Biggest winners and losers from 2026 World Cup

The most important World Cup ever has come to an finish, with Spain dominating Argentina to assert its second males’s title. The marquee occasion stole the headlines from begin to end however not all the time for the precise causes. Right here, we establish the event’s greatest winners and losers.

Winner: Kylian Mbappe

Mbappe’s France did not conquer the World Cup once more – in actual fact, Les Bleus did not even make it to the ultimate – however the Actual Madrid striker rewrote historical past in North America this summer season.

Mbappe led the event with 10 targets, turning into solely the fourth man ever to have double-digit tallies in a single World Cup. He additionally turned the quadrennial competitors’s all-time chief with 22 targets … in 22 matches!

Mbappe entered the 2026 World Cup with questions on the membership degree after Actual Madrid did not come near successful the UEFA Champions League or La Liga for a second yr with the famous person striker on the roster. He did put up numbers with 42 targets throughout all competitions, however by the top of the season, Mbappe’s slot in Los Blancos’ beginning XI was in query beneath former coach Alvaro Arbeloa. Now the France captain returns to Madrid because the World Cup’s new scoring king – and with new boss Jose Mourinho in cost.

Loser: Ronaldo’s swan music

Portugal entered the World Cup among the many pretournament favorites, boasting an elite squad highlighted by one of many sport’s finest midfield trios (Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes, and Joao Neves). However Roberto Martinez’s aspect by no means hit prime gear, bowing out to eventual champion Spain within the spherical of 16.

Though shedding to Spain alone isn’t sufficient to label the marketing campaign a failure, Portugal may have prevented a conflict with La Roja till the ultimate if it had secured first place in Group Ok. As an alternative, lackluster performances in attracts in opposition to Colombia and DR Congo paved the way in which for an early exit.

Portugal’s midfield appeared disconnected, and the workforce lacked any actual vertical risk in assault. Cristiano Ronaldo performed off the shoulder and repeatedly tried to use house behind opposing backlines. Nonetheless, he contributed simply three targets – two in opposition to Uzbekistan and one from the penalty spot versus Croatia – regardless of logging nearly each minute of Portugal’s marketing campaign. He registered 17 photographs with out making a single scoring likelihood for a teammate, probably the most at a World Cup since 1966, in response to Opta.

Regardless of that lack of manufacturing, Martinez largely caught with Ronaldo fairly than turning to his bench for a spark. When Ronaldo was lastly withdrawn in opposition to Croatia, his alternative, Goncalo Ramos, made an immediate impression with the aim that despatched Portugal to the spherical of 16. The query stays: Might Portugal have gained Group Ok and fulfilled its potential if Martinez had been extra keen to take Ronaldo off – and earlier – in key matches?

Winner: Gianni Infantino

FIFA president Gianni Infantino received the crown jewel he craved.

Strictly from an on-pitch perspective, probably the most grandiose World Cup in historical past could not have come collectively any higher for the unabashed chief of world soccer’s governing physique. Probably the most matches, probably the most targets, the most important whole attendance determine, and, naturally, probably the most cash generated.

“This World Cup has not simply damaged all doable data, it has smashed them, it has destroyed each file,” Infantino mentioned, with FIFA claiming an all-time file attendance of over 6.8 million mixed over the 104 matches.

“I imply, you can not script the proper World Cup in such a means as this. … I feel we’ve got to invent a brand new vocabulary, new phrases to outline the success of this FIFA World Cup.”

Regardless of his extreme language, he isn’t improper. The sport’s greatest superstars stole the present, one of the best workforce on the planet ended up hoisting the trophy, and a few indelible tales have been written – whats up, Cape Verde! – that would not have been doable with out the much-maligned expanded format.

The success of this summer season’s supersized occasion will solely embolden Infantino, who’ll have renewed assist from the tons of of member associations that depend on the monetary windfall created by the event.

Loser: Additionally Gianni Infantino

And but, it is unimaginable to not really feel cynical within the aftermath of this summer season’s competitors.

FIFA has by no means been a bastion of credibility, in equity, however Infantino allowed the governing physique – and, by extension, the game – to hit nauseating lows this summer season. The “most inclusive” World Cup ever, as FIFA baldly claimed, featured quite a few followers – and even a referee – being denied entry into a number of the host nations. Infantino’s response? “Chill, chill out.”

The event featured mistreatment of the Iranian nationwide workforce. It had exorbitant ticket costs that robbed numerous followers from experiencing a possible one-in-a-lifetime occasion.

