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World Cup stars’ ages
Lionel Messi, the 39-year-old Argentine, scored eight goals in the first five matches for La Albiceleste in a World Cup where, for the first time, eight players over 40 years old participated, including Cristiano Ronaldo (41) and Luka Modric (40).
EL PAÍS contrasts that longevity with an earlier era when “the trajectories of players at the highest level ended at 30, at most 35,” and it cites Pelé, who played his fourth and last World Cup in Mexico 1970 at 29.
The same EL PAÍS piece says Diego Maradona bid farewell to the World Cups at 33 in USA 1994, while Guillermo Stábile was 24 when he scored eight goals in four matches for Uruguay 1930.
It also notes that Just Fontaine was 24 when he set a still current record with 13 goals for France in Sweden 1958, and that Gerd Müller was 28 when he said goodbye to his national team after the 1974 World Cup held in his homeland.
In the same historical frame, EL PAÍS says Beckenbauer, the team captain, was 28 and continued playing for the national team until 1977 at 31, with club retirement in 1983 at 36.
Closing ceremony in New York/New Jersey
FIFA has set the 2026 World Cup Final for this Sunday, July 19, at the New York/New Jersey Stadium, and the day’s schedule includes a closing ceremony before the match kickoff.
EL Informador says the show will bring together Tom Cruise, Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, IShowSpeed, Robbie Williams, and Jennifer Hudson, among other artists and special guests, and it adds that the ceremony will blend music, culture, and football to reflect the impact of the 23rd edition.
The same EL Informador piece says the United States national anthem will be performed by singer Jennifer Hudson as one of the central moments of the closing ceremony.
Heimo Schirgi, Operations Director of the FIFA World Cup 2026, is quoted in a statement released by the organization saying the event will “resume the spirit of the opening ceremonies held in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.”
EL Informador also says the ceremony was developed together with Balich Wonder Studio, the company responsible for shaping the visual and musical spectacle that will accompany the Final.
Stars, spectacle, and debate
As the 2026 World Cup unfolds in the United States, RMC Sport frames the tournament as dividing “After Foot” between show enthusiasts and fans of top-tier clashes, with the debate tied to the “superfluous long group stage with big gaps in quality.”
“The 2026 World Cup is drawing to a close, with the emotional charge that comes with it”
Julien Laurens, described as a specialist in English football on Drôles de Dames, says: “This is the World Cup for armchair fans,” and he links the experience to the setting, saying “we’re in the United States, it’s Hollywood, the popcorn, stars everywhere.”
Daniel Riolo, also quoted by RMC Sport, says he wants “tight matches, suspense, do-or-die games where there will be tension, excitement,” and he argues that “For now, we’re in an endless first phase.”
RMC Sport adds that Florent Gautreau says, “We’re in a World Cup that must deliver spectacle, we have all the big names, it’s Netflix,” and it reports that the cast is expected to include Neymar, “expected with Brazil against Scotland this Thursday (midnight, in Miami).”
The same RMC Sport piece quotes Florent Gautreau saying, “We’re selling them Messi, Neymar, Mbappé, Cristiano Ronaldo—the stadiums full and the best World Cup in history,” while also noting that “we forgot to tell that Neymar isn’t advancing anymore and that Cristiano Ronaldo is weighing down his team.”
