MIAMI — Let the World Cup hangover begin.

The biggest, most extravagant soccer party in history is over after nearly six weeks; and fans, the diehards as well as the newbies, will have to find ways to fill their afternoons and weekends now that Spain took home the trophy and the world’s best players have gone back to their club teams.

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NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s omission from the Spanish soccer team’s championship photo is drawing one last look at his impact on the 2026 World Cup.

The President lingered about on stage as Spain’s triumphant team waited to celebrate its thrilling win over Argentina at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. He was gently led away from the ...Read more

MIAMI — Lionel Messi, who left the World Cup final in tears Sunday after Argentina’s 1-0 loss to Spain, posted his first comments about the loss in Spanish on his Instagram account on Monday.

Translation: “The pain is deep, and this wound will be difficult to heal. But I am also left with the good things…the matches we turned around by ...Read more

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The largest, longest and most complex World Cup in history came to a close Sunday, with Spain beating Argentina 1-0 in extra time. But FIFA president Gianni Infantino didn't bother waiting for the final result before passing judgment on the tournament.

"By all means this World Cup has exceeded all expectations," he ...Read more

NEW YORK — There is nothing better than a soccer summer.

But that sentiment was very much in doubt even in the final days leading up this World Cup.

FIFA, with the Trump administration cheering on (or was it the other way around?) had done just about everything it could to tarnish the lead up to this three-country North American tournament. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Spain's players looked like they were ready to explode as they waited for team captain Rodri to lift the World Cup trophy into the air following their 1-0 win over Argentina in Sunday's final.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino looked a bit anxious as he wanted the newly crowned champions to have their moment but didn't want to ...Read more

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — This summer's World Cup was so good, nobody wanted it to end.

So Spain and Argentina played on and on in Sunday's final, through 90 minutes of regulation then through a 15-minute extra period before Ferran Torres gave Spain the only goal it would need to claim the title with a 1-0 victory over Argentina at a sold-out ...Read more

NEW YORK — The storybook ending eluded Lionel Messi.

Soccer’s biggest superstar, still playing at an otherworldly level at age 39, sat on the grass at MetLife Stadium, his thousand-yard stare saying more than words ever could.

Spain, in well-earned exuberance, celebrated nearby.

It wasn’t until the on-field medal ceremony that Messi’s...Read more

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — After 103 games and five weeks of dramatic wins, heartbreaking losses, surprise underdogs, Tartan Army parades and Norwegian synchronized rows, the 2026 World Cup reached its climax on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon with a clash of titans that went down to the wire.

The tense game was scoreless for 106 minutes before ...Read more

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — At the start of this World Cup, Spain was one of the biggest favorites to win it all. And in the end, it was the team that deservedly won the title.

Spain’s second-half substitute Ferran Torres’ scored in the 106th-minute goal to fuel a 1-0 victory over Argentina. La Roja dethroned the reigning champions with a 20-...Read more

NEW YORK — Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the second half of extra time to give Spain a tense 1-0 World Cup final victory over Argentina on Sunday evening in New Jersey.

Torres, who roamed into the box unmarked, received a headed pass from Nico Williams and rocketed the ball with his left foot past Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Mart...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The shy 9-year-old Nathan Negrete doesn't naturally gravitate toward the spotlight, but as Negrete stood with Weston McKennie in front of the roaring 74,904 fans at SoFi Stadium, he smiled.

Looking back nearly a month later, the Pico Rivera resident doesn't remember much of the U.S. men's national team win over Paraguay, getting...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Son, as they say, will come out tomorrow.

Bet your bottom dollar that Son Heung-min, LAFC's $26-million man — the record MLS fee for an incoming player — would peel himself off the mat and clear away the cobwebs and the sorrow of the past few weeks and months.

He did it with a sizzling, right-footed goal in the 57th ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The savior has arrived.

Or, at least, that’s how Orlando City is treating Antoine Griezmann.

Smoke machines. Purple hair. A standing-room-only introduction a few days ago for the club’s new No. 7. A goal and an assist less than 24 hours later in a 6-0 exhibition romp over the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

The marketing machine is ...Read more

NEW YORK — When Spain played France in the World Cup semifinals on Tuesday, there were 32 players on the field and 20 more across the respective benches.

At the final whistle, the reigning European champions had reminded the world that soccer is a team game. Spain didn’t just win 2-0; it delivered the most comprehensive performance of the ...Read more

SEATTLE — I remember watching a sports-panel show after Tiger Woods made a long birdie putt to win the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational — a non-major — and they were arguing whether that was Woods’ greatest tournament ever. I also remember reading a column after Manny Ramirez hit a seventh-inning home run in July, with the author ...Read more

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — England and France didn’t want to be in Miami on Saturday. Instead, they hoped to be in New York this weekend to play in Sunday’s World Cup final.

But England squandered a late 1-0 lead to Lionel Messi and Argentina in a semifinal, and France — a tournament favorite —was outclassed, 2-0, by Spain in the other ...Read more