Football is the peacetime equivalent of warfare. We saw and savoured all of that during the recently concluded World Cup jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Through both the memorable and disappointing moments of the tournament, the defining spirit was cut-throat competition in the world’s most emotive sport, both on and off the pitch.
Spain ultimately emerged as champions under the rules of fair play. Nevertheless, the 2026 World Cup remains controversial in several respects. The most serious allegation, in my opinion, was that certain matches appeared to have been influenced in favour of defending champions Argentina, potentially helping them retain the trophy.
Some online content creators jokingly reinterpreted the acronym FIFA as “Fix It For Argentina”, apparently out of frustration with several highly controversial decisions that seemed to reduce the principles of fair play to little more than empty words. However, if there was any conspiracy, the universe rejected it. In the end, victory eluded Argentina by a single goal – Spain’s decisive strike that sent Buenos Aires into disbelief.
It is almost impossible to produce evidence for mere suspicions. However, one may reasonably ask how World Cup debutants Cape Verde, representing a small island nation, came to play their opening match against football powerhouse Spain, who eventually lifted the trophy.
The underdogs did not disappoint. They held the eventual champions to a goalless draw after 90 minutes, sending a strong message that no team deserved to be written off or unfairly pushed out of the tournament. In many respects, this World Cup belonged to Cape Verde – the thrilling underdogs from a small archipelago off the West African coast.
In the round of 32 in Miami on 3 July, Cape Verde again refused to be treated as a walkover. They went toe-to-toe with defending champions Argentina, twice coming from behind to equalise. However, a deflected corner resulted in an own goal by Diney Borges in the 111th minute, giving Argentina a 3-2 victory in extra time.
The result broke the hearts of Cape Verdeans and propelled Argentina into the round of 16, where they faced Egypt, another African footballing giant.
The Argentina-Egypt match in Atlanta on 7 July was another highly controversial episode of the 2026 World Cup. Although I do not subscribe to the political narratives surrounding the match, there were moments when it appeared that the referee’s decisions were steering the contest in Argentina’s favour.
FIFA was also reportedly persuaded to relax its rules and allow a player who had received a red card to feature in the following match. President Donald Trump admitted that he had intervened in efforts to have FIFA lift the one-match suspension imposed on an American star ahead of the United States’ match against Belgium.
The United States were nevertheless comprehensively defeated 4-0. They may not yet be considered one of the world’s leading football nations but the apparent political arm-twisting was disgraceful.
FIFA should now move quickly to publish the findings of its investigation into the altercations that followed the final. Argentina’s players were accused of confronting and attacking members of Spain’s squad, apparently in reaction to their 1-0 defeat.
I shudder to imagine what the reaction would have been had an African team been accused of behaving in the same manner.
