A Grip on Sports: The World Cup final is set and it again pits the two best teams from the two best soccer areas in the world
A GRIP ON SPORTS • There is just one match left in the 2026 World Cup. Well, two, as you have to count the anachronistic third-place one. The only match that matters comes Sunday in New Jersey.
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• Defending champion Argentina vs. reigning European champion Spain. For the trophy. That seems right. As did Wednesday’s semifinal, in which England did what it does, coming oh-so-close to the big prize only to let it slip away. And Lionel Messi did what he does, all the little/big things needed to help his side win.
He is a little man. Who plays bigger than anyone. On the biggest stages. Which describes, in many ways, yesterday’s 2-1 comeback win over the English in Atlanta.
On one side the country that invented the modern game, carrying the weight of failure after failure since their lone title in 1966. On the other, Messi and his teammates, trying to become the second nation to win back-to-back Cups, joining its neighbors to the east, Brazil. It’s been 64 years since consecutive titles happened. And only two times since when a country reached a final with such history on the line.
Brazil in 1998, but it lost to host France. Argentina also, in 1990. Its aging squad, led by captain Diego Maradona, lost to West Germany. Now a 39-year-old Messi will try to etch his name in Cup lore. Again.
England went ahead 1-0 early in the second half on a goal by Anthony Gordon – no, Cougar football fans, we checked, he’s not that Anthony Gordon.
Then the English tried to run out the clock. Made defensive substitutions. Stopped attacking. Tried, as they did in the round of 16, when, with a man down, they packed in the defense and survived.
Problem is, Argentina, with its diminutive leader, isn’t Mexico. Argentina, not worried about aggressive counterattacking, kept the pressure on. Tied the match on an impressive strike from Enzo Fernández off a Messi assist and won it in stoppage time when Messi found Lautaro Martinez on a cross the substitute drove home.
It’s what Argentina, and Messi, does. It came back from a late 2-0 deficit to eliminate Egypt. As long as he is running – OK, walking most of the time – Argentina is not out of a match.
• As much as we were hoping England would be able to overcome a history of failing to win the biggest prize in the sport it invented, it was not to be. At least there is a consolation prize.
No, we’re not talking about the reviled third-place match that will take place Saturday, pitting France and Britain, two countries separated by a 21-mile wide waterway and more than a thousand years of acrimony. We’re focused on a different type of geography. Soccer geography.
Europe, the game’s bully. And South America, the game’s feisty, quick-footed adversary.
Led by Germany and Italy, with four World Cup titles apiece, the European countries have won 12 championship. Spain, which shut out France on Tuesday, will be vying for its second Sunday.
The other 10 Cup winners have all come from South America. Brazil, which has recently fallen on hard times, has five. Argentina, the defending champ and Spain’s opponent this year? Three, all of which came at the expense of a European squad (1978 vs. the Dutch, 1986 against West Germany and 2022 against France).
Two European teams have met in the final nine times, assuring the continent the title. South American teams duplicated that feat just twice, with Uruguay winning both, in the 1930 opener over Argentina and 20 years later when it topped host Brazil.
Twice also describes how many times a European country has defeated one from South America in the final, though both times it was the Germans handing Argentina a crushing defeat.
Which history will be repeated Sunday? Will it be the Euros, represented by Spain, winning their 13th crown? Or will that number prove unlucky, as Messi and Argentina takes the 11th title back to the southern part of this hemisphere?
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WSU: We’re Isaac Jones fans here. Not because he played his college basketball at Idaho and at Washington State. But because of who he is, something we experienced about this time last summer. A stand-up guy. He’s standing up in Las Vegas this week and Theo Lawson sat down with him to talk about Jones’ basketball journey. To say it’s been bumpy might be an understatement. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, ESPN has rated the conference’s football schools and put Boise State as the favorite. The Cougars are fourth, behind San Diego State and Fresno State. … Colorado State is under new management, which leads to a few questions. … In basketball news, San Diego State’s men are holding workouts. But the turnout is spotty at best. … On the baseball front, Oregon State’s alums are having some really good seasons in the MLB. … In softball, Utah State has hired an assistant with multiple Northwest ties. … Around the West Coast and the nation, Jon Wilner has some thoughts in the Mercury News on how the ACC has eclipsed the Big 12 for the third spot among the top four conferences. … Football recruiting never stops at Oregon. … Colorado women’s basketball is back at workouts. … In the world of easily foreseeable consequences, the NCAA’s new five-for-five rule will be a huge detriment for the 2027 recruiting classes.
Gonzaga: John Stockton will be one of three presenters for Mark Few when he’s inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in August. The other two? Check out Theo’s story for the answer. … We linked Wilner’s thoughts on the Pac-12 basketball race yesterday when they ran in the Mercury News. They are on the S-R site today. We link them again.
Mariners: Numbers indicate there may only be a seven teams that are lucky enough to win the World Series this season. One of them resides in this part of the world. But can the M’s really put it all together and make the run they need? … Jerry Dipoto talked about the team’s prospects, a word that has more than one meaning in this context.
Seahawks: The best receiver in the NFL? The Associated Press voted that honor to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
World Cup: The coverage of Argentina’s comeback win Wednesday seems to focus on Messi, which is to be expected. Everyone loves – or hates – the superstar. And he is the game’s longest-lasting superstar. … There is one other person everyone either loves or hates, though the latter occurs most often. The coach of the losing team, in this case England.
Storm: Another game, another lead, another late meltdown. Another loss. At 6-20, Seattle has the WNBA’s worst record. Could it be the franchise is tanking for JuJu Watkins?
Golf: The Open is underway across the pond. But before it began, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were asked similar questions that elicited similar answers about life, death, legacy and the game.
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• We were just finishing up this morning when we heard a weird sound on the roof. Tried to place it. Rocket J. Squirrel? Santa’s reindeer? D.B. Cooper’s money bag? Nope, though something that seemed just as unlikely as late as yesterday’s cloudless afternoon. Huge, hard, quick rain drops. Pound, pound, pound. And then gone in a flash. Until later …
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• Photos: The Spokesman-Review, Getty Images, Tribune News Service