Fifa is to reconsider the format of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, says president Gianni Infantino.

The teams will increase from 32 to 48 for the competition and were set to be divided into 16 groups of three, with the top two progressing to the last 32.

Infantino said that would be looked at after the "success" of the four-team groups at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
"Here the groups of four have been absolutely incredible," said Infantino.

"Until the last minute of the last match you would not know who goes through.
"We have to revisit or at least re-discuss the format. This is something that will certainly be on the agenda in the next meeting."

The group stages in Qatar included some exciting final games as countries tried to secure a top-two place to qualify for the last 16.

The four-team group format, with the top two going through to the knockout stages, has been used since the men's World Cup expanded to 32 teams in 1998.



The original plan was to shorten the group stage from 3 games to 2, but that would ruin the group stage.

A floated idea is to continue with groups of 4, top two advancing. But 48 divided by 2 = 24, which is right between the 16 or 32 which is needed for a proper single elimination bracket.

Therefore, as the float goes, if there are 48 teams in groups of 4, that's 12 groups.
So have the top 8 group winners earn a bye and throw the worst 4 (by points earned) into that first elimination game.
This would provide incentive for all group winners who have won their first two games to also play well in their 3td group stage win.

I think I like it!!!!

New person to soccer question. That had to be an all time great game, right?

tequila4kapp said:

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New person to soccer question. That had to be an time great game, right?

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Yes, best two teams in the tournament with the best players. Argentina wanted it more, highly motivated and cohesive team, they deserved it.

Epic Final!!!

JB was a Chieftain said:

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Epic Final!!!

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Indeed! And although I'm sure there was massive corruption in the decision for this to be the host country, the officiating was pretty darned fair, which was a pleasant surprise. Brilliant game.

JB was a Chieftain said:

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Epic Final!!!

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That is the word I was thinking of. Epic indeed. As a Dutchman not an Argentina fan but very happy for Messi. The **** he has gone through about not being better than Maradonna because he hadn't won the WC is finally put to bed. Mbpappe a star too of course.

bearsandgiants said:

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JB was a Chieftain said:

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Epic Final!!!

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Indeed! And although I'm sure there was massive corruption in the decision for this to be the host country, the officiating was pretty darned fair, which was a pleasant surprise. Brilliant game.

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I thought the referee was really good today. No real questionable calls. Let them play with some contact. Stepped in when needed. It made the players and the game shine today!

Cal88 said:

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tequila4kapp said:

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New person to soccer question. That had to be an time great game, right?

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Yes, best two teams in the tournament with the best players. Argentina wanted it more, highly motivated and cohesive team, they deserved it.

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How much do you think that virus circulating through their roster affected France today?

tequila4kapp said:

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New person to soccer question. That had to be an all time great game, right?

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Yeah, the only problem is when a game like this has to come down to PKs.

Big C said:

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Cal88 said:

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tequila4kapp said:

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New person to soccer question. That had to be an time great game, right?

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Yes, best two teams in the tournament with the best players. Argentina wanted it more, highly motivated and cohesive team, they deserved it.

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How much do you think that virus circulating through their roster affected France today?

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It probably had some effect, given how tight the margin was. The players who were out with the flu were subbed out, Rabiot, Varane. Also, Di Maria being healthy was a big boost for Argentina, his contribution was huge. It looks like they've rested him and saved him for the final.

Cal88 said:

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Big C said:

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Cal88 said:

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tequila4kapp said:

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New person to soccer question. That had to be an time great game, right?

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Yes, best two teams in the tournament with the best players. Argentina wanted it more, highly motivated and cohesive team, they deserved it.

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How much do you think that virus circulating through their roster affected France today?

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It probably had some effect, given how tight the margin was. The players who were out with the flu were subbed out, Rabiot, Varane. Also, Di Maria being healthy was a big boost for Argentina, his contribution was huge. It looks like they've rested him and saved him for the final.

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Agree. A huge chunk of Argentina's attack went through DiMaria while he was in the game. I thought they really took a step back when he had to come out

sycasey said:

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GMP said:

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sycasey said:

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Even with all of the random upsets, I think if you'd told people before the tournament started that the final was going to be Argentina vs. France they would not have been surprised.

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Surprised, no. But I ran a pool with 85 entrants. Each got to pick two teams from Pot 1 (Brazil, Argentina, France, England, Belgium, Portugal, Spain). Only six picked both Argentina and France (brag: I was one of them). That's pretty low.

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What was the most predicted final?

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This is a difficult question to answer, because the pool was not set up like a March Madness pool where you picked every match. Instead, I took the Pots from the World Cup draw, but moved Qatar from Pot 1 to Pot 4. Then each player got to pick 2 teams from Pot 1, 3 from Pot 2, 2 from Pot 3, and 1 from Pot 4. In group play, a team's points were multiplied by their Pot number: so Australia, who had 6 points, was the most valuable Group Play team with 24 points.

In the knockouts, you kept those 8 teams (or whoever you had alive) and the multipliers were gone. An appearance in R16 was 1 point, R8 was 2, semifinals was 4, finals was 8, and winner was 16.

So the most common pair, by far, was Brazil and Argentina. That pairing was picked 31 times (out of 85). But the odds of those two making the final were slim - it would have required either team to finish second in its group, which didn't happen. So either people didn't think that far ahead or decided to just play it safe with the favorites.

All told, Brazil was picked 61 times and Argentina 47 (France, at 26, was the third highest in Pot 1).The only teams picked higher than Brazil and Argentina were Germany (69) and Netherlands (67) (but those two were pot 2 and each entrant picked 3 from Pot 2).

GMP said:

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sycasey said:

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GMP said:

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sycasey said:

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Even with all of the random upsets, I think if you'd told people before the tournament started that the final was going to be Argentina vs. France they would not have been surprised.

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Surprised, no. But I ran a pool with 85 entrants. Each got to pick two teams from Pot 1 (Brazil, Argentina, France, England, Belgium, Portugal, Spain). Only six picked both Argentina and France (brag: I was one of them). That's pretty low.

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What was the most predicted final?

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This is a difficult question to answer, because the pool was not set up like a March Madness pool where you picked every match. Instead, I took the Pots from the World Cup draw, but moved Qatar from Pot 1 to Pot 4. Then each player got to pick 2 teams from Pot 1, 3 from Pot 2, 2 from Pot 3, and 1 from Pot 4. In group play, a team's points were multiplied by their Pot number: so Australia, who had 6 points, was the most valuable Group Play team with 24 points.

In the knockouts, you kept those 8 teams (or whoever you had alive) and the multipliers were gone. An appearance in R16 was 1 point, R8 was 2, semifinals was 4, finals was 8, and winner was 16.

So the most common pair, by far, was Brazil and Argentina. That pairing was picked 31 times (out of 85). But the odds of those two making the final were slim - it would have required either team to finish second in its group, which didn't happen. So either people didn't think that far ahead or decided to just play it safe with the favorites.

All told, Brazil was picked 61 times and Argentina 47 (France, at 26, was the third highest in Pot 1).The only teams picked higher than Brazil and Argentina were Germany (69) and Netherlands (67) (but those two were pot 2 and each entrant picked 3 from Pot 2).

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Ah okay, so Argentina and France were 2nd and 3rd most picked out of the top ranked teams. That's reasonable.

tequila4kapp said:

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Cal88 said:

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Big C said:

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Cal88 said:

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tequila4kapp said:

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New person to soccer question. That had to be an time great game, right?

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Yes, best two teams in the tournament with the best players. Argentina wanted it more, highly motivated and cohesive team, they deserved it.

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How much do you think that virus circulating through their roster affected France today?

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It probably had some effect, given how tight the margin was. The players who were out with the flu were subbed out, Rabiot, Varane. Also, Di Maria being healthy was a big boost for Argentina, his contribution was huge. It looks like they've rested him and saved him for the final.

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Agree. A huge chunk of Argentina's attack went through DiMaria while he was in the game. I thought they really took a step back when he had to come out

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That sub was huge. He came off and the game changed. Not sure if he was gassed but they lost alot of push on the left side. Dembele seemed tired and was not on the same pace as Di Maria. PK call on him was a bit unlucky but he got beat on Di Maria's first move.

Ebb and flow of this match was nothing I've ever seen in a WC Final match. Probably best WC Final match ever. Felt really bad for Mbappe. His team let him down in PK's but its down to courage.

calbear80 said:

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Cal88 said:

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The greatest football player of all time, without question, is Diego Maradona.

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No. Did you ever see Pele play?

Maradina at his peak was a great player, but not as good as Pele. BTW, that is what I sent hours debating with the Argentinian fans in Belo Horizonte during the Brazil World Cup. I liked Maradons and that is why I have visited Boca Juniors Stadium twice and Napali Stadium once.

But, Maradona had one World Cup trophy (and that one by cheating with a handball), Pele had three World Cup trophy. Case closed.

Go Bears!
Go USA!

