Our feature columnist, John Newsome, previews the Football World Championship 2026 final and third-place playoff with his unique and insightful commentary.
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Be sure to check out John’s book, entitled “Three Days At Anfield“, a riotous and heartfelt tribute to Barnsley FC that blends football nostalgia, fan memoir, and a love letter to the beautiful game. Available on Amazon now.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication.
2026 World Cup Final and Third and Fourth Place Playoff
July 19th
The World Cup Final
SPAIN (2) v ARGENTINA (1)
20.00 in England
It was assumed that the Semi-Final between Spain and France would be a tight affair that could potentially go all the way to a penalty shootout.
As it turned out, that wasn’t the case, Spain were simply head and shoulders above France and gained a very easy convincing win from a 2-0 scoreline.
The Aston Villa Left-Back Lucas Digne, who’d had a decent tournament up to the Semi, was scared stiff of Lamine Yamal, which eventually led to Lucas inexplicably kicking the Spanish Youngster whilst attempting to clear the ball and conceding a penalty in the 22nd minute.
It was a really poor attempted clearance, which handed the initiative to the Spanish.
Mikel Oyarzabal easily converted past the French Goalkeeper, Mike Maignan, to give the Spanish a lead at the break.
Tottenham’s Pedro Porro scored a brilliant goal just before the hour mark to take the game away from France and with no further goals in the remaining half-hour or so, Spain were through to only their 2nd World Cup Final in history, following winning the tournament in 2010.
Spain were brilliant throughout the 90-odd minutes and played as a team, whereas France played as individuals, with no real cohesion and not a patch on the team that had reached the Semi-Final.
This EveryTip preview had predicted a France win but that was based on the performances from the previous 6 games, however, in the 7th, Didier Deschamps’ men went missing.
The Man City Midfielder Rodri, who it’s fair to say, did struggle for City towards the end of the season, was superb in the Spanish Midfield and was akin to a Metronome, dictating the tempo and rhythm of the game, acting as the team’s heartbeat, ensuring play kept moving smoothly by retaining possession, recycling passes and controlling when to speed up or slow down the match.
The ex-Ballon d’Or winner has produced 2 brilliant performances in the Quarter-Final and Semi-Final, meaning Argentina will need to stop the legend from making it 3 great games in a row, if the Argentinians want to win the World Cup.
The following was put in this EveryTip Semi-Final preview-
‘Another interesting statistic that popped up also was-
2010, when Spain were eventual Champions.
Debut without a win- (lost 1-0 against Switzerland)
Comfortable second victory- (Honduras 2-0)
Beat Marcelo Bielsa’s team- (Chile 2-1)
1-0 win over Portugal in the last-16-
Hard-fought Quarter-Final-(Paraguay 1-0)
Semi-final against the tournament’s
biggest challenge- (Germany 1-0)
2026-
Debut without a win- (draw 0-0 against Cape Verde)
Comfortable second victory- (Saudi Arabia 4-0)
Beat Marcelo Bielsa’s team- (Uruguay 1-0)
1-0 win over Portugal in the last-16
Hard-fought (ish) Quarter-Final-(Belgium 2-1)
Semi-final against the tournament’s
biggest challenge- (France)
Will history repeat itself or will France prevail?’
Well, history has repeated itself for Spain, who went on to win the 2010 World Cup by beating the Netherlands from a 1-0 score.
Andrés Iniesta with the goal.
There was some English involvement in that Final, those being the referee trio of Howard Webb, Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey.
There won’t be any English involvement this time!
At the moment, the engraver is sharpening up his pen and just waiting for the final whistle, to write ‘2026 Winners-Spain’ on the iconic Gold Trophy.
Can Lionel Messi change the engraver’s plans?
This next bit is from the EveryTip World Championship Round One Preview, published on June 2nd.
‘A bit of advice for those venturing over the pond to the Tournament, one won’t need a coat, it will be scorching.
That leads on to the possible Winners, which, if one checks the Odds from the numerous Betting Companies, the favourites are as follows-
Spain- 9/2
France- 5/1
England- 6/1
Brazil- 8/1
Argentina- 8/1
Portugal- 11/1
Germany- 12/1
Netherlands- 20/1
Norway- 25/1
Belgium- 33/1
Scotland- 250/1
A good friend of John Newsome’s asked what would happen if one were to put £10 on Scotland at 250/1.
