World Cup 2026: Spain v Argentina final; England win by 10 goals – live | 2026 World Cup
Important events
A few non-World Cup news:
I like Andrey Santos – especially his ability to drill through the lines. He’s not as good as Mateus Fernandes, who United were hoping to sign, and in the end, quality is more important than value, but the arrival of Youri Tielemans at a fee makes this look like a solid acquisition.
What is wrong here is that rather than football making money because it exists, it exists to make money. Flogging tickets to companies is not a great idea and there is more than enough money in the game to save people – the problem is a lack of desire and care.
In England, I’m not sure I’d like to use Rogers in the same XI as Jude Bellingham – initially, Tuchel felt the same way and I’m not sure why he changed. When you have Harry Kane in your team, you need wide players to help him, and Rogers is looking to score, not provide.
What do we think of this move? I think I’m glad he’s not going to Arsenal, who I think need a full-back more than an all-round threat – Christos Tzolis seems a better fit – and I’m interested to see how Xabi Alonso uses him.
The fee, of course, is incredible – he’s a great player but he’s not great or guaranteed to be – but if any transfer is successful, it’s worth the money a team is lucky enough to pay for it.
Watching England against France – however, the defensive intensity was low – it was still apparent how dangerous Saka and Marcus Rashford were on the counter. If Tuchel had sent them on against Argentina right after England had scored, Lionel Scaolini’s men would have had to respect it and possibly be afraid, forced, at least, to leave the defenders to mark them, while their team would have had outside balls and a greater threat, meaning that when they cleared their lines, they would not have faced another attack.
Ironically, if his team struggles to control and break down strong defenses, Tuchel didn’t give Mainoo a single second on the pitch – and he seems to have made up his mind about the Panama match, when he brought Henderson on as his replacement. England lacked midfield balance, control, composure and creativity, a problem that ultimately cost them – and is the main reason I’d give them a slim chance of beating Spain if they reached the final. Anderson and Rice are good players, but as important as Bellingham is, I’d only want one, and all three to be finished with a more technical and brainy type – which doesn’t have to be Mainoo, he was the only one on the team.
Kobbie Mainoo’s position in a team the shooting is pathetically good.
I can’t say that this didn’t grind the gears. In selecting Henderson, a player who is far from top quality and unlikely to play in a meaningful game – Adam Wharton, Morgan Gibbs-White, Phil Phoden and Cole Palmer remain at home – the muted message was that the players could not be trusted to inspire and motivate themselves, the team is complete enough to do without maverick and unique attacking talents. it was not the case then, and it was shown to be the case throughout the tournament.
double quotation mark Tuchel revealed that Jordan Henderson’s pre-match speech helped put their success in perspective. ‘He put us in the right frame of mind, everyone in the same mindset. It was unbelievable because today was very emotional. We built something very special in the last seven weeks, and we will never compromise that. I still stand by my words, that we need to play better football, manage games better under pressure, make better decisions under pressure. We need to be more economically secure.”
Tuchel shares his thoughts on the game and the tournament.
Here’s Ed Aarons’ game report.
Was Thomas Tuchel too reserved in his use of Saka? If he was fit enough to start and play against France, he was certainly ready to play against Argentina, however Morgan Rogers was preferred from the start as well, even when he didn’t even get on the pitch. I can’t say those are the phones that looked good at the time, and they haven’t aged well.
It is not the first time that the playoff for third place has brought goals. I wonder if, in a game that doesn’t care so much about the teams, most of them have a lot of disappointment and regret – it’s the case with England and France – defending is the first thing to do.
More tennis than football, but what do we think of England 6-4 France? Reminisce about John Brewin’s MBM report:
Background
Hello hello hello! forty-eight teams, five weeks and 103 games; welcome to the final day of the World Cup!
Of course we will be looking back at England’s ridiculous victory over France, and moving forward to our Spain v Argentina game, the European champions will face the South American champions where the former won two major tournaments in a row and a fourth, including what will be the second World Cup in a row and the first since Brazil did it in 1958 and nothing happened in 1966.
So what makes these groups special? Post your thoughts, and we’ll also reflect on our best and worst moments, goals, matches, concerts, players, and ephemera. Let’s go!
