After 100 matches, 292 goals (the best rate of goalscoring since the 1970 World Cup), 537 saves, the miracle of Cape Verde, Japan’s captivating geometric beauty and far-too-early exit, the tears of Ronaldo, the heartbreak of Egypt, the daring of Morocco, Norway’s viking row and the golden mane of Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi’s mystical goalscoring voodoo, France’s otherworldly artistry, blatant rule-bending from Fifa, and politics and partying on the streets, the great juggernaut of the World Cup has been distilled down to the last four teams standing.
France, the finalists of the 2022 World Cup and the world’s top-ranked team will meet Spain in the semis, the European champions, a team that, with their victory over Belgium in the quarter-finals, has now been unbeaten for 36 matches, extending back to March 2024.
Argentina are the defending champions, playing out of the skin of their teeth to provide support and cover for their ageing wizard Messi, hoping to do what no other team except Brazil has done before—win back-to-back world titles. They will meet England in the semi-finals, a team that is forever searching for that second, elusive World Cup title since their only triumph back in 1966.
On paper then, the world looks like its in perfect order, the best teams have overcome all obstacles to reach their expected rendezvous. Yet, the sense of inevitability of this final four also detracts from the romance of football, of the great spectacle of the World Cup, where, till we got to this stage, there was always a frisson of the unexpected, the delicious possibility that anything could happen, that feeling as the weather turns and the season changes that something bright and beautiful—a new adventure!—is just around the corner.
Now there are no new stars to be discovered, no epic tales of unknown heroes like Cape Verde’s goalkeeper Vozinha, or an 18-year-old Moroccan with unruly hair, Ayoub Bouaddi, gliding past Brazil’s midfield, or the near-upsets, first starring Cape Verde, then Egypt, that threatened to dethrone Argentina in the round of 32, then the round of 16, and script the most miraculous of World Cup stories.
Yet, Argentina, fuelled by Messi, found a way through. Even the Swiss, playing in a World Cup quarterfinal for the first time since 1954, almost got the better of Argentina. That too would have made for a triumphant story of a small, heroic band of gritty footballers upstaging one of the game’s superpowers—yet again, Argentina found a way. This time it wasn’t Messi, who did not score in a World Cup match for the first time in eight games—an incredible statistic—but a wonder strike from Julian Alvarez that got Argentina over the finish line.
Argentina is doing it the hard way, a team mostly made up of veterans from the 2022 World Cup winning side, scraping and fighting their way through. They have not dominated a game since they hit the knockout stages of the tournament, but as long as Messi is around, there is always a sprinkling of magic, as if the ball has been imbued with a desire to find its way to the back of the goal once Messi touches it, overcoming attempted saves, blocks, clearances and rebounds.
England is doing it the hard way too, or perhaps, the quintessentially English way. A team of some of the best-known players in the world thanks to the supremacy of the English Premier League when it comes to international viewership, collectively as dull as the music at rave parties. England’s struggles with how to bring the best out of their star-studded teams is as old as their last World Cup title, and it seems to be following that path at this edition as well. There is an important, critical exception—Jude Bellingham. The 22-year-old moves on the field, whether for Real Madrid or for England, with the imperiousness of an ancient king, bending matches to his will, scoring goals even when England is on the backfoot. And so Bellingham, with two marvellous strikes, ensured that Norway, another small country and footballing lightweight, playing in their first World Cup quarterfinal, and dominating most of the game, will not get their fairytale ending either.
Of the four semi-finalists, only France has looked unstoppable at this World Cup; a team playing with the kind of freedom, verve and creativity that draws instant comparisons with great teams from the past—Brazil in 1970 or 1982, the French themselves in 1998. No matter who their opponents, they have dictated matches and scored rapturous goals, from the beginning of the tournament all the way to now.
If anyone can stop them, it’s Spain, with their highly skilled and scarily disciplined midfield and defence, never letting any team settle into a rhythm, allowing the fewest entries into their final third of any team in the World Cup, the team with the quickest ball recovery time and the most possession. Rodri, along with the four-man defence, have been the true stars for Spain at this World Cup. Their ultimate test awaits them in the semi-final.
Rudraneil Sengupta is the author of The Beast Within, a detective novel set in Delhi.