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AND BREATHE …

Maybe Donald Trump was simply confused. He must have seen the ticker tape, a group of men cavorting around an American field clad in red and thought he’d stumbled into one of his Maga rallies. That is the only logical explanation for his bizarre behaviour on the champions’ plinth in (a stadium near) New York as Spain hoisted their freshly won trophy aloft, Trump having to be dragged off the stage by notorious wallflower Gianni Infantino as Rodri exhibited his trademark composure, patiently waiting to bask in his team’s glory moment. This is the way the Geopolitics World Cup ends, not with a bang but a desperate grab for attention from the US president.

The GWC final had already witnessed its own on-field disgrace of course, in the shape of Argentina’s shameful performance. La Albiceleste tarnished their proud footballing history with a display completely devoid of ambition, pride and, well, quality. No shots in regulation time, no shots on target in the entire 120 minutes and Enzo Fernández sent off in ignominy. Even Lionel Messi embarrassed himself for snitching to Slavko Vincic, pleading with the referee to brandish a red card after Marc Cucurella dared to put his hand to his mouth. The full-time scenes were even more debasing for Argentina, losing their heads in such a manner it made their first-half roughhouse tactics in the semi-final against England look like child’s play. This is the way the Geopolitics World Cup ends, not with a bang but a thump from Leandro Paredes. Stay classy, lads.

With no little hyperbole, Trump proudly proclaimed the GWC to have been “one of the greatest events of any kind ever held”. Does that sentiment hold muster? Well, it’s certainly been the biggest World Cup ever, with more teams, more matches, even more hosts than ever before. But of the 104 games (up from 64 in 2022), many have felt like a slog. UK readers, can you look Football Daily in the eye and truthfully say you stayed up until 3am to watch the conclusion of Ecuador 0-0 Curaçao? There has been plenty to enjoy, of course. Cape Verde were a genuine breath of fresh air, the only nation to play Spain and come away unscathed, while their near-miss in the last 32 against Argentina will be forever etched in World Cup folklore – oh what might have been but for Messi’s genius. We hope to see the Cape Verde lads back in 2030. Belgium’s late comeback to down Senegal was pure cinema, while England’s 6-4 win over France will live longer in the memory than a third-place playoff should simply for its pure weirdness.

Speaking of the Three Lions, who will ever forget Mexico and the Battle of the Azteca? Not Dan Burn and certainly not us. FD also enjoyed Mauricio Pochettino’s swashbuckling USA USA USA side in this tournament before Trump’s attempted assist for Folarin Balogun backfired spectacularly and the co-hosts became co-toast. Ultimately, perhaps a tired final in which the better team were stifled by one that refused to play the game entirely was fitting of the tournament as a whole. It was both exhaustive and exhausting and, as a footballing public we have discovered there is such a thing as too much football. The fatigue is real. Thank god it’s all over …. Now, who fancies watching South Shields versus Harrogate in pre-season on Tuesday? Anyone?

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

There’s no more live football for a little bit, so for now you’ll have to make do with the GWC farewell news blog.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I like a lot of them artists, but I thought it was crap” – Wayne Rooney with a magnificently succinct live review of the GWC half-time show.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

Football 1-0 Sh!thousery. Thank god anti-football failed” – Paul Landaw.

Can you start a Stop Argentina campaign? – Gordon MacLeod.

When will the photograph of Donald Trump giving a baby Gianni Infantino a bath surface?” – Krishna Moorthy.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day goes to … Gordon MacLeod. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here. 

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

One more time with feeling: it’s Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and the rest of the World Cup Daily pod squad with a final episode on Spain’s GWC glory and reflections on a tournament that felt like it would never end.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

A 13-year-old has died and two ⁠people have been injured after a fountain partially collapsed in ⁠western Spain on Sunday night, marring mass celebrations of the country’s World Cup win.

Kylian Mbappé has won the race for the GWC’s Golden Boot.

The BBC won the GWC final ratings war against ITV with data revealing 9.7 million people watched the match via the Beeb, while 2.4 million chose ITV.

Rudi Garcia has seen himself through the Belgium exit door.

Harry Kane has backed Thomas Tuchel to learn lessons from England’s semi-final defeat to Argentina. “He’ll learn a lot from the players, the situations, the pressures, the travel,” tooted the skipper.

A delighted Luis de la Fuente said it was Spain’s “destiny” to triumph at the GWC. “It was written, and we deserve it. We had a date with destiny and we wanted to make it count,” he cheered.

And in a brilliantly Spanish development, GWC winning midfielders Gavi and Fabián Ruiz will receive their weight in tomatoes from their hometown Los Palacios y Villafranca, and will have sports centres named after them.

STILL WANT MORE?

For the second year in a row, and despite Gianni Infantino attempting to move him on, a gatecrasher marred a trophy lift in East Rutherford. Alexander Abnos reports. And here’s Nick Ames, delving into The Trump Show.

A tearful Messi fails to make his mark on the final, as Argentina’s pantomime villains took centre stage, observes Pablo Iglesias Maurer.

Poo-pah, superstars – Spain’s victory reminded us all that football is a team sport. Sid Lowe runs the rule over the winners.

That final half-time show. Well at least Ronaldinho and Ronaldo had a good time. Alexis Petridis uses more words than Wayne Rooney in his review.

And camera geek Jonny Weeks has been combing through all the photos that came in from the GWC … and whittled down half a million to a tidy Top 30.

MEMORY LANE

July 1998 and Slaven Bilic is mobbed by cheering fans in Zagreb upon Croatia’s return from the World Cup in France. An estimated crowd of 70,000 fans welcomed the team back to the capital following their third-place finish. And Bilic is now back in the hot seat for a second stint as national manager.

BEYOND THE GWC

Aston Villa have successfully completed their beckoning of Brazil midfielder João Gomes from Wolves in a £38m deal.

England Under-21 winger Tynan Thompson has swapped Spurs for Manchester United – the 18-year-old could eventually cost his new employers £8m.

Melvine Malard has flown from Manchester United to Chelsea in a deal worth around £850,000.

The Leeds v Liverpool USA USA USA-based moneyspinning friendly, due to take place on 2 August at Soldier Field, may need to find a new date and/or venue as Chicago struggles with air quality problems following wildfires.

And an Evertonian is now running the United Kingdom.

WE ALL MADE IT!