We’re at towards the end of the World Cup tournament. Amongst 48 teams that qualified, 32 teams made it to the knockout stage. Amongst them, came down to the Top 4 competing to play in the finals. Now, we have our third-place matchup and finals matchup. England and France face each other in their third-place match in Miami while Spain and Argentina collide for the championship in New Jersey. The matchups should be good, but anything could happen after what took place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Before the conclusion of this last World Cup post, I want to thank everyone that took the time to check out my posts and my profile. This month and parts of last month was crazy all over but seeing what happened on here makes me feel humble and grateful for doing this in the first place. I’m taking a bit of time away from posting to work on changes to my content in preparation for next month. I’ll be sure to return with plenty of college football and NFL content soon. For now, thank you everyone! If you’re watching the World Cup matches on Saturday and Sunday, have fun whether you’re at home or somewhere else! Otherwise, y’all enjoy your week and the rest of July and be safe out there.

THIRD PLACE MATCH

FRANCE VS. ENGLAND

This is the first third place meeting between these two European powers. Both have met in 1982 in Group 4 and 2022 in the quarterfinals. France was unstoppable throughout the tournament up until Tuesday after being shut out by Spain. This is the first time France was shutout in a World Cup since 2014 in the quarterfinals to Germany. England looked optimistic with each game played and had potential to end their 60-year drought since their last title. Unfortunately, they failed to close against Argentina and must play for third place instead. It was disappointing for both, but they still have a chance to prove they are the third-best team in the 2026 World Cup.

It’s possible that everyone will be active, but it all depends on their demeanor coming out the tunnel on Saturday. Despite their surprising loss to Spain, France looks like they can still assault their opposing defenses. This is their first third place game since 1986. Meanwhile, England’s proven to be a tough customer and will challenge any team no matter who they are, where they are, or what they are ranked. However, they are 0-2 in third place matches with the recent one being in 2018. Unfortunately, history might continue in England as France should play their hardest for manager Didier Deschamps. After this game, Deschamp’s stepping away knowing a lot went on before and after his mother’s recent passing. My condolences to him and his family🙏🏾

MY PICK: FRANCE

WORLD CUP CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

SPAIN VS. ARGENTINA

This is the second ever meeting between Spain and Argentina. One side has a young, rising star being the potential face of the World Cup while the other has a living legend playing potentially his last game ever. Their first meeting was back in 1966 in group stage, which Argentina won to advance and prevent Spain from advancing to the knockout stage.

Spain played like the 2010 version that felt unbreakable against their opponent. The 2010 Spain allowed only 2 goals, including none allowed in a single knockout game to win the championship. The 2026 version is playing similar and allowed one goal for the entire World Cup tourney. This likely could lead them to their second championship victory with that staunch defense.

Argentina cakewalked their way through the group stage before walking into nearly every buzzsaw that America had available from Lowes, Home Depot, and other construction and home stores. The squad overcame every single one of them from surviving shootouts to pulling off impressive and unspeakable comebacks to arrive for a back-to-back championship opportunity. The main reason for their resiliency is the potential Golden Boot winner, Lionel Messi. He carried in the early parts of the tournament before the rest of his squad surged and got involved. They’re hard to stop and also hard to beat, especially in the second half plus stoppage and extra time. The only way to stop them is either locking up Messi or soccer being cancelled prior to Sunday due to overwhelming smoke from the Canada fire.

Can Argentina’s sustainability finally be weakened? Cape Verde kept up with Argentina on offense but failed on defense. Egypt had the best chance to upset them to force Messi into Argentina’s ambassador, but they lost momentum in the end on Argentina’s unspeakable comeback. Switzerland tussled with Argentina for most of the game before going down a man and collapsing in extra time. England had a chance to send Messi to his home state of Miami for the third-place game, but they allowed Argentina to hang around and instead prevent England from ending their 60-year championship drought. With all that being said, can Spain do it? They’ve proven to have an elite defense and they’re talented across the board and then some. Argentina’s hard to beat, but Spain could likely stifle them enough to frustration, mistakes, and fallouts that give Spain their second championship win. If Spain’s anything like the 2010 version and Lamine Yamal can provide some support while overcoming his lingering injury, Spain likely repeats history with their second ever championship.

MY PICK: SPAIN