The 2026 World Cup will be settled on Sunday when Spain face Argentina at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, a final that brings together the tournament’s most resilient champion and a European side that has quietly rebuilt its credentials. Argentina, the holders, survived two-goal deficits against both Cape Verde and Egypt in the knockout rounds, while Spain eliminated a Portugal team widely criticised for a passive, backward-passing style under Roberto Martínez. The final is the culmination of a 48-team tournament that, viewed from South America, Europe and Africa, was defined less by the familiar giants than by the breakthroughs of unheralded nations and the abrupt exits of several traditional powers.

No story captured the global imagination more than Cape Verde’s debut. The island nation of barely 600,000 people held Spain to a goalless draw, advanced from a group containing Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, and then led Argentina 2-0 in the round of 32 before losing 3-2 after extra time. Goalkeeper Vozinha, a 40-year-old who began the tournament with 50,000 Instagram followers, ended it with over 29 million after a string of saves against Spain and Argentina drew comparisons to Gianluigi Buffon. Norway, too, produced their finest World Cup campaign, eliminating Brazil in the round of 16 with what analysts in Rio de Janeiro described as a masterclass in tactical efficiency, before falling to England. Egypt, inspired by a tearful Mohamed Salah, registered their first World Cup win, beat Belgium on penalties in the last 32, and then also squandered a 2-0 lead against Argentina in the last 16. From an African perspective, the nine Confederation of African Football teams that reached the knockout stage represented a record, yet only Morocco advanced to the quarter-finals, and a recurring inability to protect late leads – Senegal conceded a 125th-minute penalty to Belgium, Egypt and Cape Verde both collapsed against Argentina – prompted former Ivorian defender Emmanuel Eboué to point to lapses in concentration.

The tournament was equally notable for the failures of established names. Germany, world champions in 2014, have now failed to reach the quarter-finals in three consecutive editions, this time losing a penalty shootout to Paraguay in the round of 32. Brazil, under four different coaches in three years, produced their worst performance since 1990, eliminated by Norway in a match that closed the international career of Neymar. Uruguay, the only South American side to fall in the group stage, were undermined by internal conflicts and player dissatisfaction with Marcelo Bielsa’s methods. Belgium’s so-called golden generation departed without a trophy after a quarter-final loss to France, while Italy missed the tournament entirely for the third consecutive cycle, a 12-year absence that European observers call a structural crisis.

Amid the drama, a viral moment captured the tournament’s levelling effect. Former Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos posted a video with Brazil legend Cafu and Cape Verde’s Vozinha, jokingly anointing Cafu “president of Brazil” and Vozinha “future president of Cape Verde,” to which Cafu replied by naming Campos “president of Mexico.” The clip, shared millions of times, underscored how a goalkeeper from a minnow had become the face of the World Cup’s democratising impulse. Vozinha, now linked with Brazilian clubs and even Inter Miami, said the attention was “a madness I never expected.” As the final approaches, the question from Africa and beyond is whether the structural lessons of 2026 – the need to manage late-game situations, the value of tactical cohesion over individual stardom – will be absorbed before the 2030 tournament co-hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal.