World Cup Debrief: Those who came short of the Final

The night before the afternoon to come. Spain and Argentina will contend for the World Cup at Met Life Stadium on Sunday (3pm ET, Fox/Telemundo). Meanwhile, we have debriefed forty of the teams from this World Cup. Here, we will debrief the six quarterfinalist who came up short and determine whether their World Cup was a success, a bust, or meh.

MOROCCO:  After reaching the semifinals at the last World Cup, this loss to France (again) will feel like an opportunity missed to be closer to the blue bloods of soccer. After outclassing Canada in the Round of 16, they were outclassed themselves against France. They went so far in Qatar, but the loss in Boston shows how far they may need to go. MEH. 

BELGIUM:  They may be the answer to the trivia question, “Who was the only team to score against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup?”. They were matching Spain, step-by-step even with the injuries they sustained before and during the match. It was an unfortunate drop of the ball by Senne Lammers that allowed Mikel Merino to take La Roja Furia to the semis. After the unremarkable group stage they had and having to come from behind to beat Senegal, all things considered, they overachieved given expectations. SUCCESS!

NORWAY:  They and Cape Verde will be the co-darlings of this tournament no matter who wins. Norway were dark horses for a reason and it wasn’t just about Erling Haaland. The Nordic Nations are known for being happy, being great at democracy, and having great soccer tournaments once in a while. This year, it was Norway’s year and had a few more things gone their way, they would have beaten England and everyone in the world apart from Argentina would be doing the Viking Row. They had a team capable of going far in this tournament and they went furthest than any Norwegian team before them. I’m proud of this team. May they continue to carry that success into the Nations League and Euros. SUCCESS!

SWITZERLAND:  The Nati made it as far as they did when they hosted in 1954, but this was a tougher test and played everyone tough. This melting pot in Central Europe gave Argentina a battle and then some poor match awareness by Breel Embolo and officiating that only give oxygen to the belief that FIFA stands for “Fix it for Argentina” denied them a semifinal appearance. The thing about them, Norway, and Belgium is that if a few more things went their way, they would be the Loyola Chicago, Gonzaga, Florida Atlantic, or George Mason of the World Cup. It makes you wish their day will come soon. SUCCESS!

FRANCE:  The goal was winning the World Cup for a third time. You had Kylian Mbappe scoring goals, Dembele getting the assists, yet this seemingly irresistible force met the immovable object known as Spain. Spain were the better team and it seemed like France had no plan for when they fell behind. It was win or bust for Les Bleus, and they blew it. BUST!

ENGLAND:  It’s always win or bust for the Three Lions. This time, they decided to channel South Korea in a single match where they go ahead and then play jarringly passively to the point where they are eventually broken down by Argentina. Maybe England should’ve worn red to counter Argentina’s blue. It’s more than tactics and/or the players, it’s a fear of failure that prohibits England from having the courage to succeed at a major tournament. BUST!

On Sunday, we either crown Spain for the second time or Argentina for the fourth. This has been an unbelievable tournament with a lot of feel good stories despite the front page news these days. All that’s left now is who will write the history.

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