The final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is just hours away, and after 102 matches and 295 goals, the final matchup between the youthful brilliance of Spain and the reigning champions, Argentina, sits on the horizon.
While we don’t know the winner, I myself can make a pretty confident guess on how the game will shape up, and to help me and give his takes on some individuals who shined in this tournament is sports editor and Manchester City fan Joey Jirmasek.
As stated above, not only will we each give our predictions of the winner of the most coveted trophy in the sport, but we’ll also pick our biggest winners, losers, teams to watch in the future, and finally, our tournament MVPs in goal and in the field.
Predictions for the Final:
Josh: Many in this final will be quick to write off Argentina. Spain has been absolutely dominant, not only during this tournament but also during their run to a championship in EURO 2024. Players like Lamine Yamal don’t need to shine for them to find success, but their contributions do nothing to hurt the team in any sense.
Compare that to the likes of Argentina, and seemingly everything and anything good coming from the blue and white goes through Messi. The little boy from Rosario has yet again put his team on his back and brought them to the cusp of eternal glory again, with so many comeback victories and performances that may warrant him an award in the end, anyway.
My prediction will lie on the side of magic rather than stats. Seemingly, Spain should dominate this matchup; from a stonewall defense to a stingy midfield to a versatile attack, they seem to bolster a unique team that may prove to be too much for Argentina to handle. Yet there always seems to be a way they do, especially with Messi.
So I’m going 2-1, Argentina to repeat as champions.
Joey: At the beginning of the tournament, Argentina and Spain looked to be on a collision course to end up in the final at this tournament with only a handful of other teams, like Brazil, England, and France, that were capable of taking down either of these two sides.
Spain has looked like a World Cup title-winning side all tournament long. Mikel Oyarzabal has bagged six goals this tournament. When they needed a hero the most, Mikel Merino filled the role as a super sub and helped Spain move on with two game-winning goals. The Spanish defense only conceded a single goal leading up to the final. All of this was done with the rising star, Lamine Yamal, only scoring one goal in his debut at the World Cup.
Despite Spain looking dominant, Argentina has continued its hot streak of World Cup performances, finding itself back in the final for a second consecutive tournament and third over the past four tournaments. Lionel Messi has done magical work leading his country with eight goals and four assists, but some of their role players have stepped up in a big way, which has really given Argentina life in this tournament. Have they looked comfortable in every game this tournament? No, especially in the knockout stage. Cape Verde took the reigning champions to extra time, but Argentina still pulled through. Egypt seemingly slammed the door shut after taking a 2-0 lead over Argentina. Nope, Argentina found another way to win when their backs were against the wall with another 3-2 victory. Finally, in the semifinal, England had Argentina holding their breath until the very end when Messi put in a cross to Lautaro Martinez in the 90’+2′ minute to take down England. Pressure makes diamonds, and when Argentina faced pressure, diamonds were made out of the situations that Argentina found itself in.
So, I’m going with Argentina to repeat with a 3-2 win in extra time.
Individual Awards: Tournament MVP:
Josh: May have spelled it out already, but it’s hard to look past Lionel Messi as being the X-factor for every single game he’s played in. Even in a tournament dominated by fellow big names and stars, Messi still remains at the top with the most contributions in the tournament (eight goals, four assists) and took the crown for the most goals in World Cup history earlier in the tournament with 21, a record that will remain in place at least another four years.
I think players like Mbappe, Haaland, and Bellingham all have fair shouts for the title, but Messi has simply been Messi in every game. Not to mention, he’s 39 years old and has shown few signs of slowing down.
Joey: No matter who wins in the final, it is challenging to not give Lionel Messi the nod to take home the tournament MVP. Even though other players have made as big an impact on their squads, like Mikel Oyarzabal for Spain, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane for England, Kylian Mbappe for France, and Erling Haaland for Norway, Messi has risen to every challenge his team has been tasked with and exceeded with flying colors, taking his team to a second World Cup Final. The 39-year-old has been the best player statistically on the pitch for one of the final two teams playing in this tournament.
Statistically, Messi leads the tournament with 12 goal contributions (eight goals and four assists) throughout the seven games Argentina has taken the pitch this tournament.
Whether Argentina captures its fourth World Cup title against Spain, Messi should be the frontrunner to take home his third tournament MVP (2014 and 2018).
Best Goalkeeper:
Josh: This might be the toughest to pick from. Even with so many goals, this tournament has been one of great goalkeeping. Unheard-of heroes and current free agents like 40-year-old Cape Verde keeper Vozinha and 35-year-old Norwegian goalie Nypan all had standout games that carried their team.
While other mainstays like England’s Jordan Pickford, Argentina’s Emi Martinez, and Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois all continued to do what they’re great at, keeping the ball out of the net. I think in this case, though, Pickford was the standout.
While England were solid all tournament, they weren’t the most sound defensively, and Pickford did his job in keeping the Three Lions in as long as they were. Pickford is tied for 9th in saves right now with 15 but is the only one out of the four semi-finalists to make the top 10. His contributions can be seen with the naked eye too, with many goal-line clearances and tips that kept England from potential disaster.
