The Top 10 Games of the 2026 World Cup
And my reflections on the tournament
I know the tournament’s over, but in case you missed it, check out the blurb I wrote for Sports Square about Spain vs. Argentina and what I felt were the keys to the game. Thanks, Smayan Srikanth for the opportunity!
Ah, the 2026 World Cup. There’s nothing like it. Entire countries get behind “the boys.” And they really are boys, maybe except for Tim Ream, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Vozinha. No other sporting event on earth carries this much pride for a nation. It transcends the game itself. Politics, past wars, and decades-old rivalries all get relitigated on a field by 22 guys kicking a ball around for 90 minutes.
Now that the dust has settled, I want to take a minute to reflect on the last 39 days.
I embraced this World Cup more than I ever have. Having it on U.S. soil, with games kicking off during the day and evening instead of the middle of the night, definitely helped. I still remember waking up as a kid to catch USA vs. Mexico and USA vs. Germany back in 2002, and somehow I was more locked in this time around than I was back then. I guess it’s safe to say I felt like a kid again.
I wrote a bit about my experience going to a couple of World Cup games in a previous article. Coming home from the USA vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina game, my friend and I wore our USA jerseys through the airport. An older couple talked our ears off the entire time about how they’d watched the game the night before. They just kept going.
We then had a bit of a drive from the airport. We stopped at a gas station in a podunk town in the middle of nowhere. As we were getting back in the car after grabbing some snacks for the road, a guy started telling us he’d watched the game the night before too. He said he’d never really watched soccer before.
He asked us about Balogun’s red card, and whether that meant the U.S. would have to play the next game with ten men. My friend educated him on the rules and confirmed we’d still have eleven men, but Balogun would be suspended (I guess we were proven wrong there). The conversation ended with the guy saying he’d be tuning in for the Belgium game.
Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention before, but I don’t remember this kind of interest in the game from Americans during any other World Cup. Again, having it on home soil during waking hours probably helps. But I still think it’s pretty cool watching Americans embrace the game the way they have. Just look at some of these tweets from some of the biggest sports commentators in the country.
Even hysterical takes like this one are good. It gives the sport more exposure and keeps people talking:
Perhaps my favorite thing to do these last 39 days was jump on social media and watch people experience the U.S. for the first time. People embraced America with all its fun, quirkiness, and overly in-your-face traditions. Overall, I think the World Cup brought us all together. I was a critic of expanding to 48 teams, but doing so let fans who never used to show up for this tournament experience it for the first time. It showed we’re all human, with the same wants and desires as everyone else. The World Cup showed us the power of sports.
With all the good that comes with a World Cup, let’s not forget why we actually watch. The drama on the field is what pulls in over half the world’s population every four years. So, here are my ten best games this tournament gave us.
10. USA vs Paraguay (4-1)
Not every great game needs a nail-biting finish. Folarin Balogun had a first-half brace to become the first American to score twice in a World Cup match since 1930. Gio Reyna iced it late with a gorgeous outside-of-the-foot finish.
I’ll admit, I was giddy after this one. I came into the tournament with pretty low expectations for the U.S., and this was the game that convinced me, and the rest of the country, that this team deserved to be taken seriously. Without it, I don’t think the U.S. audience tunes in at the numbers it did the rest of the tournament. That guy at the gas station probably never watches a match at all if this game doesn’t happen in the manner it did.
9. Austria vs Algeria (3-3)
This one had every reason to be a nothing game. Heading into matchday 3 of the group stage, both Austria and Algeria only needed a draw to advance, but it still provided us with six goals, two of them coming in stoppage time.
8. England vs France (6-4)
The third-place game is football’s version of the NBA All-Star Game, a glorified exhibition nobody really wants to be playing in (hence the no defense). I would rank this one higher if the game wasn’t meaningless. England went up 4-0 in the first half, only for France to come storming back in the second half, before England put it away late. Perhaps the most interesting part of this match was that this playing style is how all English fans have been begging for over the last 5+ years. Plus, Bukayo Saka had a hat-trick for England after not even seeing the field in the semifinal. It’s almost as if this caused more frustration towards Thomas Tuchel compared to if they had lost.
7. Croatia vs Portugal (2-1)
This one will be remembered for the ball, not the football. Gonçalo Ramos put Portugal up 2-1 in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Croatia thought they’d answered right back when Josko Gvardiol slid home an equalizer nine minutes later, until VAR disallowed it. The Adidas Trionda’s built-in sensor, which detected a hair’s-width touch off Igor Matanovic in the buildup, put Mario Pasalic in an offside position no human eye caught live.
The same “connected ball” technology was used days later in England’s quarterfinal against Norway. It cleared Jude Bellingham’s equalizer by ruling that the ball never touched an overhead camera cable. The new ball sensor had two big controversies in its tournament debut.
