Skip to main content

Three things we’ve learned from the World Cup… so far

By CNN

(CNN) — Note: This story first appeared in The Beautiful Game by CNN Sports, our daily newsletter on all things World Cup. To subscribe, click here.

The last Friday of a World Cup is always a bit strange. It sort of feels like a down day, cut adrift from all the action, color and drama of the tournament.

But fear not, this is just the calm before the storm.

Both Argentina and Spain are busy behind the scenes putting the finishing touches to their tactics, as fans around the world finalize their plans for how they’ll be watching Sunday’s final (Spanish editor’s note: Unfortunately for me, it will be in front of a computer and not at the pub).

And while it’s a bit rubbish having to wait another two days for the match, it does give us a chance to reflect on the last few weeks across North America.

The Main Thing: What we’ve learned about a World Cup like no other

Before a ball was even kicked this summer, we already knew this would be a record-breaking World Cup.

For the first time, 48 teams took part across an extended group stage which gave the chance to four nations to make their World Cup debuts.

And the first lesson I think we all learned was to never underestimate anyone.

From the first week, it was clear the so-called smaller nations were not satisfied with just making up the numbers, and there were several upsets throughout the group stages and even knockout rounds. No team demonstrated that more than Cape Verde.

The tiny island nation brought fire, passion and real quality to the competition, making it all the way to the knockout stages before falling to Argentina in extra-time.

Incredibly, neither finalist was able to beat the Blue Sharks in 90 minutes of soccer – the nation also held Spain to a 0-0 draw in its opening group-stage fixture, much to the dismay of the above Spanish editor.

But while the minnows punched above their weight, we learned that one superstar was still a cut above the rest.

Maybe I can only speak for myself here, but I did not think Lionel Messi could still be this influential on a soccer pitch. Since moving to the US’ Major League Soccer, I assumed he was basically on the beach, not retired per se, but very much stepped back from the top flight. How wrong I was.

Although he’s changed his game, Messi is still a match winner at the highest level. His Albiceleste simply wouldn’t be in the final if it wasn’t for him. The fact he’s currently topping the goalscoring leaderboard at the age of 39 is just ridiculous, but his playmaking is what’s most impressive.

Even if he can’t run like he used to, he’s now able to use his quality in passing to rip teams open and create chance after chance for his teammates.

As it stands, only two players in the last 60 years have had the most shots and created the most chances at a World Cup. Those players are Diego Maradona in 1986 and Lionel Messi so far this summer.

The magician is already a legend, but another World Cup title would put him on another level entirely.

I think the final thing I’ve learned is that the Beautiful Game really does have a future in the US.

For years, I’ve heard about efforts to raise the sport’s popularity in the country and how investment in MLS was going to alter the direction of the sport. David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimović came and went – both adding more eyeballs but not really inspiring a grassroots movement.

And while it’s too early to predict the tournament’s legacy, things do feel different. Now that the entirety of America has been able to see the game with its own eyes, hear the atmosphere and meet fans from around the world, it feels like the penny has dropped.

And there are stats to prove it as well. The USA’s final game against Belgium was the most-watched soccer match in the nation’s television history as the country fell in love with the squad.

Though there are challenges to growing the game at the grassroots level, it will be fascinating to see how many of these new fans return for the next World Cup in four years’ time – fingers crossed it will be most of you.

WATCH: The story behind Messi’s baby photoshoot with Lamine Yamal in 2007

But let’s get back to the game in hand: Sunday’s World Cup final.

The game will feature two superstars, Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi, who have often been compared.

After all, both made their breakthroughs at Barcelona, both play on the right and both possess outrageous natural talent.

And while Yamal has a long way to go before he can match what Messi has achieved in the sport, the pair will clash for the first time on the pitch on Sunday.

But this isn’t the first time the two superstars have met. Incredibly, that came back in 2007. Don’t believe me? Well, watch the video below.

Click the picture above or here to watch.

Quote of the Day

These are the words of Argentina President Javier Milei who was busy explaining his superstitions to a local radio show after watching his nation make the World Cup final.

Milei was referring to a jacket he was wearing while watching the quarterfinal clash against Switzerland, a match which almost knocked the defending champion out of the tournament.

But his superstitions don’t stop at his clothing.

Milei has vowed to not travel to New Jersey to attend the match, where he had been expected to watch with US President Donald Trump – who is now confirmed to be at MetLife Stadium.

Instead, Milei has opted to watch from his residence in Argentina as he has done throughout the tournament, not wanting to alter his routine and risk a change in fortunes.

