Under a bright blue American sky, Spain became world champions — and almost nobody was talking about the football. The final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey ended with Luis de la Fuente's side lifting the trophy, but the occasion will be remembered less for what happened on the pitch than for the extraordinary circus that surrounded it. Tom Cruise was booed through a lacklustre closing ceremony before a single ball was kicked. A half-time show nobody had requested filled an interval that needed no filling.

Then, as Spain's players gathered on the podium to collect their medals, US president Donald Trump attempted to muscle into the celebrations — until FIFA president Gianni Infantino quietly steered him aside. Argentina had arrived at the final carrying the weight of expectation the tournament had handed them. They had been largely indulged through the knockout rounds, and on the day it showed. Their performance was passive, disorganised, and ultimately toothless.

Lionel Messi, their talismanic captain, watched the ceremony from a distance, a figure who could not be diminished by one afternoon but whose team had been. Whether this was his final appearance on a World Cup stage is a question that now hangs heavily in the air. Jonathan Wilson, writing in the aftermath, called it "a disgusting final" — a verdict that felt less like hyperbole and more like a precise diagnosis. The football, as analyst Nick Ames observed, was a sideshow for much of the afternoon in a tournament that had already wrenched the sport in uncomfortable directions.

Infantino and Trump sat side by side throughout the match, watching from behind reinforced glass as the spectacle unfolded below them. Spain celebrated. The confetti fell.