Even for an avid football fan, the start of the World Cup on 11 June feels a long time ago, so I can only imagine how long it seems for non-football followers.
While the world outside Argentina celebrates Spain’s victory and England fans draw a crumb of comfort from their team’s victory in the irrelevant, but highly entertaining, 3rd place play off, a quick reflection on the World Cup off the pitch and implications moving forward.
A World Cup hosted by Trump’s America was always going to be different – bigger but not necessarily better. From years out everyone could see that, not unusually, the World Cup in the US (and Mexico and Canada) would bring President Trump front and centre to the sport. The Balogun red card affair was significant from the viewpoint that there was not more outrage, almost as if the Head of State lobbying, and presumably pressuring, a global sporting body to rescind a sanction on one of his country’s players was normal behaviour! That, coupled with the denial of a US visa for some managers and officials, and the treatment of Iran’s team which was not allowed to stay in the US and had to travel in from Mexico for matches, made it a deeply political tournament (and that’s before the Argentinian banners!)
Turning each match into quarters to include hydration breaks made complete sense for some matches where temperatures were at dangerous levels. Making the breaks also mandatory for matches played in air-conditioned stadiums made much less sense. The argument that it meant each match was played under the same conditions had some merit, but the argument that they are just convenient to include an additional advertising break wins out for me.
No officials even tried to make excuses for the 27-minute-long half time break during the final – it was simply there to accommodate a music show and accompanying razmataz. It was only to be expected in the US, but player welfare was certainly an afterthought and the propensity of players, and officials, suffering from cramp later on in the match could well have been impacted by having a longer than usual break. But, for those who shelled out £1million plus for a pitch-side seat at the final to watch an extraordinarily dull match, at least they can take some comfort that they had a little entertainment during the proceedings.
Like Marmite, the video assistant referee (VAR) in football is either loved or hated by fans. For those who grudgingly support it to ensure that nothing is missed by the referee, I imagine that they have swiftly changed camps due to the lack of interference by VAR. Blatant fouls, offsides and decisions did not seem to be being reviewed by VAR as they were ‘out of scope’, leaving players, officials and fans at times bewildered and with a sense of injustice.
What the USA undoubtably did well was its stadiums, with venues that seemed from another age compared to the rest of the world. The aerial pictures of the MetLife stadium in New Jersey, the venue for the final, were breath-taking and lived up to the billing as a cathedral to sports. However, regardless of how impressive the stadium is, the images also showed that the MetLife is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by enormous carparks and totally detached from the city and civilisation.
The MetLife could well be a fitting metaphor for the World Cup Tournament 2026 overall. Very impressive, innovative, financially successful and fitting for the greatest show on earth, while also being detached, a little soulless and a million miles from the essence of the game.
While it has been a fun experience for the last seven weeks, I can happily leave behind the hydration breaks, extended half times, Trump law-bending, Madonna warbling and Argentinian thuggery, and hope that they stay in the US. I for one am looking forward to getting back to the Swansea.com stadium to watch the Swans and return to the real football beloved by fans.
David Little is a Partner at Bishop & Sewell in our expert Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial
If you would like to contact him, please call on either 07968 027343 or 020 7631 4141 or email: company@
The above is accurate as at 23 July 2026.
The information above may be subject to change. The content of this note should not be considered legal advice, and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
