Sports 18 July 2026

The 2026 World Cup is closing on a record — and Trump gets to hand over the trophy

World Cup 2026 ends with a record 6.7 million spectators. On Sunday, Trump joins Infantino for the trophy ceremony at MetLife and FIFA debuts championship rings.

Before anyone lifts the trophy, World Cup 2026 has already claimed one title: biggest ever. By the time Argentina and Spain settle Sunday’s final, roughly 6.7 million spectators will have passed through the turnstiles — more than the previous two World Cups combined. That is 104 matches across 16 cities in three countries, with fans from 200 nations, and there is still tonight’s third-place game between France and England in Miami to add to the pile.

How many people attended World Cup 2026?

Close to 6.7 million, an outright record for the tournament — the expanded 48-team format and those giant North American stadiums did the heavy lifting. Donald Trump seized on the numbers to declare the United States “a football nation” and floated a figure of nearly six billion cumulative viewers; for the record, official audiences for past World Cups never came anywhere near that, so the presidential arithmetic deserves a pinch of salt.

Why is Trump handing over the trophy?

The White House confirmed the US president will be at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, joining Gianni Infantino to hand the trophy to the winning captain. There is a first, too: FIFA will present championship rings, American-league style, to the winners. Getting inside costs a small fortune — resale prices for final tickets have gone through the roof — while everyone else can warm up with our full Argentina vs Spain final preview. The official match page is on FIFA’s site.

All that is left is for the ending to match the frame: record stands, a president on the pitch — and a ball that still gets the final word.

By Vasco Almada

Image: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sports 19 July 2026

England win World Cup 2026 bronze in a wild 6-4 — and even that couldn't stop Mbappé's records

England beat France 6-4 in the World Cup 2026 third-place match in Miami after leading 4-0. Mbappé scored twice, reached 22 career World Cup goals and now leads the Golden Boot with 10.

England beat France 6-4 in the World Cup 2026 third-place match in Miami on Saturday night — ten goals, half a historic comeback, and two records falling along the way. It's England's best World Cup finish since the 1966 title, and the first time the bronze game has ended in an English party: the only previous attempt, in 1990, ended in defeat. A game in two acts that nobody scripted. With Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham starting on the bench and a heavily…

Aerial view of a football pitch during a match

Sports 18 July 2026

World Cup 2026 today: news, results and the updated bracket

Our running World Cup 2026 tracker: results from every round, the updated knockout bracket and the day's big stories, updated through the 19 July final.

This is our running World Cup 2026 tracker, updated after every round through the final on 19 July at MetLife Stadium. Instead of hunting for the day's article, you'll find the results that matter, the stories shaping the tournament and the road to the final here — with the official schedule and results always available on FIFA's site. For the first time there is a round of 32 before the round of 16: the top two in each group advance along with the eight…

Sports 18 July 2026

The World Cup 2026 Golden Boot is tied — and Messi and Mbappé have until Sunday to settle it

Messi and Mbappé enter the final weekend of the 2026 World Cup level on eight goals in the Golden Boot race. Assists break the tie — here is how the duel plays out.

The tightest race left at this World Cup isn't for a podium place — it's for a boot. Messi and Mbappé reach the tournament's final weekend level on eight goals apiece, and the fixture list has turned it into a near-perfect long-distance duel: the Frenchman had tonight's third-place game in Miami, the Argentine gets Sunday's final in New Jersey. As we write, Messi and Mbappé share the lead on eight goals, with nobody else still playing anywhere near them.…

Sports 18 July 2026

Messi plays the last final of his life tomorrow — and spent the eve promising to 'give it our all'

On the eve of the World Cup 2026 final against Spain, Messi turned up at Fanatics Fest in New York, posed for selfies with Brady and Djokovic, and left one promise: Argentina will give everything at MetLife.

Messi has one match left. One. And it happens to be a World Cup final. At 39, Argentina's captain walks into MetLife Stadium tomorrow for what everyone — himself included — treats as the last World Cup game of his career, against a Spain side arriving unbeaten in 37 matches. Around 1.5 billion people are expected to watch how it ends. The eve was not spent in monastic silence. On Friday night Messi appeared at Fanatics Fest in New York, where he was…

Sports 18 July 2026

Portugal's World Cup squad flew on an ICE deportation plane — and nobody knew

Portugal's national team travelled to Dallas at the 2026 World Cup on a GlobalX aircraft regularly used for ICE deportation flights, including the removal of Venezuelans to El Salvador's mega-prison.

On the eve of the final, the 2026 World Cup has one more uncomfortable story — and this one lands close to home. Portugal's squad flew to Dallas on 4 July, for the match against Spain, aboard an aircraft belonging to Global Crossing Airlines, better known as GlobalX: a charter company that spends much of its time flying deportation missions for ICE, the US immigration enforcement agency. Because of the registration number, visible in videos of the trip…

Sports 17 July 2026

Spain reach the World Cup 2026 final having conceded once — now Messi's Argentina must solve the unsolvable

Spain kept six clean sheets and conceded a single goal on the road to the World Cup 2026 final. On Sunday at MetLife Stadium, that wall meets the champions.

One number explains why Spain go into Sunday as favourites: one. A single goal conceded across seven World Cup matches. No side had ever arrived at a final like this — six shut-outs in one edition, something no World Cup had seen before — and that is the wall Lionel Messi's Argentina have 48 hours to figure out. Just one in the entire campaign — six of their seven games ended without Simón picking the ball out of his net, a first for a single World Cup.…

Sports 17 July 2026

Messi and Mbappé are tied for the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot — and the tiebreaker has already picked its winner

The 2026 World Cup Golden Boot race is level: Messi and Mbappé sit on eight goals each. The tiebreaker favours the Argentine — but the Frenchman plays first.

