionary Iran flags into the game; FIFA won a court injunction to stop them, but scores got them inside, anyway.

The Vasseghis wore T-shirts that sent a different message.

Across the front were representations of the Iran flag, with neither the current center symbol nor the Lion + Sun logo from the past. At the center of theirs was a beautifully drawn heart.

That sent a message everyone could embrace.

26. The World Cup is the best of us

There are wars, conflicts, economic issues and political disputes going on around the globe on any given day.

The World Cup, like the Olympic Games, are a reminder of what we can accomplish on this planet by coming together for a common purpose instead of greedily pursuing every last ounce of power, every last dollar or pound or euro or (pick any currency you prefer).

Is there greed involved in the World Cup? Unfortunately, yes. Are there political issues? Not usually, but this time, yeah.

There was also more joy and exhilaration and community stuffed into these past 39 days than we might see again until Brazil 2027, and then LA 2028.

If only every day could be a World Cup day.

MORE WORLD CUP NEWS:

• Odds, spread for Spain vs. Argentina World Cup final
• Printable World Cup bracket
• World Cup prize money breakdown