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I think this is a very interesting topic to revisit a few weeks later. The narrative around Messi has obviously changed. He now has a World Cup. No, not three like Pele. I don't agree with your premise that the number of World Cups is the measure of a player. But some interesting things I've learned that narrow that particular gap:

• Pele has 3 World Cup trophies, but in 1962 he only played in the first two games of the World Cup before being injured mid-game of game 2. He missed the rest of the tournament. This certainly casts his three trophies in a different light. Suddenly the gap is 2-1, and Pele shares the two World Cup trophies with a handful of players, including fourteen of his teammates in 1958 and 1962, plus Cafu and Ronaldo (1994, 2002), and a handful of Italians who won in 1934 and 1938.
• Messi won the Golden Ball for best player at the World Cup. This was his second. He is the only player to have won it twice. Pele won its equivalent only once (1970). He was the runner-up to his own teammate, Didi, in 1958.
• Messi won the Champions League 4 times. Pele only won the Copa Libertadores twice.
• Another thing I learned: While Messi won the Ballon D'Or seven times, Pele won it zero. However, the award was only presented to European players before 1995. In 2016, French Magazine revisited the award's history and said Pele should have won 7 times.

I've seen clips of Pele. Obviously, a great player. But for me it's Messi and Maradona, first and second.

I have played, coached (ok, AYSO level) and watched Soccer for almost 60 years, including:
. Every minute of every game in the 1970 World Cup on TV and many more since,
. Several games in person in the 1994 US Wold Cup,
. Three games in person in the 2014 Brazil World Cup, including one Argentine/Messi game,
. Three games in person in the 2018 Russia World Cup, including a Christian Ronaldo game,
. Eight games in person in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, with a bunch of stars,
. A ton of high-level club Soccer games in person, including a trip to Camp Nu specifically to watch Messi play.
. I had a chance to meet Pele in person (although briefly).

Messi is a great player. I love watching him play. But,I cannot put him above Pele. To me:
1A. Pele, 1B. Messi

Go Bears!

I spent some time during the World Cup googling and reading on this topic. First point of order is that nearly everyone agrees that Pele, Messi and Maradona are the top 3; people (obviously) do not agree on the order. It's a classic debate when comparing people from different generations.

tequila4kapp said:

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I spent some time during the World Cup googling and reading on this topic. First point of order is that nearly everyone agrees that Pele, Messi and Maradona are the top 3; people (obviously) do not agree on the order. It's a classic debate when comparing people from different generations.

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If Koman (?) had stopped and turned a couple of feet before on the goal line, Messi's last goal doesn't count, or if the Mbappe cross on the last France chance were about 6" lower, France may well have scored its 4th goal. In either case Messi has 0 world cup wins, and Mbappe would have led his team to 2 straight world cup titles at the age of 24, which would have eclipsed all other performances, Pele's included. This is just an exercise in showing how narrow the margin really is here...

Maradona is still superior to Messi in the shear range of footballing skills as well as his mental strength and toughness. Messi won his CL titles with an incredibly dominant Barca team, essentially the backbone of the world cup winning Spanish team, an incredibly talented golden generation of midfielders, pretty much the ideal situation for a forward.

Maradona on the other hand played with a pedestrian Napoli squad back during the Maldini dynasty of AC Milan and Platini's star-studded Juventus. His access to the Champions Cup was thus very limited, and he wasn't eligible for the Ballon d'Or by virtue of not being a European national.

Pele was before my time, but it's still clear that he had lots of help, Brazil would have won at least 2 of its world cup trifecta without him.

I would put Messi in a very high, rarified category of all time greats, level with Cruyff, Zidane or Platini. But not above them, only Maradona is above them. Cruyff would have easily won the 78 world cup had he played, he won everything with Ajax. Zidane led his team to a world cup win and a razor-thin world cup PK loss. In any case, Mbappe is on a trajectory where he has a shot at 2 more world cups, he is the heir apparent.

Cal88 said:

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tequila4kapp said:

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I spent some time during the World Cup googling and reading on this topic. First point of order is that nearly everyone agrees that Pele, Messi and Maradona are the top 3; people (obviously) do not agree on the order. It's a classic debate when comparing people from different generations.

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If Koman (?) had stopped and turned a couple of feet before on the goal line, Messi's last goal doesn't count, or if the Mbappe cross on the last France chance were about 6" lower, France may well have scored its 4th goal. In either case Messi has 0 world cup wins, and Mbappe would have led his team to 2 straight world cup titles at the age of 24, which would have eclipsed all other performances, Pele's included. This is just an exercise in showing how narrow the margin really is here...

Maradona is still superior to Messi in the shear range of footballing skills as well as his mental strength and toughness. Messi won his CL titles with an incredibly dominant Barca team, essentially the backbone of the world cup winning Spanish team, an incredibly talented golden generation of midfielders, pretty much the ideal situation for a forward.

Maradona on the other hand played with a pedestrian Napoli squad back during the Maldini dynasty of AC Milan and Platini's star-studded Juventus. His access to the Champions Cup was thus very limited, and he wasn't eligible for the Ballon d'Or by virtue of not being a European national.

Pele was before my time, but it's still clear that he had lots of help, Brazil would have won at least 2 of its world cup trifecta without him.

