The World Cup Is Over. The Memories Aren’t.
Spain lifted the trophy, but the stories, heartbreak and unforgettable moments from the past month and a half are what I’ll remember most.
For the past month and a half, the World Cup has consumed my life. Pretty much every brain cell I possessed was focused on the universe’s greatest sporting event. It was an absolute joy, and I’m genuinely bummed that it’s over.
Before the tournament even started, I wrote that the World Cup is built on dreams. Those dreams are different depending on the nation. Brazil, the five-time champions who entered the tournament in the midst of a 24-year World Cup title drought, hoped to erase the failures of the recent past and reclaim their place atop the footballing world. England believed this might finally be the generation that brought football home after 60 years of waiting. Argentina wanted to give Lionel Messi one more magical ride. Morocco dreamed of proving that 2022 wasn’t a fluke. The United States wanted to show that soccer had truly arrived in America. Every nation arrived with a different story, but every one of them was chasing the exact same ending.
Only one of those dreams came true.
Spain, perhaps not the flashiest team in the tournament, simply suffocated everybody in its path. It wasn’t always filled with spectacular moments. Its journey didn’t always take our breath away. But it was always relentless. The Spanish pressed opponents into mistakes, dominated possession without becoming wasteful and defended with a discipline that bordered on perfection. Outside of a shaky opening match against Cape Verde, nobody ever really looked comfortable against them. Austria couldn’t solve them. Portugal couldn’t solve them. Belgium couldn’t solve them. France, surprisingly, couldn’t solve them. And in the final, neither could Argentina. Messi magic carried the Argentines all the way to the championship match, but even magic has its limits when it’s staring down a team that never lets you breathe.
During the FOX broadcast, Stu Holden said something that perfectly summed up Spain: “The star is the team.”
Sure, Spain has stars. Lamine Yamal is already one of the most electric players on Earth. Rodri remains the best midfielder in football. Nico Williams, Pedri and the rest of that squad could walk into almost any starting XI in the world. But none of them ever felt bigger than the crest on the front of the shirt. They won because they functioned as one complete unit. In a tournament that revolved around individual brilliance, there was something refreshing about watching the best team simply be ... the best team.
Oddly enough, though, Spain probably won’t be what I remember most from this World Cup. Thirty years from now, I don’t think my mind will immediately jump to Spain lifting the trophy in New Jersey. Instead, it’ll jump to the stories.
It’ll jump to Cape Verde nearly shocking Argentina in one of the greatest underdog performances I’ve ever watched. It’ll jump to Mexico nearly throwing England out of the Azteca in the Round of 16. It’ll jump to Norway’s unbelievable tournament, Erling Haaland proudly carrying around that stuffed raccoon, Paraguay stunning Germany, Morocco breaking Dutch hearts on penalties, Jude Bellingham somehow becoming an even bigger superstar than he already was, Argentina roaring back against Egypt, the breathtaking Golden Boot race, Scotland’s Tartan Army taking over cities across America, the United States smashing Paraguay before digging deep to eliminate Bosnia and Herzegovina while playing with 10 men.
Those are the moments that make the World Cup what it is.
Those are the moments that I’ll carry with me forever.
Even the controversies somehow become part of the memories. The Folarin Balogun red card debacle remains, in my opinion, the biggest blemish on this entire tournament. While I still believe that the decision to send Balogun off was incorrect, the process of reinstating his eligibility was suspicious at best. But as time has passed, I’ve found myself thinking less about the whole situation and more about Balogun’s response afterward. He refused to lash out following the red card. He even shook the referee’s hand after the match concluded. His insistence that little kids watching deserved to see somebody handle adversity the right way was awe-inspiring. If there was one player whose reputation skyrocketed throughout this World Cup, it was Balogun’s. He arrived as an excellent striker. He leaves feeling like somebody who should become the face of soccer in the United States for years to come.
There will be plenty of conversations over the coming months about what this tournament means for soccer in America. Will it create new fans? Will kids pick up a ball because they watched Malik Tillman or Balogun this summer? How will MLS benefit from everything? Honestly, I have no clue. Those questions often take years to fully answer.
What I do know is this: For a month and a half, the world’s game descended upon the United States, and people paid attention.
Maybe they watched every match. Maybe they only tuned in for the United States. Maybe they spent the entire tournament arguing about offside and VAR. That’s OK. They still watched. They still cared. For a few wonderful weeks, soccer dominated conversations around the country in a way that it almost never does outside of a World Cup. That counts for something.
As for me, I’m sticking around.
Soccer has become an integral part of my life over the past five years, especially the last three. Saturday mornings begin with the Premier League. Midweek afternoons belong to the Champions League, which I firmly believe is the second-greatest sporting tournament in the world behind only the World Cup itself. Every season introduces new stories, new rivalries and new reasons to fall in love with the sport all over again. This tournament didn’t create that passion for me. It simply reminded me why it exists.
And here’s the fun part: The stories aren’t over.
In just a few weeks, many of the players who became household names across America during this World Cup will return to their clubs. Arsenal will try to defend its Premier League title. Real Madrid will once again chase European glory. Barcelona will look to reclaim its place atop Spain. Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain will all have stories worth following. Lamine Yamal will continue dazzling defenders for Barcelona. Jude Bellingham will still be Jude Bellingham. Kylian Mbappé will keep doing ridiculous things. Erling Haaland will keep scoring goals that defy logic. The World Cup might be over, but the players who made it unforgettable aren’t going anywhere.
If this tournament introduced you to those players for the very first time, don’t let that be where your journey ends.
Because if the past month and a half proved anything, it’s that this sport has an endless supply of stories waiting to be told.