Joey: Even though the fan vote for this award will more than likely be given to Vozinha from Cape Verde for his heroic and flat-out world-class goalkeeping skills in this tournament, the man in the net who impressed the most has been Unai Simon from Spain.
Simon has one of the more impressive stat sheets from this tournament, only conceding one goal this tournament, having six clean sheets, and making 14 saves to help lead Spain to their first World Cup final since 2010, when they took down the Netherlands in a 1-0 win. The lone goal Simon conceded came against Belgium in the quarterfinals. Despite being 18th on the list for number of saves in the tournament, when his team needed it, which hasn’t been much, he rose to the occasion.
Biggest Winners:
Josh: Many small teams made their mark on the biggest stage in football this summer, but while many of those players finally got some well-deserved attention, Norway should be the happiest of the group.
Besides making all these accomplishments many would’ve deemed unthinkable a decade ago, the Norwegians gave themselves an experience unlike any other and have shown that they could be a continued threat on the world stage.
Besides the likes of Haaland, players like Martin Ødegaard, Antonio Nusa, and Andreas Schjelderup all made noise and are young players who can continue to develop for their respective clubs, and if the Vikings can get some younger talent on defense, they might be more than dark horses come 2030.
Joey: Going into the World Cup, this team had plenty of questions regarding the roster, style of play, and the man at the head of the ship, but despite all of the concerns, England did far more than expected at this tournament.
Thomas Tuchel came into this World Cup, leaving out English stars like Cole Palmer for Chelsea, Phil Foden for Manchester City, Morgan Gibbs-White for Nottingham Forest, and Harry Maguire, who plays for Manchester United, which brought in a lot of criticism for Tuchel ahead of his first World Cup for England. Despite the questions, Tuchel stuck by his decision to select the players who best fit his system and style of play.
England not only ended the group stage at the top of Group L with seven points, but the Three Lions also fought through the knockout stage with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Congo DR, a dramatic 3-2 win over Mexico in Mexico City, and a quarterfinal win over Norway 2-1. England’s tournament came to an end at the hands of Messi and Argentina in a 2-1 loss.
Despite not being able to bring home the World Cup trophy, England should be proud of the team that traveled to North America and performed tremendously at the first World Cup under Thomas Tuchel.
Biggest Losers:
Josh: While teams like Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, and Uruguay, all of whom are arguably perennial powerhouses of the sport, made early exits and disappointing, short runs, I think it’s hard to look past the USA as a team that will rue this tournament.
Were there a lot of good moments? Yes. Did the sport expand to many non-football fans? Yes. Did the US make its best-ever run? No. And I think for that reason, the federation and team as a whole should be considering what comes next.
This was America’s chance. Given a favorable draw on home turf and a clear path to the quarterfinals, the route to success was there, but yet again, the first sign of a stronger team made the US capitulate and crumble. Now their biggest stars will likely be past their primes if they’re even in consideration for the next World Cup roster, and with a likely change in coaching, America’s best chance in the last 20 years may have come and gone.
Joey: The most obvious answer for Biggest Loser has to be Germany, who fell in the Round of 32 to Paraguay 4-3 in penalty kicks.
The Germans started their road to a fifth title with a 7-1 blow-out win over Curaçao, which was followed by a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast. Germany ended their group stage play with an underwhelming and disappointing 2-1 loss to Ecuador.
The European giants may not have had the strongest team in recent history, but with the quality of players and standards that are held for their country, a first-round exit is simply unacceptable based on the history Germany holds in the soccer (or football) world.
Teams to Watch in 2030:
Josh: Maybe I’m taking the easy way out in this debate, and I know I referenced Norway before, but I’m throwing that all to the side, and I’m going to say that England has the best chance to break their 60-year+ drought in 2030.
The Three Lions, like many of the other big teams, are always in the conversation because of their consistent influx of talent. While their best goal scorer, Harry Kane, will likely be done by the next tournament, Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon, and Bukayo Saka should still hopefully be in form, while young stars like Rio Ngumoha and Ethan Nwaneri could easily bolster the attack.
In the midfield, the list goes on and on: players like Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Nico O’Reilly, Kobbie Mainoo, Adam Wharton, Alex Scott, and maybe Max Dowman could all either still be at their best or be making the jump at that point. England has always had solid teams, at least to compete, but with a period of development, I think this could be their most exciting team in decades.
Joey: Even though England is a good answer to pick for this because of their exciting, young core of players they have for the foreseeable future, I believe that Norway will have a really good chance to contend for the 2030 World Cup title.
Norway basically came out of nowhere in the 2026 World Cup. They had no expectations, were given no real chance to contend for the title, and were a team that fell short in terms of the quality of players when compared to the real contenders of this tournament. However, they have a certain player who took the world by storm, finally on the international level after being a complete machine for Manchester City for the past few seasons. Of course, I am talking about Erling Braut Haaland. Haaland, 25 years old, finally was given a chance to prove himself on the international level and bagged seven goals at his first-ever World Cup.
Norway now has the attention of all of the contenders in the international game, and if Haaland can continue to stay at the top of his game and score goals left and right, all Norway will need to do is hope that their players can gain experience at the highest level in club soccer to contend for the 2030 World Cup.
