48 teams. 3 host nations. 104 matches. Spain won it — 1–0 over Argentina in extra time on 19 July 2026.
Opened 11 June 2026 · Final 19 July 2026 · 16 venues across the USA, Canada and Mexico. Spain beat Argentina in the final. England beat France 6–4 in the third-place play-off — ten goals, the highest-scoring match of the tournament.
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey. 80,663 fans. Goalless after 90 minutes, then Ferran Torres finished from close range in the 106th minute. Spain had 20 shots, Argentina 2. Referee: Slavko Vinčić.
308 goals in 104 matches — 2.96 a game. 6,810,966 fans came through the gates, the most-attended World Cup ever; the old record was 3,587,538 at USA 1994. Spain conceded one goal in eight matches and never trailed for a single minute.
Predictions closed on 11 June 2026, when the tournament kicked off. Spain beat Argentina 1–0 after extra time. Go and see how your call did.
How Did Your Call Do? → The 2026 Final → All Finals →Golden Ball: Rodri (Spain). Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappé (France) with 10 goals — the first player ever to win it at two different World Cups. Golden Glove: Unai Simón (Spain), who conceded one goal in the whole tournament. Best Young Player: Pau Cubarsí (Spain).
Paraguay knocked Germany out in the round of 32 — 1–1 after extra time, 4–3 on penalties. Norway beat Brazil 2–1 in the round of 16, Erling Haaland scoring twice. Cape Verde reached the round of 32 on their World Cup debut. And Curaçao became the smallest nation ever to play at a World Cup.
Messi, 39, played his sixth World Cup and captained Argentina all the way to the final. He won the Silver Ball and the Silver Boot with 8 goals, and he now holds the records for most World Cup matches (34), most wins (23) and most assists (12). He has not retired from international football. After the final he hugged 19-year-old Lamine Yamal, who had a birthday mid-tournament and then won the thing. Everybody watching read it the same way: one era handing over to the next.
Mbappé broke Klose's record on 18 July 2026, in the 66th minute of the third-place match against England. Fontaine's 13 goals all came at one tournament — still the single-tournament record, 68 years on.
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | Score | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 🇪🇸Spain | 🇦🇷Argentina | 1–0 (AET) | USA/Canada/Mexico |
| 2022 | 🇦🇷Argentina | 🇫🇷France | 3–3 (AET, 4–2 pen) | Qatar |
| 2018 | 🇫🇷France | 🇭🇷Croatia | 4–2 | Russia |
| 2014 | 🇩🇪Germany | 🇦🇷Argentina | 1–0 (AET) | Brazil |
| 2010 | 🇪🇸Spain | 🇳🇱Netherlands | 1–0 (AET) | South Africa |
| 2006 | 🇮🇹Italy | 🇫🇷France | 1–1 (AET, 5–3 pen) | Germany |
| 2002 | 🇧🇷Brazil | 🇩🇪Germany | 2–0 | Japan/South Korea |
| 1998 | 🇫🇷France | 🇧🇷Brazil | 3–0 | France |
| 1994 | 🇧🇷Brazil | 🇮🇹Italy | 0–0 (AET, 3–2 pen) | USA |