All this is just a window into how seriously Argentina takes soccer, especially the World Cup.

Will the smoke and poor air quality hang around for the World Cup final?

Some good news from our friends at CNN Weather:

Dense smoke and poor air quality remain in place over much of the Northeast on Friday, and with air quality alerts warning against outside activity, the question looming just as thick as the smoke is: Will it hang around for the World Cup final on Sunday afternoon in East Rutherford, NJ?

While generally no one cheers for a rainy weekend, it looks like it might save the day. A storm system will bring rain to the Northeast on Saturday afternoon and evening, which will help to wash out the smoke from the skies and temporarily shift the winds so they are not blowing from the fire zone in southern Ontario and northern Minnesota.

The storm system that will push through the Northeast on Saturday is currently moving over the fire zones near the Minnesota-Canada border this morning. It should tamp down the fires and the smoke they produce, helping the overall air quality in the days to come.

The storms in New York City Saturday afternoon and evening could produce some heavy downpours and a risk for brief flash flooding in urban areas, but should clear the area by Sunday morning. This should set the stage for pleasant conditions on Sunday afternoon for the match between Argentina and Spain, with temperatures in the low 80’s.

Skies should be clear, though potentially still hazy from lingering smoke less close to the ground, but the air quality should be much better than the past couple of days.

The Final Whistle: New championship rings awarded to World Cup winners

Just when you think the US couldn’t possibly have more influence on the World Cup, FIFA has another ace up its sleeve.

In addition to the trophy and gold medals, the winners of this year’s World Cup will also receive a championship ring for their achievement.

In a nod to sporting tradition in the United States, each player will be given a bespoke ring which will be custom-fitted and awarded to the players at a later date. One does wonder whether this could be at the White House in a meeting with Donald Trump – just a theory.

The captain and head coach will receive temporary rings after the final itself, but these will later be replaced.

The ring will feature the World Cup trophy and a design to reflect the winning nation.

A total of 2,026 rings will be made, with 30 being reserved for the winning team. The others will be available to fans to buy, although it’s not clear what the price will be.

Any excuse to make some more cash – ahem – I mean, “own a unique piece of FIFA World Cup 2026 history.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The debate over Jason Arday’s life continues – just as viciously – despite his death at 41

