2026: 48 nations, three countries and Spain's second star. The end of the series

We started this series in 1930, with thirteen nations that basically had to be begged to show up and a stadium that wasn't even finished. We wrap up ninety-six years later with 48 teams, three countries and 104 matches. It's hard to find anything else in the world that's grown like this.

48 teams and three countries

It was the biggest format change in history: from 32 to 48 nations and from 64 to 104 matches. The tournament was spread across Canada, the United States and Mexico, with sixteen venues and distances that forced teams to travel across different time zones within the same tournament.

Mexico became the first nation to host three World Cups, after 1970 and 1986.

The second star

The final was played on 19 July 2026 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, in front of over 80,000 people. Spain 1-0 Argentina, with a goal from Ferran Torres in extra time, and Rodri claiming the award for the tournament's best player.

Sixteen years after Iniesta in Johannesburg, Spain claimed their second World Cup. We covered it from the stands at MetLife, because that's where we were.

What changed in football between 1930 and 2026

It's worth putting the two ends side by side, because that's the best way to see what this series is all about.

In 1930, 13 teams competed, four of them European and only because Uruguay paid for their boat fare. The final was watched by 93,000 people in an unfinished stadium, the referee had a boat waiting in the harbour just in case he needed to flee, and nobody outside Montevideo found out anything until days later.

In 2026, 48 teams competed across three countries, with goal-line technology, VAR and a tournament watched live by billions of people worldwide.

In between: a world war that cost us two editions, two dictatorships that used the tournament as a shop window, a cup stolen twice, a country that disappeared between the draw and the match, the first African team to reach the quarter-finals, the first final decided by penalties and a handful of legends who, when you look closely, turn out to be nothing like the stories tell.

And that's where this series ends

Twenty-three chapters, one for each World Cup. In all of them we've tried to do the same thing: tell the true story without making it up, and call out loud when what's floating around out there isn't documented. In several cases the truth was less epic than the legend — Cruyff and the 1978 World Cup — and in others the truth was pretty damning — that 6-0 thrashing of Peru in 1978.

If you've made it this far since 1930, thank you. And if you're starting with this one, the complete index is here.