The 2026 World Cup: Big, Bad, and Predictable

Spain hoisted the World Cup trophy. Fine. But this expanded, inaugural 48-team circus? It delivered 308 goals in 104 matches. That's 2.96 per game. Only 1966 had more. So, plenty of scoring, if you like that sort of thing.

Let’s be clear: this expanded tournament wasn't about competitive drama. It was about imbalance. A record 27.3 FIFA ranking positions separated teams on average. Nearly double what we usually see. And the big boys ate it up. Higher-ranked teams won 66.3 percent of their games. One of the best win rates since FIFA started bothering with rankings back in 1992. Predictable much?

Some shocks, sure. Ghana holding England to a goalless draw? Biggest head-scratcher. Cape Verde blanking Spain, New Zealand drawing 2-2 with Iran? These happened. But don't get excited. Lower-ranked sides won a paltry 14.4 percent of matches. The script was mostly written.

Old Man’s World Cup, anyone? The starting elevens were the oldest on record. The average squad age hit 28 years and 132 days. This isn't new; squads have been getting older for a decade. But this was peak grandpa football. Iran, Cape Verde, and Colombia? All averaged over 30 years old.

Travel. Ah, yes. The utterly insane travel. England clocked 25,609 kilometres. Spain? A mere 24,314 km. Mexico, bless their co-hosting hearts, only had to move 991 km. Heat and altitude were factors. Miami's stadium logged the fewest high-speed sprints. No surprise there. Players were clearly knackered before they even kicked off.