As the World Cup 2026 final weekend looms, the noise off the pitch has been almost as deafening as the roar inside the stadiums. Donald Trump, never o...
As the World Cup 2026 final weekend looms, the noise off the pitch has been almost as deafening as the roar inside the stadiums. Donald Trump, never one to miss a microphone, took aim at Thomas Tuchel's tactical approach, a critique that feels both distant and predictable given the American political landscape. But for those of us who actually watch the football, the real story this week is not the bluster from Washington. It is the quiet, almost unbelievable photograph that has resurfaced of a 19 year old Lionel Messi bathing a four month old Lamine Yamal for a Unicef calendar back in 2007. And it is the fact that Spain and Argentina, the two nations represented by those boys, now stand on the brink of a World Cup final.Let us start with England's exit, because the narrative around that has been far too simple. It was not just about Tuchel. It was never just about the manager. The Germans have a phrase for it: the English 'bottled it' again No, that is lazy. This was a team that froze in the transitional moments, that lost its tactical flexibility when it mattered most. The low block worked against lesser sides, but against a team like France, with their clinical finishing and relentless press, England's midfield simply disappeared. Jude Bellingham, for all his talent, looked like a man carrying the weight of a nation rather than a player enjoying the game. That is not on the manager. That is on the squad's inability to adapt under pressure. Squeaky bum time, indeed.But the true poetry of this tournament is in that photograph. Sid Lowe, that dogged chronicler of Spanish football, has done the digging for GoalZaza. The shoot took place in the away dressing room at the Camp Nou. Each Barcelona player was assigned a month. Ronaldinho, the great showman, took July. Messi, the quiet prodigy, took January. Lamine Yamal's mother Sheila had entered her infant son into a draw. The photographer, Monfort, got the idea the night before while bathing his own daughter, bringing a plastic tub and a rubber duck to set the scene. The baby was tiny. Messi was timid. But with Sheila's help, they got the shot. A snapshot of two footballing destinies, one already rising, one not yet even crawling. Now, in 2026, they could meet in a World Cup final: Spain versus Argentina. Messi, the aging genius, against Yamal, the prodigal son. It is the kind of symmetry that football, in its strange and beautiful randomness, sometimes gives us.And yet, the final itself promises to be a tactical chess match of the highest order. France, smarting from their semi final defeat to England No, wait. Let me check the summary again. France v England was the semi final, and Spain v Argentina is the final. France will face England for third place The summary is ambiguous, but the final line is clear: Spain v Argentina. That is the match we are all waiting for. Argentina, under Lionel Scaloni, have developed a stubbornness, a defensive solidity that complements their attacking flair. Spain, under Luis de la Fuente, have rediscovered their identity: possession with purpose, not just possession for the sake of it. Lamine Yamal, still a teenager, has been the tournament's revelation, gliding past defenders as if they were training cones. Messi, at 38, will be playing his last World Cup game. If he lifts that trophy again, it will cement his legacy beyond all argument. If Yamal lifts it, it will be a coronation.The organisers must be pinching themselves. A final between the two most technically gifted nations in world football, with a backstory that writes itself. Trump can criticise Tuchel all he likes. The rest of us will be watching the passing of the torch, live from the stadium, with a rubber duck somewhere in the back of our minds.
