Biggest winners and losers from 2026 World Cup

The biggest World Cup ever has come to an end, with Spain dominating Argentina to claim its second men's title. The marquee event stole the headlines from start to finish but not always for the right reasons. Here, we identify the tournament's biggest winners and losers.

Winner: Kylian Mbappe

Mbappe's France didn't conquer the World Cup again - in fact, Les Bleus didn't even make it to the final - but the Real Madrid striker rewrote history in North America this summer.

Mbappe led the tournament with 10 goals, becoming only the fourth man ever to have double-digit tallies in a single World Cup. He also became the quadrennial competition's all-time leader with 22 goals ... in 22 matches!

Mbappe entered the 2026 World Cup with questions at the club level after Real Madrid didn't come close to winning the UEFA Champions League or La Liga for a second year with the superstar striker on the roster. He did put up numbers with 42 goals across all competitions, but by the end of the season, Mbappe's fit in Los Blancos' starting XI was in question under former coach Alvaro Arbeloa. Now the France captain returns to Madrid as the World Cup's new scoring king - and with new boss Jose Mourinho in charge.

Loser: Ronaldo's swan song

Portugal entered the World Cup among the pretournament favorites, boasting an elite squad highlighted by one of the game's best midfield trios (Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes, and Joao Neves). But Roberto Martinez's side never hit top gear, bowing out to eventual champion Spain in the round of 16.

Although losing to Spain alone is not enough to label the campaign a failure, Portugal could have avoided a clash with La Roja until the final if it had secured first place in Group K. Instead, lackluster performances in draws against Colombia and DR Congo paved the way for an early exit.

Portugal's midfield looked disconnected, and the team lacked any real vertical threat in attack. Cristiano Ronaldo played off the shoulder and repeatedly tried to exploit space behind opposing backlines. However, he contributed just three goals - two against Uzbekistan and one from the penalty spot versus Croatia - despite logging almost every minute of Portugal's campaign. He registered 17 shots without creating a single scoring chance for a teammate, the most at a World Cup since 1966, according to Opta.

Despite that lack of production, Martinez largely stuck with Ronaldo rather than turning to his bench for a spark. When Ronaldo was finally withdrawn against Croatia, his replacement, Goncalo Ramos, made an instant impact with the goal that sent Portugal to the round of 16. The question remains: Could Portugal have won Group K and fulfilled its potential if Martinez had been more willing to take Ronaldo off - and earlier - in key matches?

Winner: Gianni Infantino

FIFA president Gianni Infantino got the crown jewel he craved.

Strictly from an on-pitch perspective, the most grandiose World Cup in history couldn't have come together any better for the unabashed leader of world football's governing body. The most matches, the most goals, the largest total attendance figure, and, naturally, the most money generated.

"This World Cup has not just broken all possible records, it has smashed them, it has destroyed every record," Infantino said, with FIFA claiming an all-time record attendance of over 6.8 million combined over the 104 matches.

"I mean, you cannot script the perfect World Cup in such a way as this. ... I think we have to invent a new vocabulary, new words to define the success of this FIFA World Cup."

Despite his excessive language, he's not wrong. The game's biggest superstars stole the show, the best team on the planet ended up hoisting the trophy, and some indelible stories were written - hello, Cape Verde! - that wouldn't have been possible without the much-maligned expanded format.

The success of this summer's supersized event will only embolden Infantino, who'll have renewed support from the hundreds of member associations that rely on the financial windfall created by the tournament.

Loser: Also Gianni Infantino

And yet, it's impossible not to feel cynical in the aftermath of this summer's competition.

FIFA has never been a bastion of credibility, in fairness, but Infantino allowed the governing body - and, by extension, the sport - to hit nauseating lows this summer. The "most inclusive" World Cup ever, as FIFA baldly claimed, featured numerous fans - and even a referee - being denied entry into some of the host nations. Infantino's reaction? "Chill, relax."

The tournament featured mistreatment of the Iranian national team. It had exorbitant ticket prices that robbed countless fans from experiencing a potential one-in-a-lifetime event.

And, of course, it all culminated with blatant political interference from U.S. President Donald Trump, who successfully lobbied Infantino to have USMNT striker Folarin Balogun's red-card ban reviewed (and eventually suspended) during the knockout stage of the tournament. Who could have possibly predicted that Infantino's constant pandering to heads of state would have consequences?

All this, and we haven't even touched on hydration breaks, the universally despised three-minute disruptions that change the very fabric of the sport and were brought in under the guise of player welfare.

Perhaps this was already the case long before the 2026 World Cup, but the "beautiful game" is well and truly gone.

Winner: Vozinha

Cape Verde's historic campaign was one of the tournament's most exciting storylines, and the Blue Sharks' 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha stole the show.

We all overlooked Cape Verde in the group stage, and how could we not? The country made its World Cup debut as the second-smallest nation ever to qualify for the men's tournament. To make matters worse, the Blue Sharks landed in the same group as two former champions, Spain and Uruguay. However, Cape Verde advanced past the group stage without losing a match and gave Argentina a run for its money in the round of 32, taking the game to extra time before losing 3-2.

Vozinha became a World Cup sensation, making viral saves to help Cape Verde hold eventual champion Spain to a shocking goalless draw in his tournament debut. The 'keeper had roughly 50,000 followers on Instagram before the event started. He's now at 29 million, and the free agent has been linked to notable clubs after spending the past three seasons with second-tier Portuguese side Chaves.

Loser: Big-name club coaches

The World Cup was great for the sport's biggest superstars on the field, but the same can't be said for multiple big-time club coaches, who fell well short of expectations.

Mauricio Pochettino, who joined the U.S. men's team in 2024 after stints with Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, didn't leave a great impression on home soil. Granted, the Americans looked good early in the group stage against inferior competition. However, their sloppy performance in a 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16 brought a disappointing and worrisome end to a once-promising campaign.

And how about Carlo Ancelotti? Yes, the legendary Italian boss didn't even have a full World Cup cycle with Brazil, so there's hope that another four years in charge will help. But Ancelotti, who's won the UEFA Champions League a record five times, failed to give the Selecao an identity, raising even more questions about the team. Five-time winner Brazil fell in the round of 16 to Norway with only 34% possession, the country's lowest rate in any World Cup knockout game ever.

Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel also fall in this category. Nagelsmann's Germany never clicked in North America, and its campaign ended in a shootout loss to Paraguay in the round of 32.

Tuchel did lead England to a third-place finish, the country's best World Cup result since its 1966 title. However, Tuchel's defensive approach and substitutions after going up 1-0 in the semifinals generated enormous criticism. England simply stopped playing in the second half and was punished with two late Argentina goals in regulation. Oh, and Bukayo Saka, who didn't even come off the bench in the semis, scored three goals in the third-place match, making Tuchel's decisions even harder to comprehend.

Contrast that with new world champion Spain, led by a tactician who assumed his position in 2022 with little fanfare and a modest coaching background. Luis de la Fuente, unlike the big-name bosses mentioned here, is an example of what's possible when national teams and federations cultivate an identity and philosophy that isn't dependent on one person.

Winner: Erling Haaland

Haaland entered the World Cup as arguably the single best striker on the planet, an undeniable scoring machine with several club titles to his name and widespread recognition of his greatness.

He left the World Cup a global phenomenon.

Other than the aforementioned Vozinha, no player at the tournament enhanced his social standing like the Norwegian superstar, who combined his exploits on the pitch with endearing and entertaining social media activity off it during his time in the United States.

Norway's involvement - from the team's deep run to its fans - was one of the best stories of the tournament, and Haaland was the poster boy throughout.

Bonus Winner: Spain's philosophy

Spain, the only nation to ever hold both the men's and women's World Cup titles at the same time, is the dominant force in soccer right now. Period.

La Roja, also the reigning European champions, have all the pieces in place to go on another dynastic run that mirrors the 2008-12 stretch that saw the men's side sandwich a World Cup title between two Euro crowns.

Most frightening for its competitors? This current Spanish side is very much in the ascendancy, with teenagers Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi still years away from their respective primes and famed academies such as Barcelona's La Masia producing new elite talents seemingly all the time.