The simple answer was that one would lose £10.
The likely winners will come from those Top 10 and the more than likely winners will come from countries accustomed to playing in hot conditions.
So one will not go far wrong in predicting the likes of Spain, France, Argentina or Brazil to win the 2026 World Cup.’
Argentina were just too good for England in Atlanta and progressed to the Final following a victory from a 2-1 scoreline.
Despite conceding an England goal just before the hour mark, Argentina’s constant pressure eventually bore fruit with the Chelsea man Enzo Fernandez scoring an equaliser in the 85th minute.
Lautaro Martinez then scored the winner in the 92nd to send Argentina through to their 2nd successive Final and send England home (well eventually home after the meaningless Bronze Medal game).
Lionel Messi was superb throughout and despite now being 39-years old, showed the world that he is still the main man and a very integral part of the Argentinian team, setting up both of the late goals.
In truth, England couldn’t cope with the Little Maestro who could and should still be playing at the highest level for one of the European teams, instead of in the MLS (Mickey Mouse Major League Soccer!)
Although Spain are favourites, Argentina are still World Champions and have found a way to win throughout this tournament with their ‘never give in’ attitude, so this will be a tough ask for the Spanish and should produce a cracker of a game for the watching Millions around the World.
Betfred offer Spain at 13/10, the Draw at 21/10 and 12/5 for Argentina to Win The World Cup.
Spain To Win 2-1- Get 9/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
England-
The Three Lions courageously fought but ultimately failed, against La Albiceleste in Atlanta on Wednesday.
That’s probably one way of putting England’s defeat against Argentina, however, was it courageous?
Or was it just another abject performance by an England Team under another abject Leader who is no better than Ron Greenwood, Sir Bobby Robson, Glenn Hoddle, Sven-Göran Eriksson, Fabio Capello, Roy Hodgson and Sir Gareth Southgate?
One mentions those England Managers because, as an almost 57-year-old, John Newsome has only seen England at a World Cup from Spain’1982 onwards.
Although John was born in 1969, one cannot remember Mexico’1970.
England didn’t qualify for Germany’1974 and Argentina’1978.
So the first recollection of the Three Lions at a World Cup, was in Spain, where England came home early.
Ron Greenwood’s’ Three Lions didn’t actually lose a game in Spain but were eliminated from the tournament due to the ludicrous way the competition was arranged.
There were 2 Group Stages, with 4 teams in the initial 6 Groups.
The winners and runners-up then went through to 4 Groups of 3.
That was a Round Robin event with the winners of each Group going through to the Semi-Finals.
England beat France, Czechoslovakia and Kuwait in the first Group Stage and were then in with West Germany and the hosts Spain.
(Bryan Robson scoring one of the quickest World Cup Goals after just 27 seconds against France!)
Following 2 draws against the Germans and the Spanish, England were out.
West Germany had drawn with England but beaten Spain so went on to the Semi-Final.
The whole set-up subsequently changed for Mexico’1986.
From 1982 to 2026, it has literally been 44 years of hurt, spanning 11 World Cups that John Newsome (and most of his mates) have watched England at those Finals.
If one is thinking-
‘There’s been 12 World Cups since 1982!’
That’s correct but England failed to qualify for USA’1994.
Now for the assessment of Thomas Tuchel and this current England Squad.
It would be too easy to go down different corridors saying England were ‘this, that and the other’ but in the cold light of day, Thomas Tuchel hasn’t and didn’t bring anything new to the table, that hadn’t happened before.
If one had fallen asleep after the Euro Final in 2024, where under the guidance of Sir Gareth Southgate, England lost against Spain, then woke up watching the Semi-Final against Argentina, could anyone say that it wasn’t Sir Gareth in charge and it was a supposed Manager that was going to take England to the next level?
England scored a total of 14 goals in this tournament.
Harry Kane- 6
Jude Bellingham- 6
Marcus Rashford- 1
Anthony Gordon- 1
Just 4 goal scorers and only 1 that played in the Premier League last season.
