FIFA World Cup 2026
What broke you once made you strong. Dai, dai, ikou, dale, allez, let's go. Dai, dai, ikou, dale, allez, let's go. These are the lyrics of the official anthem for the FIFA World Cup 2026 by Shakira and Burna Boy. People all over the world are rooting for their countries, hoping to bring it home. Now in the finals is Spain. Today is England vs. Argentina in the semi-finals. Whoever wins moves on to the finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026. So there are three teams left, and whoever loses the England game will play France for third place. To begin with, there were 48 teams competing.
There were 12 groups of 4 teams each. Group A was Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, and the Czech Republic. Group B was Canada, Switzerland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Group C was Qatar, Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, and Haiti. Group D was the United States, Australia, Paraguay, and Türkiye. Group E was Germany, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, and Curaçao. Group F was the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia. The next six were Group G, which was Belgium, Egypt, Iran, and New Zealand; Group H, which was Spain, Cabo Verde, Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia; Group I, which was France, Norway, Senegal, and Iraq; Group J, which was Argentina, Austria, Algeria, and Jordan; Group K, which was Colombia, Portugal, DR Congo, and Uzbekistan; and Group L, which was England, Croatia, Ghana, and Panama.
For Group A, the two teams that qualified were Mexico and South Africa. Next, for Group B, Switzerland and Canada moved on to the knockout stages. In Group C, without a doubt, Brazil topped the group and Morocco followed. In Group D, the USA and Australia moved on. Somehow, the USA won back-to-back games in the group stage, something that has not been accomplished since the 1930 World Cup. For Group E, Germany and Ivory Coast made it, but Curaçao left the US happy as they are the smallest nation by landmass to ever qualify. For Group F, the Netherlands and Japan made it through.
For the next six groups, to begin with, was Group G, where Belgium and Egypt made it. Group H was Spain and, amazingly, Cabo Verde, who tied with Spain in their first game ever in World Cup history. Group I was France and Norway, which was their first-ever World Cup in the nation's history because of robot Haaland. Group J was Argentina and Austria, where Argentina arguably had the easiest route all the way to the semi-finals. Group K was Colombia on top and Portugal second. Last but not least was Group L, which was England on top and Croatia second.
Not just this, but the third-place teams with the most points also moved on. So Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paraguay, Ecuador, Sweden, Iran, Senegal, Algeria, and DR Congo made it too because they got the most points in third place. So, in the quarter-finals, only eight teams were left, including Morocco, France, Norway, England, Spain, Belgium, Argentina, and Switzerland. Morocco lost to France 2-0. Dembélé got one, and Mbappé got another. Norway lost to England 2-0. Bellingham scored a brace. Next was Spain and Belgium, where Spain won 2-1 thanks to Fabián Ruiz and Mikel Merino. Then was Argentina vs. Switzerland, which ended 3-1 thanks to Mac Allister, Julián Álvarez, and Lautaro Martínez.
Now are the semis, where France lost to Spain 2-0, so Spain's in the finals. They haven't made it to the World Cup final since 2010, when they beat the Netherlands 1-0. At 3:00 EST on 7/15/26 is Argentina vs. England, so, for me, I wanted England to win it all because Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane can easily beat any team. Well, my prediction was England 3-2, but the actual score was 2-1. So, just like that, it is Spain and Argentina in the final. This would be one of the craziest finals in World Cup history as the battle between Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal.
After that game, the bronze final would be France vs. England. This game was at its peak. England ended the first half 4-0 with a brace from Saka, a header from Konsa, and, to end it, Declan Rice, who scored and assisted Konsa. Well, game over, right? Kylian Mbappé took it upon himself to win and scored two goals, assisted by Michael Olise and Barcola. Then Gusto lost the whole game by giving away a penalty. Bellingham was supposed to take it, but he gave it to Saka, who got his hat trick after scoring the penalty. Finally, Dembélé scored the fourth goal to make it 5-4 in the final minutes. France had momentum, but England had Jude Bellingham. He received the ball from halfway, dribbled past the whole team, and finished past Maignan to make it 6-4. Game over.
Now, let's move on to the biggest sporting event in history, the World Cup. At the beginning, the game was tense, but soon everyone realized Spain had way more possession and was shutting Argentina down every chance they got. After that, Enzo and Paredes got yellow cards by the end of the half. The half-time show was introduced like at the Super Bowl. To start, Madonna sang with Brazilian Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Then BTS performed "Dynamite," followed by Justin Bieber, who sang "Everything Hallelujah." Finally, the last real song was by Shakira and Burna Boy, who sang at the halftime show, performing "Dai-Dai," which made me sing along after hearing that song over and over again on YouTube. Spain had more control in the second half, and then a ridiculous foul was called on Enzo for flipping Cubarsí, the youngster, into a front flip. After that, Argentina were down to ten men, but still they couldn't get a single shot off, not even on target. Then the game went into extra time because Emi Martínez was turning into prime Buffon, making save after save for countless minutes. Then the clean sheet was broken in extra time. In the 106th minute, Ferran Torres hammered the ball into the top corner, assisted by Nico Williams.
In extra time, after the 106th minute, Argentina tried to pull back after getting two corners. On one corner, they went short, but Spain kicked it out. The second corner came in the very last minutes of the game. Messi served it in, but Giovanni Simeone fluffed the shot, completely throwing the game away. Then Unai Simón kicked the ball up during the goal kick, and the whistle was blown. Everyone on the Spain bench and the team jumped up in joy.
The award ceremony started after the immense celebration. Rodri won the Golden Ball and Player of the Tournament. Kylian Mb
appé won the Golden Boot. Unai Simón won the Golden Glove, and finally, Cubarsí won Player of the Tournament. Finally, the players who won got a mini-sized World Cup trophy to take home and a ring like in the Super Bowl. The closing ceremony was truly spectacular as IShowSpeed sang "World Cup Champions." Post Malone, Swae Lee, and Tom Cruise performed too. Then fireworks happened, and the whole night was spent partying for the Spanish players while the Argentinian players collected their second-place award.