6. England vs DR Congo (2-1)
This game has been a bit underrated in my opinion, but at the time, I called it the game of the tournament. My brother went to this game, and he agreed. DR Congo, playing in its first World Cup knockout match ever, came out and punched England in the mouth. The pace was fast and furious and didn’t slow down. After DR Congo scored an early goal, England spent the rest of the match fighting back until Harry Kane finally broke through with a header in the 75th minute and then a rifled finish in the 86th to complete the comeback. The intensity of the game made it one of the best of the tournament.
5. Belgium vs Senegal (3-2, AET)
This game was on while I was enjoying the pre-game festivities at the USA vs Bosnia and Herzegovina game. We all knew Senegal was up 2-0 with only a few minutes left in the match. Then the murmur among the crowd of people around me started to bubble. Belgium scored twice in less than three minutes to send the game to extra time.
Deep into extra time, a VAR review awarded Belgium a controversial penalty for a foul on Senegal. The penalty was buried in the 125th minute, the latest winning goal in World Cup history. It’s one of the greatest comebacks the tournament has ever seen. Selfishly, as a U.S. fan, I can’t help but think about the version of this game where Senegal holds on. This comeback might have cost the U.S. another game in the knockout stages.
4. Argentina vs Egypt (3-2)
Egypt led 1-0 in the Round of 16 when Mostafa Ziko put what looked to be a second goal in the back of the net. However, it was disallowed after review for a foul in the buildup, a call Egypt argued should never have gone to VAR in the first place. The conspiracy theories about Argentina being favored were louder than ever. Ziko did eventually get his goal to make it 2-0, and Egypt looked to be through.
Argentina then scored three unanswered goals in the final thirteen minutes to complete one of the craziest comebacks in World Cup history. The win had Messi in tears. Even he thought all hope was lost.
3. Argentina vs England (2-1)
Forget football for a second. Before the game started, Argentina fans chanted through the entire English national anthem. It was barely audible on the TV. English fans responded by booing and jeering during the Argentine national anthem. After the game, Argentina players ran onto the field waving a banner reading, “Las Malvinas son Argentinas,” a not-so-subtle reference to the Falklands. Both events, which didn’t even include the game itself, tell you everything you need to know about the temperature of this semifinal.
The game was chippy and physical from the opening whistle. After Anthony Gordon gave England the lead in the 55th minute, Tuchel got all his tactics wrong. Instead of keeping the ball and pushing for a second, England sat back and defended in its own third for the last 25+ minutes. The breakthrough finally came from Enzo Fernandez in the 85th minute, and the winner came from Lautaro Martinez, both assisted by Messi. The tactical mistakes, late game drama, and history on and off the pitch between these two sides made this game must-see TV.
2. England vs Mexico (3-2)
The Azteca is the pinnacle of sports. Full stop. This match had everything. A delayed kickoff due to lightning. Rain. Night game. A hostile, deafening crowd that was throwing beer all night. Five goals. One red card.
Mexico dominated possession much of the night, but Jude Bellingham’s brilliance and the team’s stout defending ushered England through to the quarterfinals. The English media called it one of the best backs-against-the-wall performances England has ever played. They became just the third team ever to beat Mexico at the Azteca in a competitive match.
1. Argentina vs Cabo Verde (3-2, AET)
Cabo Verde was the lowest-ranked team ever to reach a World Cup knockout round. A nation of half a million people pushed the defending World Cup winners to the absolute brink.
Messi opened the scoring in the first half with one of the best first touches of the tournament. Side note: a beautiful first touch is probably one of the most underrated skills in all of sports. Plucking a ball out of the air from 40 yards away without losing it out of bounds or to your opponent is pretty remarkable, and footballers make it look easy. Pull a guy off the street to try to do what Messi did for his goal, and the ball would probably end up in the stands.
To the surprise of everyone, Cabo Verde equalized in the second half and pushed the game to extra time. Argentina led again early after a Lisandro Martinez goal.
Then came the goal and moment of the tournament. Sidny Lopes Cabral, who three years ago was playing in the fifth tier in Germany, curled in an absolute worldie from the edge of the box in the 103rd minute. He couldn’t even believe it himself. He then ran into the stands to hug his girlfriend.
In the second half of extra time, Cristian Romero headed in the winning goal. Cabo Verde created chances until the end of the match, but weren’t able to send it to penalties. We didn’t get the fairytale ending, but for 120 minutes, this tiny island nation had the entire world watching in disbelief.
That’s a wrap
That’s the list. This World Cup was filled with memorable games, moments, and controversy. But if this World Cup proved anything, it’s that this tournament still has a way of making the whole world feel small for a full month. Whether you’re watching from the stands or connecting with a stranger at the airport, I don’t think we will get anything quite like it in the near future. Until 2030, everyone.
