Corner kick The World Cup Between Two Worlds

There are World Cups that go down in history for goals. Others for heroes. The World Cup in North America risks being remembered for something else: for the feeling that football was, too often, forced to play a secondary role. It was a tournament in which Iran lived under the shadow of war and security measures, in which training camps resembled fortresses rather than training grounds. A tournament in which a red card received by Folarin Balogun was annulled after a chain of events that even involved a phone call from the White House, opening a debate about the independence of sports justice unprecedented in a World Cup. There were refereeing errors, contested VAR decisions, accusations of favoritism and suspicions that accompanied almost every knockout phase. Even Argentina, two steps away from another final, did not escape the suspicious eyes of its opponents. When every decision becomes a theory, it means that trust in refereeing begins to be worth less than the technology that should protect it. And above all, the image of Gianni Infantino floated. The FIFA president seemed more like a global diplomat than the host of the most important football competition. Planes, meetings, summits, statements. Sometimes you had the impression that the man who runs world football watches matches more often through the window of a plane than from the stands.

However, football has an extraordinary talent: it knows how to survive its own leaders.

The semi-finals are exactly what any lover of the game could wish for: Argentina - England and France - Spain. There are four world champions, four different schools of football and, probably, the strongest confrontations that this edition could offer.

It is also a confrontation between generations. Lionel Messi is probably playing his last great world act. In front of him come Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal, two players who had not even reached football maturity when the Argentine lifted the trophy in Doha. Harry Kane is still trying to turn a huge career into a legendary one. Kylian Mbappe is looking to conquer the world, and Michael Olise confirms that France produces talents with almost industrial regularity. It is, perhaps, the most beautiful image of this World Cup: the past and the future share the same field.

However, while football is looking for its new king, FIFA already seems preoccupied with the next revolution. The current edition is not even over and there is talk of a World Cup with 64 teams. More nations, more matches, more revenue. Officially, in the name of inclusion. Unofficially, in a competition where each new place means millions of dollars and new political alliances within FIFA. The idea is already being analyzed by the leadership of the world forum. The question is simple: where does the expansion stop? At 64? At 80? At 96? If any limit can be moved, then the value of qualification begins to be diluted, and the World Cup risks becoming a giant festival in which exclusivity disappears.

Perhaps this is the real stake of the summer of 2026. Not who lifts the trophy on July 19.

But whether football will still manage to remain bigger than the politics, interests and marketing of those who administer it. The semi-finals still give us hope that the answer is "yes". The rest of the tournament forces us, however, not to be very sure.