Eight goals apiece. The 2026 World Cup Golden Boot race heads into the final weekend with Messi and Mbappé locked together at the top of the scoring charts — and with one delicious detail: if neither scores again, the trophy already has an owner. FIFA's tiebreaker looks at assists first, and that's where the Argentine smiles. Messi has four to Mbappé's three — and his latest two were worth their weight in gold, setting up both goals in the stoppage-time…

Tugadaily chart comparing the resale price of a World Cup 2026 final ticket with the official price and with Qatar 2022

Sports 17 July 2026

A ticket to the Argentina-Spain final costs more than a used car

World Cup 2026 final tickets are reselling at an average of $11,000 at MetLife, with some listings asking millions. Here is what Sunday's Argentina-Spain final is really costing fans.

If you were thinking of nipping over to New Jersey for Sunday's World Cup final, sit down before you look at the prices. Getting into MetLife Stadium for Argentina-Spain costs, on average, around $11,000 on the resale market — more than plenty of people pay for a second-hand car. The average resale price is hovering around $11,272, and even the cheapest secondary-market seat rarely dips below $11,000. It is the most expensive final ever: for context, the…

Sports 17 July 2026

MotoGP is moving to DAZN in Portugal — five seasons of exclusivity through 2031

DAZN has secured exclusive MotoGP broadcast rights in Portugal from 2027 to 2031, including Moto2, Moto3 and the World Superbike championship where Miguel Oliveira races. The Portuguese GP stays at Portimão.

Motorcycle racing fans in Portugal have a new name to memorise. DAZN has secured exclusive broadcast rights to MotoGP in the country from 1 January 2027, in a five-season deal running through the end of 2031. The package covers everything: practice, qualifying, sprint races and the full Grands Prix across MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3. On DAZN, exclusively — the streaming platform becomes the only home of motorcycling's premier class in Portugal for five…

Sports 17 July 2026

Slavko Vinčić gets the World Cup 2026 final — and Argentina remember him too well

FIFA has confirmed Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić for the World Cup 2026 final between Argentina and Spain on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. He refereed the 2024 Champions League final — and Argentina's shock loss to Saudi Arabia in 2022.

The whistle for the biggest game of the next four years has an owner. FIFA has confirmed Slovenia's Slavko Vinčić, 46, as the referee for the World Cup 2026 final between Argentina and Spain, Sunday at 8pm Lisbon time at MetLife Stadium. He'll have serious company: Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic on the lines and Jordan's Adham Makhadmeh as fourth official. One of Europe's most experienced officials. An international since 2010, he took charge of the…

Sports 16 July 2026

Argentina vs Spain in the World Cup 2026 final — Sunday 8pm Lisbon, and it's a first

Argentina and Spain meet in the World Cup 2026 final on Sunday 19 July at MetLife Stadium, 8pm Lisbon time. How they got there, the storylines, and where to watch.

Nearly there. On Sunday at 8pm Lisbon time, at MetLife Stadium, world champions Argentina face European champions Spain — and, remarkably, it is the first time these two have ever met in a World Cup final. They took very different roads. Spain saw off France with a composed 2-0 sealed by Oyarzabal, while Argentina had to suffer: a goal down against England before roaring back to win 2-1 through Enzo Fernández late on.

Sports 16 July 2026

Deschamps left the World Cup asking if the referee was up to a semi-final

Didier Deschamps questioned referee Iván Cisneros after France lost the World Cup 2026 semi-final 2-0 to Spain, claiming a penalty was missed — while admitting his side fell short.

Didier Deschamps did not leave the World Cup quietly. After France went down to Spain in the semi-finals, the French coach posed the question still doing the rounds: was the referee really up to the level of a World Cup semi-final? His target is Mexican official Iván Cisneros, who took charge of Spain's 2-0 win, settled by Oyarzabal and Porro. Deschamps insists a penalty on his side went unpunished and that it wasn't the only questionable call of the…

Sports 16 July 2026

Daniel Bragança could be on his way out of Sporting — and the club has already set a price

Daniel Bragança's Sporting contract runs to 2027 with no renewal offer on the table, and the club wants 8-12 million euros. What we know about the midfielder's future.

Some names feel like part of the furniture at Alvalade, and Daniel Bragança is one of them. Academy product, club captain, owner of some of the cleanest passing in the Primeira Liga — and, by all indications, on his way out. The 27-year-old midfielder is on the list of players Sporting are willing to sell this window, and the subject has Lisbon talking. Cold contract maths. His deal expires in 2027 and there is no renewal offer on the table, which makes…

Sports 16 July 2026

England vs France is Saturday in Miami — the World Cup 2026 bronze is on the line

England and France meet in the World Cup 2026 third-place match on Saturday 18 July at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, 5pm local time (10pm in Portugal). Here's what's at stake.

Nobody grows up dreaming of the third-place match, but there are worse ways to end a World Cup than England vs France in a Miami stadium. The two sides that left the semi-finals heartbroken get one more night to make a month of work mean something — and to decide who climbs onto the podium. This Saturday, 18 July, at 5pm local time — 10pm in Portugal — at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, which waves goodbye to the World Cup with this fixture. It's the…