SI:AM | A Dull Ending to an Amazing World Cup

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I can’t believe MLS and Fox didn’t schedule a game as a nightcap after the World Cup final. They didn’t want to capitalize on the massive TV audience to show off the top domestic soccer league?

In today’s SI:AM:
🇪🇸 Spain stifles Argentina
⛳ British Open recap
⚾ Red Sox suddenly surging

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That was a letdown

Surely there were millions of fans who tuned in for yesterday’s World Cup final who thought, “Oh yeah, this is why I only watch this sport every four years.”

The 2026 World Cup will be remembered as perhaps the most interesting edition in the tournament’s rich history, and hopefully soccer-curious American fans’ enduring memories of the summer will be all the great games we saw, rather than the stinker that closed it out. Picking the best storyline of the tournament or the most memorable game is an impossible task. Cabo Verde’s underdog run and epic round of 32 match against Argentina would be a good choice. Argentina also had incredible comebacks against Egypt and England en route to the final. England had its own stunning comeback in the round of 32 against DR Congo, then played an instant classic against co-host Mexico at the iconic Estadio Azteca and later won a bonkers third-place game against France. Norway had its best World Cup performance ever as Erling Haaland announced himself to the North American audience as one of the best players in the world. The list goes on and on.

But there’s no denying that Spain and Argentina wrapped it up with a dud. Spain’s tendency to complete lots of short passes can be frustrating to watch, and on Sunday it was combined with a completely hapless Argentina offense. The result was a slog of a game in which Argentina didn’t record its first shot attempt until the 117th minute. Fittingly, it was an attempt from outside the box by Lionel Messi that hit a Spanish defender directly in the face. Argentina’s only other officially recorded shot attempt was a golden opportunity for Giuliano Simeone in the 122nd minute that he sent well over the bar. The previous record for the latest initial shot attempt in a World Cup final was when France’s first attempt came in the 68th minute of the 2022 final against Argentina. Spain didn’t break through until Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute, and La Roja held on to win, 1–0.

That isn’t to say that the game wasn’t interesting. Spain’s ability to dictate the game is unbelievable. We saw it in the semifinal against France, when La Roja completely stifled the high-powered French attack in a 2–0 win. Argentina had its struggles throughout the tournament, but it was still bewildering to see Spain render the defending champions so inept.

Every game at this tournament went that way for Spain, though. It only allowed one goal in its eight games: a header from Belgium’s Charles De Ketelaere in a quarterfinal game that Spain otherwise dominated. Spain outscored its opponents 14–1 in the tournament and only allowed 11 shots on target. It was as impressive a defensive performance as any World Cup winner has had.

For Argentina, it was a disappointing end to a magical run. This team was clearly not as good as the one that lifted the trophy in 2022, but it kept finding ways to win—thanks mostly to Lionel Messi. The 39-year-old legend played a key role in his team’s comeback victories earlier in the tournament, but he wasn’t much of a factor in the final. It’s fair to wonder how much energy he had left in his legs at the end of a long tournament, and whether Spain would have been able to dominate possession as much as it did if Argentina had all 11 men playing defense, rather than Messi conserving energy and waiting for the ball to come to him. That isn’t to say that Messi shouldn’t have been on the field. It’s just that Spain may have been a uniquely difficult matchup for Argentina.

It was a letdown for such an excellent tournament to end with a snoozefest like that, but hopefully it doesn’t leave a sour taste in the mouth of casual fans. After all, this year’s Super Bowl was a total stinker, and nobody’s swearing off football.

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The top five…

… things I saw yesterday:
5. Cathal O’Neill’s goal for Limerick in the other big championship game of the day: the All-Ireland hurling final.
4. Nolan Arenado’s game-tying home run for the Diamondbacks after they trailed the Cardinals, 7–0. Arizona went on to win in 10 innings on a walk-off double by Max Kepler.
3. William Contreras’s epic bat flip after a walk-off, two-run homer. (I like how he looked up to make sure it wasn’t going to smack him in the head on the way down.)
2. Ryan Fox’s clutch birdie putt on the final hole to win the British Open. Fox, 39, had never finished higher than 16th at a major.
1. The Spanish TV call of Ferran Torres’s winning goal.

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