By CNN
(CNN) — Jason Arday, the youngest black professor in the University of Cambridge’s 817-year history, is dead. But the intense public debate over his life and work, and what it means for a society grappling with multiculturalism, is continuing - perhaps even more furiously.Arday’s death, on Friday aged 41, followed mounting pressure from the UK and international media probing every aspect of his life. The questioning spanned everything from his academic record, to claims he was mute until he was 11 and even his athleticism following his claim that he once ran 30 marathons in 35 days.His family blames a “campaign of sustained abuse” - one they say began the day he was appointed as a professor at Cambridge in February 2023 - for his death. They suggested those angered by suggestions his was a case of over-promotion “would leave no stone unturned in their quest to undermine him.”Others have gone further, calling the unrelenting interest in Arday “a pernicious public shaming” (London Mayor Sadiq Khan) and “a racist witch hunt” (Weyman Bennett, of Stand Up to Racism).Arday’s story has dominated headlines, with coverage spanning the political spectrum - and leaders from Prime Minister Andy Burnham down pressed for their opinions.Burnham, who has been in the top job for less than a month, said Arday’s death was “a tragedy on so many levels” and called for a “moment for reflection.”That moment has yet to come.The debate over Arday’s life and career, and what it means for society is continuing – just as ferociously if not more so – despite his death.Julia Hartley-Brewer, a presenter on TalkTV, an online channel owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, on Saturday said: “The only person responsible for Jason Arday’s death is Jason Arday.”“He was a liar and a fraud who was rightly exposed for what he really was by academics and journalists who were simply doing their job,” she added.“This isn’t about right and left. It’s about right and wrong,” she said on X, less than 24 hours after his death was announced by the police, who said it was “unexpected but not suspicious.”The UK’s Spectator magazine, a right-leaning weekly, on Sunday said Arday was “both built up and destroyed by the ruthless machinery of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion).”“No one can deny it now: wokeness makes false gods and real tragedies,” its columnist Brendan O’Neill wrote.On the other side, Arday’s friends and supporters are calling on Burnham to commission a public inquiry into the role of the press in Arday’s death.“Enough is enough,” they said in a public letter that had attracted more than 34,000 signatures by Sunday afternoon.“There cannot be any doubt that Dr. Arday’s tragic death was the direct, foreseeable and foreseen result of press harassment. A significant element in that harassment was the colour of his skin. Self-regulation of the press has comprehensively failed.”How Jason Arday became a DEI “lightning rod”Arday, who leaves behind two children, was appointed professor of sociology of education at Cambridge on February 23, 2023 at the relatively young age of 37.The university’s press release at the time described him as a “renowned sociologist,” and said his appointment was “the latest chapter in a remarkable academic career, which began after he overcame illiteracy in his late teens.”The release described a boy diagnosed with a form of autism spectrum disorder at the age of three, and who was “unable to speak until he was 11, or to read or write until he was 18.”The university also pointed out he was “the youngest Black person ever appointed to a professorship at Cambridge,” and he intended to use that platform to “inspire more people from under-represented backgrounds into higher education.” At the time there were only five other black professors at Cambridge, and still just 1% of all professors in the UK are Black, according to the Society for Research into Higher Education.But his appointment also lit a fire among a group of academics - and others - who believe Cambridge and other universities and public bodies are striving too hard to increase their diversity.They alleged that Arday’s race played an outsized role in his appointment ahead of other leading international figures.Questions were raised about Arday’s research work. Nathan Cofnas, then a fellow Cambridge academic and self-defined “race realist,” published a Substack post claiming Arday had plagiarized a peer in his 2015 PhD thesis.Liverpool John Moores University, where Arday was awarded his PhD, found he made “honest and reasonable” errors, and dismissed the allegations of plagiarism. Arday admitted making citation errors and apologized, but denied lying.Cofnas went on national radio to describe Arday’s appointment as “DEI ideology” and claimed Arday was “not smart” like other Cambridge professors. Cofnas has published research claiming that race is linked to intelligence and that “under a colour-blind system” black people “would disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment.” Cofnas was sacked by Cambridge in the wake of controversy caused by his comments.Interest in Arday only grew. There have been more than 200 UK national newspaper articles about Arday in print over the past year, and hundreds more online. The Times of London alone has published more than 60 articles, according to NLA Clipshare.The case has also received widespread coverage in the US – including on CNN – where Trump has been assaulting DEI policies.Mounting scrutinyMedia interest expanded from questions about his academic record to claims he had run 600 miles in six days for charity; whether he had lied about being on a TV documentary series that aired decades before he was born; whether he was really mute as child; and his claim that a pig’s head had been sent to his home.Early in August, Arday resigned from his position at Cambridge saying “the relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love.”Cambridge University launched an investigation into his appointment after “new information” emerged about his academic qualifications and honorary appointments.Cambridge’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice said the university was “desperately saddened” to learn of Arday’s death.However, the university is facing questions about why it did not act sooner to investigate the claims, and whether it provided enough support to an academic experiencing such relentless public scrutiny.For months the university has been briefing journalists that its appointment system is rigorous and defendable, and that the campaign was targeted against a Black academic because of his race.A university spokesperson said: “Throughout his time at Cambridge, Jason received a range of support in relation to both his mental and physical wellbeing. This included the provision of counselling, advice, and security measures. Our support continued in the face of intense public and media scrutiny and after his resignation.”While Arday’s supporters have acknowledged there have been legitimate questions over his academic career, they see a press campaign blown out of proportion with tragic consequences.Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said Arday had been subjected to “a public and brutal takedown that unleashed a tirade of racism.”“I don’t believe this was ever simply about ‘professional conduct’ or ‘plagiarism’,” he said. “There is a profound difference between scrutiny and a sustained public campaign that turns an individual into a symbol of everything the right believes is wrong with DEI.”Professor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the University of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre and a close friend of Arday, said “Jason was a kind and gentle” man who had been “used almost like a lightning rod to examine this policy of DEI.”“In the last 10 days, I’ve witnessed his mental health getting worse and worse, as the media didn’t stop ridiculing him, humiliating him, discrediting him,” he told the BBC. “He was being subjected to relentless scrutiny, including ridicule, discrediting absolutely every detail of his life, and he wasn’t coping with the loss of his career, the loss of his reputation, and he felt he couldn’t go on.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
Read Next Story

Related Stories

Latest News
"Territorio inexplorado": el segundo embalse más grande de EE.UU. cae a un mínimo histórico
30 minutes ago

"Territorio inexplorado": el segundo embalse más grande de EE.UU. cae a un mínimo histórico

The key players in Tupac Shakur’s murder

How OJ Simpson’s infamous Bronco chase captured a changing era of US sports coverage in the 1990s

Transcript: Rep. Don Bacon on 'Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,' Aug. 16, 2026

Transcript: Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb on 'Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,' Aug. 16, 2026