World Cup 2026, in Photographs

1' CHAMPIONES 🏆

Spain conceded a single goal throughout the tournament and proved themselves to be worthy winners in the end

Not every story has a fairytale ending but Messi's was one hell of a story

NGL but the half time show was lit

Moment it became 10 v 11

The only goal of the final

Embed from Getty Images

Spain in a final and Torres scores. You've heard that before

Trophy ceremony minus Trump

Champions of the World. Again

Rodri, Golden Ball

Pau Cubarsí, Best Young Player. Got kicked into orbit in the final and still walked off with this

Just 18 and he's a Champions League away from completing football

Madrid, the moment the whistle went

Madrid, the morning after

13' REMEMBER ME?

A number footballers made their last appearence this World Cup Finals

Ochoa

KDB showing emotions? WHAT !!!

Just a random German GK

Ha Ha ! Some people still believe I've never been dribbled past by

The Prince who never became King !

Fuck you

Dobbie is tired master

The only man to score at six World Cups

Six World Cups. One last dance

22' THE COACHES

Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that - Bill Shankly

Tuchel couldn't see his players during the anthem, so he asked FIFA to move the photographers

Don Carlo

El Loco

Naglesmann

Deschamps. Underachiever?

Another Argentine named Lionel.

The only Italian to feature this world cup

29' THE SHOW

48 teams, 16 cities, 3 countries and 104 matches. The biggest World Cup ever started at the Azteca, the first stadium to host three opening games

The Azteca, hours before kick off

Opening ceremony

Shakira. Obviously

And we're off

Monterrey watching the opener

Seattle, from above

Weather delay at the Azteca before Mexico v Ecuador

36' HOME COMFORTS

Three hosts, and all three made it out of the group

Quiñones opens Mexico's account in the opener

Raúl Jiménez makes it two

Pulisic celebrating a Paraguayan own goal. A goal is a goal

Los Angeles turned up

Tillman's free kick against Belgium. Then Belgium scored four

Canada's first ever World Cup knockout win

42' FIRST TIMERS

Cabo Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan made their World Cup debuts, and Haiti returned after 52 years

A nation of about 150,000 scoring against Germany

How that felt in the stands

Uzbekistan, in the Azteca, standing for their anthem at a World Cup

Jordan score against Algeria

Haiti fans when they scored against Morocco. Worth the 52 year wait

47' It is the fans who make the World Cup what it is

Being a football fan entitles us to a temporary, recurring retreat, a short holiday from real existence

It is what it is.

Viking boat row

Wearing a Real Madrid Jersey to a WC match. Classic Speed.

Beunos Aires. Not Jantar Mantar

Socceroos

A young Mexican fan

Japanese culture is unbelievable

Toronto

Dakar, watching Senegal play France

Erbil, Iraq

EGY vs ARG screening at Gaza

58' DRESS CODE: OPTIONAL

Some fans bring a scarf. Others bring a chicken

Cabo Verde's finest, dressed as a shark

Brought a chicken. Gave it a sombrero

Morocco, up close

The Dutch brought horses. In orange cowboy hats

Two Chapulín Colorados

Belgian fries, worn as a hat

Brazil, dressed as a fruit bowl

Argentina fans dressed as nuns, praying for Messi

Lady Liberty showed up for the Round of 32

67' THROUGH THE LENS

Some of the half a million photos taken at this World Cup were simply art

A corner of Kansas City, and every eye on one man

Mbappé, in a pool of light

Elanga at full speed

Álvarez against Switzerland. Getty flipped it 180°, and it works

Boston in infrared. Same pitch, different planet

Bounou saves Mbappé's penalty

Bellingham's diving header at the Azteca

Haaland scores past Brazil. You can see the sweat fly

75' AT BOTH ENDS

Goals win you games. Goalkeepers win you tournaments

Messi. Free kick. You know how this ends

Shoubir saves a Messi penalty. Egypt still lose 3-2

Nuno Mendes from a free kick against Uzbekistan

Simón denies Ronaldo

Bellingham in the quarter final against Norway

Dibu doing everything he could in the final

Saka's hat trick in the Bronze Final

Unai Simón, Golden Glove. One goal conceded all tournament

83' BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS

Not every moment was pretty

Connor Metcalfe needed three stitches

Balogun on Muharemović. Red card after VAR

Jiménez went for the bicycle kick. Big Dan Burn said no

Bruno Guimarães cooling off against Morocco

Modrić, alone with his thoughts before Panama

Scotland's tunnel after the 3-0 loss to Brazil

89' INSTANT CLASSICS

Unsurprisingly this features a lot of Messi

The Argentina vs England semi final will always be in the memories of the fan for very long for both the right and wrong reasons

41 years old, Round of 16, and Ronaldo is still going for the bicycle kick

Cabo Verde put two past Dibu Martínez. Nobody had that on their bingo card

Paraguay's Orlando Gill saves from Woltemade and Germany go out on penalties

Gustavo Gómez as Paraguay knock out Germany

Kalajdžić's 96th minute equaliser. Austria 3-3 Algeria

Tielemans, 89th minute, finishing Belgium's comeback against Senegal

Kane and Bellingham after the late goals against Congo DR

Japan take the lead against Brazil

Haaland finally gets his World Cup moment and Brazil go home

Missed a penalty, went 2-0 down, won 3-2

Mbappé misses a penalty, then scores anyway

101' The streets will never forget

Countless moments that will live in memory for some time from now

Vozinha became an instant social media celebrity with his follower count growing from 50K to 27.8M

Scotland fans when McGinn scored against Haiti

Merlin the duck. Mexico's biggest fan

Colombia fans at the Angel of Independence, Mexico City

Times Square's red steps, Norway edition

Chattogram, Bangladesh. Climbing a monument to watch Argentina v England

Lamine Yamal, his little brother Keyne and the World Cup

Passing of the torch

Even the winners had time for Messi

110' Despair

Sometimes it's not meant to be

The last dance ends in Dallas

And the Prince's story ends without a crown

Tah's penalty in the shootout. Germany go out

Germany out in the Round of 32 on penalties. He's taking it well

The hosts are out. 1-4 to Belgium in Seattle

Colombia, out on penalties to Switzerland

Hakimi after Morocco's quarter final exit

Kane, still waiting

Mbappé walks off after the Bronze Final

Silver

Sometimes it's just not meant to be