Ever since football began, alongside incidents of mob violence, the game has always been regarded as an art form in the regions around Buenos Aires and Rosario. Yet at this World Cup, the Selección has tried to present itself almost exclusively as a rough and aggressive side

At the World Cup, there were hydration breaks with accompanying adverts, and extended stoppages of seven to eight minutes – true – but the match went ahead. No theatrics or posturing. Lessons for Serie A: you can stay on the pitch without wasting time

Sixty years ago in England, one of the darkest chapters in the history of the national team: the defeat against the Korean side that the UK’s institutions and the football authorities did not want to acknowledge

The referee who was arrested years ago during a debauchery involving weapons and drugs is the right man for the final act

The third-place play-off is the match nobody wants to play. France and England, powers that for centuries have vied for control of oceans and territories across the globe, find themselves chasing a medal that, in football, is worth next to nothing

The protégés of Joachim Löw, World Cup winner in Brazil and architect of the national team’s revolution. The darkest summer for the new prophets, who aren’t even new anymore

Anyone who thinks that with so many star players on the pitch, the manager is almost superfluous should watch the semi-final from the other night again. The England manager’s misjudgement and the cloying rhetoric about Argentina

The Argentine national team beat England 1–2. First Enzo Fernández and then Lautaro Martínez converted the passes from Lionel Messi into goals. The England manager, however, played his part in losing the semi-final

For an American audience accustomed to quantifying everything, it was ideal. However, exceptional ability alone is insufficient: Haaland went viral because he did not appear to be crafting a flawless celebrity image

The unpredictability of performance is one of the few positive aspects remaining in a sport that the FIFA president is attempting in every way to undermine. The good news is that the new rules introduced at this World Cup have been an embarrassing flop