Compare that to the other 3 teams in the Semi-Finals.
Spain- 13
Argentina- 19
France- 16
Spain’s Goal Scorers-
Mikel Oyarzabal- 5
Pedro Porro- 2
Mikel Merino- 2
Lamine Yamal- 1
Alex Baena- 1
Fabian Ruiz- 1
Saudi Arabia- 1 (Own Goal)
Argentina’s Goal Scorers-
Lionel Messi- 8
Lautaro Martínez- 3
Lisandro Martinez- 1
Enzo Fernandez- 2
Julian Alvarez- 1
Giovani Lo Celso- 1
Alexis Mac Allister- 1
Cristian Romero- 1
Cape Verde- 1 (Own Goal)
France’s Goal Scorers-
Kylian Mbappe- 8
Ousmane Dembele- 5
Bradley Barcola- 2
Desire Doue- 1
The 2 teams with the most Goal Scorers (Spain- 6 + an OG, Argentina- 8 + an OG) made the Final.
The 2 with just 4 Goal Scorers lost the Semi-Final.
Harry Kane didn’t score in the Quarter or Semi-Final.
Jude Bellingham didn’t score in the Semi-Final.
Now, that is in no way suggesting that Harry and Jude had particularly bad games, it’s just simply offering up a fact.
The following was put in this EveryTip column for the last-16 Preview published on July 4th, following England’s victory over DR Congo-
‘Granted, Harry Kane did the business but again, how long can Harry keep going to the Well?
There is a lyric from a famous Bob Marley song, ‘I Shot the Sheriff!’
‘Every day the bucket goes to the Well but one day the bottom will drop out!’
One day, Harry’s goals will drop out, so who is going to step up to the plate?
Thomas has given Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney a combined total of 6 minutes in the 4 games and Ollie has had all of the 6 minutes, with Ivan just sitting there waiting for a penalty shootout.
Remember, England failed to score against Ghana and Harry didn’t get the 2nd goal against DR Congo until the 86th minute, yet Thomas Tuchel didn’t introduce Ollie or Ivan in any of the games.
Ollie got his 6 minutes of fun against Panama when England were winning 2-0.
TT needs to be more proactive and change things earlier.’
As it turned out, Harry only scored 1 more goal, then the bottom of the goal-scoring bucket dropped out.
Ollie Watkins never saw any more minutes in the remaining 4 games.
Ivan Toney was sent on in the 96th minute against Argentina, giving the ex-Brentford (and Barnsley) Striker just 5 minutes of World Cup action.
Anthony Gordon scored England’s goal against Argentina in the 56th minute.
Thomas Tuchel then sent on Ezri Konza (Defender) for Anthony in the 72nd minute.
Dan Burn (Defender) replaced Reece James (Defender) in the 82nd and Nico O’Reilly (Defender) replaced Declan Rice (Midfielder) also in the 82nd minute.
Argentina scored their goals in the 85th and 92nd minutes when England had effectively 6 Defenders on the pitch.
Argentina’s Manager Lionel Scaloni (once of West Ham) had already made a change soon after Anthony’s goal, one could argue that was being reactive as opposed to proactive, sending on Nicolas Gonzalez (Forward) but then made 4 further changes to try and get back in the game, which was surely being proactive.
Thomas reacted to those changes by sending on Dan and Nico.
Thomas then introduced Ivan Toney and Marcus Rashford in the 96th minute after conceding 2 goals (reactive!)
Again, has Thomas Tuchel shown the English nation anything different to a previous Three Lions Manager?
The FA (Football Association) extended Thomas’s contract back in February 2026, to see England through to the Euros in 2028 but the contract does include a performance clause.
Has TT’s performance at this World Cup been good enough?
A lot will say yes because the Three Lions got to the Semi-Final, however, was that because of Thomas or despite of Mr Tuchel?
John Newsome will say that England, with the players at their disposal, not only those who are in the USA but those that weren’t included, have underperformed and Thomas Tuchel hasn’t proved that he is any better than Sir Gareth Southgate and several English Managers who could have been given the job.
