Live Wire’s W/C Notes: Spain rules the waves, as Yamal puts ex-babysitter to bed—plus our All-Star picks

The Spanish conquistadors are back, baby!

Spain confirmed Europe’s superiority in the football world at present, and, quite likely, served notice of a new era of dominance—as they clinched the 2026 World Cup title yesterday, with a 1-0 extra time win over defending champions, Argentina.

At least Argentina left with their dignity intact. Well, maybe not.

Unable to match Spain in the more aesthetic parts of the game, the South America champions resorted to systematic fouling and provocation in an attempt to break up the rhythm of their gifted opponents.

It backfired spectacularly, as Argentina ended up with 10 players—midfielder Enzo Fernandez compounded a largely miserable tournament by attempting to help teenaged Spain defender Pau Cubarsi belatedly catch Artemis II.

Perhaps it was fitting that Spain captain Rodri was adjudged as the Golden Ball winner, for his composure and dedication to the job of maintaining his team’s dominance in possession. It was sorely needed in the final.

In the end, the head-to-head between Spanish prodigy Lamine Yamal and his one-time babysitter, Argentine legend Lionel Messi, had little impact on the game.

Yamal worked without end result for Spain—but, thankfully, kept his cool against Argentina defenders intent on touching him inappropriately.

And Messi was largely starved of possession, with Argentina unable to get him the ball in the right areas of the pitch.

The defending champions entered the final with a day less to recover—due to the timing of their semifinal contest against England—and far more wear and tear on their bodies, as a result of their gruelling tournament run.

Three of coach Lionel Scaloni’s starting four-man defence broke down injured during the final and had to be substituted, which led to fox-in-the-box striker Lautaro Martinez remaining as an unused substitute.

Argentina, eventually, paid the price then for complicating knockout contests with Cape Verde, Egypt, Switzerland and England—all of which required stoppage time goals or extra time proper.

But the story of the 2026 World Cup is written in Spanish.

Coach Luis de le Fuente’s troops attacked in unison and defended in the same manner. All 10 outfield players dedicated to executing the same ideology on the ball—in a way that Argentina, with a few inferior players in their starting roster, could not.

Seventy-five percent of the nations in the World Cup quarterfinal and semifinal round were European, despite the fact that the tournament was played in North America.

It is a sobering reality. South America’s remaining nations, along with the rest of the world, barring Morocco, were all eliminated by the Round of 16.

And, with Messi’s imminent departure, it is likely that any resistance to Spain in the near future depends on coach-elect Zinedine Zidane getting a gifted France squad to understand the meaning of the word: sacrifier.

(Or England coach Thomas Tuchel accepting that the job is bigger than his ego, and maybe selecting his best players for a change.)

For now, though, kudos to Spain. España rules the waves.

Mr Live Wire’s All-Star team

Goalkeeper: Vozinha (Cape Verde)

True, Unai Simon was Fifa’s choice as goalkeeper of the tournament. But he only had 10 shots to deal with over eight games. It’s like naming Trinidad and Tobago’s hurricane response team as 2026 Employees of the Year, when they haven’t had so much as a strong breeze to address since 2019!

The 40-year-old Vozinha did not put a foot wrong.

Defender: Dayot Upamecano (France)

A magnificent one-on-one defender, with a terrific engine and work ethic. If France are to win silverware again in the era of Lamal, Rodri and Marc Cucarella, Upamecano will be integral.

Defender: Pau Cubarsi (Spain)

Fast and technical with a remarkable passing range, Cubarsi was the other teenager in the Spain team. The fact that he ended as Young Player of the Tournament—despite a certain Yamal and Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi—speaks volumes.

Left back: Marc Cucarella (Spain)

Spain’s answer to Dennis Rodman—as important to the team as he is annoying to opponents. But his passing range, defensive acumen and engine were indispensable.

Right back: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)

This was a difficult position to fill, with few stand-out candidates. But Hakimi’s leadership and quality in helping Morocco to the quarterfinals gave him the edge.

Midfielder: Rodri (Spain)

Death, taxes and Rodri. All three seem inescapable. The cool, classy customer is the engine in Spain’s luxury vehicle.

Attacking midfielder: Jude Bellingham (England)

A match-winner with the skill and composure to match his personality. England look to have a genuine superstar here for the first time in this millennium. (See Wayne Rooney’s dismal record at international tournaments before offering feedback.)

Attacking midfielder: Michael Olise (France)

Olise can blow hot and cold. But when he is hot—dribbling opponents and carving open defences with clever passes—he is as good as they come.

Forward: Kylian Mbappé (France)

Say what you’d like about General Mbappé—so long as you fear him. Already the greatest scorer the World Cup has ever seen at just 27, the “Ninja Turtle” has the tools to inherit Messi’s throne. It’s left to be seen whether Real Madrid or France can truly fashion their respective teams around his undeniable talent.

Forward: Erling Haaland (Norway)

An unstoppable force. In time, we would probably learn that Haaland was created in a lab: part-Christian Vieri, part-Alan Shearer, part-Filippo Inzaghi. And he’s only 25! Mbappé won’t have the centre-forward field all to himself then.

Forward: Lionel Messi (Argentina)

To say the “Short Boss” aged like fine wine is an understatement. At 39, Messi probably just had his most influential tournament ever—he’s only led his country in goals, shots, assists, big chances created… Hell, Messi probably even drives the team bus! There may never be another like him.

But then the torch has already exchanged hands from Pele to Diego Maradona to Ronaldo (R9) to the wee genius… so, maybe we would be fine after all. And, in the likes of Yamal, Olise, and Mbappé, the talent is there.

My Second XI: Orlando Gill (Paraguay); Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands), Cristian Romero (Argentina), Aymeric Laporte (France), Nuno Mendes (Portugal); Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Bruno Guimaraes (Brazil); Dani Olmo (Spain); Ousmane Dembele (France), Harry Kane (England), Vinicius Junior (Brazil).

Editor’s Note: It would be remiss of Mr Live Wire not to recognise the role played by Fifa in this tournament, with mandatory hydration breaks that shatter the rhythm of attacking teams, arbitrary rule violations (most famously in the case of USA forward Folarin Balogun), and negligence to players, team staff, officials and fans who were left at the mercy of cynical hosts USA and Canada.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino tried to shamelessly exploit the passion of supporters from before the opening whistle, while VIP is stuffed with free-loading celebrities. But hey, at least president Donald Trump got a shiny trophy out of it and crooked member association presidents can look forward to more money to trouser.

This is why the likes of Rodri, Messi, Haaland and Mbappé put every sinew of their beings on the line, n’est-ce pas?

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