And, after all, all of it culminated with blatant political interference from U.S. President Donald Trump, who efficiently lobbied Infantino to have USMNT striker Folarin Balogun’s red-card ban reviewed (and ultimately suspended) throughout the knockout stage of the event. Who may have probably predicted that Infantino’s fixed pandering to heads of state would have penalties?

All this, and we have not even touched on hydration breaks, the universally despised three-minute disruptions that change the very material of the game and have been introduced in beneath the guise of participant welfare.

Maybe this was already the case lengthy earlier than the 2026 World Cup, however the “stunning sport” is properly and actually gone.

Winner: Vozinha

Cape Verde’s historic marketing campaign was one of many event’s most fun storylines, and the Blue Sharks’ 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha stole the present.

All of us ignored Cape Verde within the group stage, and the way may we not? The nation made its World Cup debut because the second-smallest nation ever to qualify for the boys’s event. To make issues worse, the Blue Sharks landed in the identical group as two former champions, Spain and Uruguay. Nonetheless, Cape Verde superior previous the group stage with out shedding a match and gave Argentina a run for its cash within the spherical of 32, taking the sport to additional time earlier than shedding 3-2.

Vozinha turned a World Cup sensation, making viral saves to assist Cape Verde maintain eventual champion Spain to a surprising goalless attract his event debut. The ‘keeper had roughly 50,000 followers on Instagram earlier than the occasion began. He is now at 29 million, and the free agent has been linked to notable golf equipment after spending the previous three seasons with second-tier Portuguese aspect Chaves.

Loser: Large-name membership coaches

The World Cup was nice for the game’s greatest superstars on the sector, however the identical cannot be mentioned for a number of big-time membership coaches, who fell properly in need of expectations.

Mauricio Pochettino, who joined the U.S. males’s workforce in 2024 after stints with Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, did not go away a terrific impression on dwelling soil. Granted, the People appeared good early within the group stage in opposition to inferior competitors. Nonetheless, their sloppy efficiency in a 4-1 loss to Belgium within the spherical of 16 introduced a disappointing and worrisome finish to a once-promising marketing campaign.

And the way about Carlo Ancelotti? Sure, the legendary Italian boss did not actually have a full World Cup cycle with Brazil, so there’s hope that one other 4 years in cost will assist. However Ancelotti, who’s gained the UEFA Champions League a file 5 occasions, failed to offer the Selecao an identification, elevating much more questions concerning the workforce. 5-time winner Brazil fell within the spherical of 16 to Norway with solely 34% possession, the nation’s lowest fee in any World Cup knockout sport ever.

Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel additionally fall on this class. Nagelsmann’s Germany by no means clicked in North America, and its marketing campaign resulted in a shootout loss to Paraguay within the spherical of 32.

Tuchel did lead England to a third-place end, the nation’s finest World Cup consequence since its 1966 title. Nonetheless, Tuchel’s defensive strategy and substitutions after going up 1-0 within the semifinals generated monumental criticism. England merely stopped taking part in within the second half and was punished with two late Argentina targets in regulation. Oh, and Bukayo Saka, who did not even come off the bench within the semis, scored three targets within the third-place match, making Tuchel’s choices even more durable to grasp.

Distinction that with new world champion Spain, led by a tactician who assumed his place in 2022 with little fanfare and a modest teaching background. Luis de la Fuente, in contrast to the big-name bosses talked about right here, is an instance of what is doable when nationwide groups and federations domesticate an identification and philosophy that is not depending on one individual.

Winner: Erling Haaland

Haaland entered the World Cup as arguably the only finest striker on the planet, an plain scoring machine with a number of membership titles to his title and widespread recognition of his greatness.

He left the World Cup a world phenomenon.

Apart from the aforementioned Vozinha, no participant on the event enhanced his social standing just like the Norwegian famous person, who mixed his exploits on the pitch with endearing and entertaining social media exercise off it throughout his time in the US.

Norway’s involvement – from the workforce’s deep run to its followers – was among the finest tales of the event, and Haaland was the poster boy all through.

Bonus Winner: Spain’s philosophy

Spain, the one nation to ever maintain each the boys’s and girls’s World Cup titles on the similar time, is the dominant drive in soccer proper now. Interval.

La Roja, additionally the reigning European champions, have all of the items in place to go on one other dynastic run that mirrors the 2008-12 stretch that noticed the boys’s aspect sandwich a World Cup title between two Euro crowns.

Most horrifying for its opponents? This present Spanish aspect may be very a lot within the ascendancy, with youngsters Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi nonetheless years away from their respective primes and famed academies resembling Barcelona’s La Masia producing new elite abilities seemingly on a regular basis.