Remember and look at this through clear spectacles not rose-tinted glasses from the euphoria of making the Semi-Final, Thomas didn’t pick Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Lewis Hall, when he knew that Reece James was carrying an injury and wouldn’t be able to play all of the time.
After Tino Livramento had to pull out of the squad, probably folk won’t even remember who Tino’s replacement was.
Trevoh Chalobah!
Who saw exactly zero minutes of game time.
England have been renowned for having solid Right and Left Backs, with Lee Dixon, Gary Neville, Kyle Walker, Kenny Sansom, Stuart Pearce and Ashley Cole immediately springing to mind.
Thomas Tuchel didn’t know who to pick in those positions and had in total, 5 different combinations over the 7 games.
Reece James was at Right Back 3 times.
Jarrell Quansah was at Right Back twice.
Djed Spence was at Right Back once.
Ezri Konsa was at Right Back once.
Nico O’Reilly was at Left Back 5 times with Djed Spence switching from Right Back twice.
After starting 5 of the 6 previous games, Nico O’Reilly was then dropped for the 7th.
The Centre Backs (John Stones, Ezri Konsa and Marc Guehi) were changed 3 times.
John and Ezri played the first game against Croatia.
Ezri and Marc then played the next 4 against Ghana, Panama, DR Congo and Mexico.
John and Marc played in the last 2 games against Norway and Argentina.
England’s Midfield pairing of Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice was pretty much a first choice apart from the Panama game when Declan was rested.
The wide position had 5 different players starting the 7 games.
Anthony Gordon 5, Noni Madueke 4, Marcus Rashford 2, Bukayo Saka 2 and Morgan Rogers 1.
Jordan Pickford, Elliot Anderson Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham started all 7.
Out of the eleven starting positions, Thomas Tuchel changed 7 of those in the 7 games.
Which suggests, TT didn’t know his best eleven.
That’s not just hindsight, the following was put in this EveryTip last-32 preview published on the 28th of June.
‘John Newsome will always back England and is someone who is never negative, it’s always ‘coming home’, however, one’s not sure Thomas Tuchel knows his best eleven.
TT has made a big error not taking Trent Alexander-Arnold, and England are missing the mavericks such as Cole Palmer and Phil Foden.
Once again, it’s another England Manager who had the opportunity to give the English Nation something to get behind but has been glass half empty than full.’
Dean Henderson and James Trafford never saw any game time.
Granted, that’s usually the case with the backup Goalkeepers as Jordan Pickford is rightly the Number One.
Trevoh Chalobah, Jordan Henderson and Kobbie Mainoo never got a look in.
Yes, Jordan got 6 minutes against Panama basically to give the lad the distinction of being the first England player to play at 4 World Cups.
Would Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden have been better backup options than Trevoh, Kobbie and Jordan?
Was giving Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney 6 minutes each, the best that Thomas Tuchel could come up with?
These are just some examples of what people should be looking at when the dust of getting to the Semi-Final has settled.
Could Thomas Tuchel have done better?
John Newsome thinks he could have!
Bronze Medal Final
July 18th
FRANCE (3) v England (4)
22.00 in England
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami USA
This is the traditional 3rd/4th place Playoff game which will take place at 10 PM (England Time) in Miami, before the main event on Sunday.
France were simply outplayed by Spain in the Semi-Final and suffered a defeat and ultimately elimination from the tournament from a 2-0 scoreline.
The Spanish played like a team, whereas the French were just relying on individuals on the night, who couldn’t cope with the collective strength and lost, setting up this Bronze Medal Game against England in Miami.
England’s Semi-Final against Argentina was a step too far for the Three Lions who suffered a devastating defeat from a 2-1 scoreline.
Anthony Gordon scored in the 56th minute to give England a lead, however, Argentina just wore England down and eventually scored an equaliser in the 85th and the winner in the 92nd to break the hearts of the Three Lions faithful and prevent England from reaching their 2nd World Cup Final.
Betfred offer France at Evens 1/1, the Draw at 11/4 and 12/5 for England to Finish 3rd.
England To Win 3-1- Get 25/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
(This is purely based on the fact that it’s more than likely both Didier Deschamps and Thomas Tuchel will pick those players who haven’t featured much and the result could literally be anything).
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