I would put Messi in a very high, rarified category of all time greats, level with Cruyff, Zidane or Platini. But not above them, only Maradona is above them. Cruyff would have easily won the 78 world cup had he played, he won everything with Ajax. Zidane led his team to a world cup win and a razor-thin world cup PK loss. In any case, Mbappe is on a trajectory where he has a shot at 2 more world cups, he is the heir apparent.

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I don't think it makes sense to rank players across eras, only within eras. And I don't think anyone has been the best at all aspects of the game, so it depends on what you focus on. I only go back to 1986. Maradona shined brightest of any player at any time at the 1986 World Cup. He also had the most mesmerizing skills in the midfield. But he did not score much, with his best season outside of Argentina of only 21 goals in 39 games. Messi is the most accurate shooter there has ever been, and it is not close, there are stats that I am not going to search for, he is an outlier. He is also the best passer, in my opinion. He did have very good teammates. Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player I have ever seen on a break, even better than Mbappe, he could finish with either foot while at full sprint. Fat Ronaldo was the best pure goal scorer I ever saw before he got hurt. Ronaldinho was the most dynamic player in open space, he had tricks that even surpassed Maradona, but did not have Maradona's power. Mbappe's combination of speed and trickery on the wing is unique in what I have seen. Erling Haaland, who now plays for Man City and is only 22, has the best combination of size, speed and skill, other than maybe Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Who is the best? Depends on what you needed and when you needed it. I rank players by who was most fun to watch. By that criteria, Maradona first, Messi second, Fat Ronaldo third, Mbappe fourth.

Cal88 said:

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tequila4kapp said:

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I spent some time during the World Cup googling and reading on this topic. First point of order is that nearly everyone agrees that Pele, Messi and Maradona are the top 3; people (obviously) do not agree on the order. It's a classic debate when comparing people from different generations.

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If Koman (?) had stopped and turned a couple of feet before on the goal line, Messi's last goal doesn't count, or if the Mbappe cross on the last France chance were about 6" lower, France may well have scored its 4th goal. In either case Messi has 0 world cup wins, and Mbappe would have led his team to 2 straight world cup titles at the age of 24, which would have eclipsed all other performances, Pele's included. This is just an exercise in showing how narrow the margin really is here...

Maradona is still superior to Messi in the shear range of footballing skills as well as his mental strength and toughness. Messi won his CL titles with an incredibly dominant Barca team, essentially the backbone of the world cup winning Spanish team, an incredibly talented golden generation of midfielders, pretty much the ideal situation for a forward.

Maradona on the other hand played with a pedestrian Napoli squad back during the Maldini dynasty of AC Milan and Platini's star-studded Juventus. His access to the Champions Cup was thus very limited, and he wasn't eligible for the Ballon d'Or by virtue of not being a European national.

Pele was before my time, but it's still clear that he had lots of help, Brazil would have won at least 2 of its world cup trifecta without him.

I would put Messi in a very high, rarified category of all time greats, level with Cruyff, Zidane or Platini. But not above them, only Maradona is above them. Cruyff would have easily won the 78 world cup had he played, he won everything with Ajax. Zidane led his team to a world cup win and a razor-thin world cup PK loss. In any case, Mbappe is on a trajectory where he has a shot at 2 more world cups, he is the heir apparent.

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Cal88 you know your soccer. Never was a great fan of Maradonna. Other than that I agree with you.

What leagues did Pele and Maradona play in and how was the quality of play (excluding Pele/Cosmos)?

tequila4kapp said:

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What leagues did Pele and Maradona play in and how was the quality of play (excluding Pele/Cosmos)?

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Pele only played in Brazil, he was too big to leave but also back then most stars played at home in teams from Sao Paulo or Rio. This being said, the quality of play in those leagues was top-notch, Brazil had the most depth of any nation.

Maradona played in Italy's Serie A, which was the best and toughest league in the world at that time, especially known for being rough on forwards and very good at team defense. Messi wouldn't have lasted in that environment, while someone like Cristiano Ronaldo or Zidane would have still done OK. Supposedly performance-enhancing drugs were also commonly used in Italy, up to the early 2000s, so Maradona would have been in his element . Seriously though, the guy was a cut above.

Messi played the bulk of his club career with a Barcelona team that played possession game better than anyone in the history of football, were a finisher of the quality of Messi would thrive, playing in front of the best midfield of that era, that of world champion Spain.

Argentina's players celebrate yesterday in Buenos Aires, aboard a bus labeled "World Champions." Photo: Tomas Cuesta/AFP via Getty Images


Fans gather at the obelisk in Buenos Aires for yesterday's victory parade. Photo: Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images

Incredible celebrations, the Argentinians really wanted it more than any other team in this tournament, and it showed.

Here's a great way to end the year, with a short Mbappe highlight reel, the kid is completely unreal!!!

Superb goal from young German striker Karim Adeyemi for Dortmund vs Chelsea in the Champions League earlier today: