American selections: The Curse of Kane, Trump's Call, the Wozigny Show

The 2026 World Cup has ended. The next World Cup is now four years away, and the European Championship is two years away. The final is unlikely to be among the most spectacular, but the tournament itself presented many bright, dramatic and already iconic moments. We have collected the most memorable of them in chronological order.

Vozinha stops Spain

June 15th. Spain — Cape Verde — 0:0

One of the biggest sensations of the tournament was the group stage match, in which the Cape Verdean national team miraculously and characterfully defended a goalless draw with the Spaniards. The main character turned out to be Vozinha. He made seven saves and prevented 1.46 goals over the expected limit. During the World Cup, the Kaboverdian became the most popular goalkeeper in the world in terms of the number of subscribers on social networks. The Spanish national team began to be criticized, and it lost its status as the main favorite. Now, of course, it's especially funny to think about it.

Messi's first World Cup hat-trick

June 17th. Argentina — Algeria — 3:0

After the 2022 World Cup, it seemed that it would be the last for Lionel Messi. But the Argentine still made it to the next championship and really surprised everyone. He was 38 years old at the start of the tournament, and he celebrated his 39th birthday during the group stage. At the same time, at that age, Messi played at the level of one of the main stars. The match with Algeria brought special pleasure, in which Lionel scored the first hat-trick of his career at the World Cup and became the oldest author of three goals per game. Then everyone realized that Messi was still in great shape, and Argentina was capable of surprising.

Turkey struck 62 times and did not score

June 14th. Australia — Turkey — 2:0
June 20th. Turkey — Paraguay — 0:1

Turkey was considered one of the dark horses capable of making noise in the playoffs. But a national disaster happened to the team. First, the Turks struck 30 times in a lost match with Australia, then 32 more in a meeting with Paraguay. Of the 62 attempts, only six were on target, and none of them were goals. After two rounds and two shocking defeats, the national team lost its chances of reaching the playoffs ahead of schedule.

15 saves by the Curaçao goalkeeper

June 21st. Curacao — Ecuador — 0:0

The whole World Cup was about Vozine, but perhaps the most striking goalkeeper performance of the tournament was given by 37-year-old Eloy Rom from the Curaçao national team. He heroically defended a draw for his country, making 15 saves in the match against Ecuador. This is the best result in a 90-minute World Cup game since 1966, when such statistics began to be kept. The goalkeeper's feat earned the national team of the most sparsely populated country in the history of the World Cup its debut point at the tournament.

The Ghanaian sorcerer cursed Kane

June 23rd. England — Ghana — 0:0

Before the match, Ghanaian magician Nana Kwaku Bonsam, who was sensational on social media, announced that he had put a curse on Harry Kane. He promised not to injure the England captain, but only to deprive him of the opportunity to score against Ghana. The British had possession of the ball 79% of the time, but did not open the scoring. In the end, Kane got a great chance and missed. After the game, Bonsam announced that he was lifting the curse. In the very next meeting with Panama, the striker scored again. As they say, a coincidence?

Ronaldo's double against Uzbekistan

June 23rd. Portugal — Uzbekistan — 5:0

After the disastrous match with DR Congo, the atmosphere around the Portuguese national team became tense. Someone called for Cristiano Ronaldo to be removed from the base, and his fans accused his partners and coach of not helping the main star enough. In the game with Uzbekistan, the criticism has at least temporarily subsided. Krish looked great and scored a double, becoming the first player to score in six World Cups.

Muslera's failures and Uruguay's departure

June 16. Saudi Arabia — Uruguay — 1:1
June 22nd. Uruguay — Cape Verde — 2:2
June 27. Uruguay — Spain — 0:1

Many goalkeepers lit up at this World Cup, but 40-year-old Fernando Muslera became one of the main antiheroes of the tournament. In the first game, he hit the ball right in front of him and allowed the Saudis to open the scoring. In the meeting with Cape Verde, the goalkeeper miscalculated the exit from the gate, after which the opponent equalized. Finally, Muslera couldn't handle Alex Baena's weak shot and asked Marcelo Bielsa to replace him at halftime of the match with the Spaniards. He made a scoring error in all three rounds, and Uruguay scored two points and became one of the main disappointments of the World Cup.

The "dealmaker" of Algeria and Austria

June 28. Algeria — Austria — 3:3

Both teams had a draw before the last match of the group stage. We usually see dull football in such situations, but the opponents decided to surprise us and scored two goals each in the first half. Towards the end of the match, everything finally calmed down, and the Algerians rolled the ball in the center of the field without resistance. However, in the 90+3 minute, Riyad Mahrez scored out of nowhere, as if violating an unspoken gentleman's agreement. The Austrians were literally amazed. The "pillar" Sasha Kalaijich was urgently released as a substitute, who stopped this misunderstanding with the first touch and equalized the score by 90 +6th. Both teams reached the playoffs, but were eliminated in the first round.

Paraguay knocked out Germany in a penalty shootout

June 29. Germany — Paraguay — 1:1, penalty shootout — 3:4

Germany became the first top team to be eliminated from the tournament. She was closer to victory than Paraguay, but the requirements for teams with such a composition are completely different. The penalty shootout turned out to be crazy, with a lot of misses and turns. The main character turned out to be Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gil, who deflected two shots. A few years ago, he had to sell his T-shirts and cleats to pay for the treatment of his seriously ill son. Now the goalkeeper has knocked Germany out of the World Cup.

Krasnaya Baloguna and Trump's call

June 2. USA — Bosnia — 2:0

The main striker of the U.S. national team, Falorin Balogun, scored for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then received a direct red card for stepping on Tarik Muharemovich's foot. In America, the decision was met with anger and misunderstanding. It's obvious that people rarely watch football there.

Being eliminated automatically meant missing the 1/8 finals meeting with Belgium. However, at the last moment, FIFA suspended the suspension for a year. Donald Trump later publicly admitted that he had called the leadership of the organization with a request to let Balogun play. This infuriated the football world and united many in their desire to cheer for Belgium. She did not disappoint and won 4-1.

Ronaldo vs Modric

July 3rd. Portugal — Croatia — 2:1

This World Cup was special because we saw a lot of the latest dances of football legends. The most emotional match in this regard was between Portugal and Croatia, where Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo met. At first, the Portuguese played better, but in the second half, the Croats seized the initiative and scored first. Then Ronaldo equalized from the penalty spot, scoring for the first time in the World Cup playoffs, and the Iberians took the lead in added time. At the very end, Croatia seemed to score the second, but the goal was canceled due to Igor Matanovic's offside, which the system found literally by a hair's breadth. Krish and Modric hugged after the final whistle. Both, most likely, participated in the last major tournament for themselves.

Cabral's goal for Argentina

July 4th. Argentina — Cape Verde — 3:2

Cape Verde's fairy tale led the team to the playoffs, where it had to face Argentina. Many were waiting for an easy ride for the favorite, but the Kaboverdians gave an incredible fight and fought back twice. I especially remember Sidney Cabral's amazing goal in the 103rd minute. He received the ball from the right, burst into the penalty area, shifted to the left and curled into the far nine. Beauty!

Holland's double with Brazil

July 5th. Brazil — Norway — 1:2

During the 2026 World Cup, Erling Holann finally became known to the widest masses of the audience, who very rarely watch football. His appearance and funny physiognomy were discussed on the Internet. But Holann was also remembered for his performance on the field. He led Norway to the quarterfinals for the first time, scored a double in the battle with Brazil and knocked the pentacampeons out of the World Cup.

England survived on the Aztec

July 6th. Mexico — England — 2:3

One of the most emotional matches of the tournament was the confrontation between Mexico and England at the legendary Azteca. It's hard to imagine a more hostile place for rivals in world football, and the start of the game was delayed by bad weather for an hour. However, the visitors held out thanks to Jude Bellingham's double in 98 seconds and Harry Kane's goal, although they were outnumbered from the 54th minute!

Argentina's comeback with Egypt

July 7th. Argentina — Egypt — 3:2

Argentina got a very light grid in the playoffs, but it moved through it much harder than expected. The next thriller after Cape Verde was the match against Egypt. 11 minutes before the end of regular time, the 2022 champions were losing by a score of 0:2. Messi's game wasn't going well at all, but that's his genius. It can turn on at any moment. First, Lionel gave a pass to Christian Romero, then he equalized the score. Enzo made a point in added time, and his winning goal became the 3,000th in the history of the World Championships. Argentina has once again proved that it can get out of the most difficult situation thanks to its character.

Two winning goals by Merino

July 6th. Spain — Portugal — 1:0
July 10th. Spain — Belgium — 2:1

Do not forget that the new world champions did not always easily beat their opponents in the playoffs of this tournament. With the Portuguese and Belgians, Spain was rescued by the main joker Mikel Merino. In the 1/8 finals, he came out in the 85th minute and scored in the 90th+1st. Four days later, he appeared on the field on the 86th, and already on the 88th he scored another goal. Both goals were victorious. The game at Arsenal as a striker was not in vain!

Tuchel's cowardice and Messi's two assists

July 15th. England — Argentina — 1:2

The British looked very decent in the semifinals until the 55th minute and allowed the Argentines to create little. However, after Anthony Gordon's goal, the England national team rolled back into defense and just stood up, literally giving the opponent the opportunity to make a comeback. The "bus" was completely incompetent — the Argentine players were not met and they were given time to make the right decision. Messi took advantage of this and arranged both goals in the end with two passes. Head coach Thomas Tuchel has received a lot of well-deserved criticism, but it looks like we will see another cycle under the German's leadership.

The craziest bronze medal match

July 19th. France — England — 4:6

Before the match, the French side openly said that none of the teams wanted to play for third place. But the meeting turned out in the end, although the spectacle was peculiar. At first, the British destroyed the opponent on the counterattacks. Where was it with Argentina? By halftime, the score was 4-0. Then France cheered up and almost won back, reducing the gap to one goal. The same Michael Olise could score more than once.

Still, England put the squeeze on the opponent and won the first World Cup medal since 1966. The game itself was more like an All-Star Game than professional football. Well, they played in America!

Ferran Torres' winning goal in the final

July 19th. Spain — Argentina — 1:0

Well, how can you do without a winning goal in the final, even if not the most eventful? Ferran Torres has been laughed at by Barcelona and the Spanish national team for years. He became a meme, the Alvaro Morata of his generation with a reputation as a player with terrible execution. Torres knows about all this criticism and literally prayed while VAR checked his goal in the match against Saudi Arabia. Even Grandpa refused to support him before the tournament! And in the end, of course, it is poetic that Ferrand brought Spain the World Cup. His ball in the 106th minute turned out to be the only one for him in the tournament, but it went down in history forever. Through all the suffering and ridicule, Torres reached the main goal of his career.