Well that's another World Cup tournament over and done with, and didn't we have a lovely time watching the worlds elite grace the top table of football. To be honest it wasn't the greatest of tournaments, far too many stop, start games, far too much VAR involvement and not enough stand out performances, in both games and amongst individuals. Don't get me wrong the race for the golden boot was exciting and all the big hitters turned up to contest that, but their were not many memorable games, which showcased the outstanding ability of some of the best players on the planet. I have never known a World Cup competition to be so engulfed in controversy, every game there seemed to be another controversial decision, the lack of consistency by the referees and VAR was terrible as well, all in all the officiating was poor at best. We were robbed of some great moments by VAR, and also forced to witness the most ridiculous of scenarios which included the President of the United States phoning the head of FIFA to get a players red card suspended, this incident alone tainted the whole tournament and left an already untrusted footballing governing body with even less integrity then it had to begin with. There were some good moments, Cape Verde holding the European champions Spain to a nil niller, before coming so close to knocking the holders Argentina out of the competition. France looked a very good team, Spain grew into it and even my boys England were involved in a few good games, but when all is said and done this tournament will always be remembered for more than just the football, sadly.
It would have been remembered even more negatively if the Spanish had not been victorious in the final over Argentina. The Argies performance in this final, was just horrible to witness. The thing is I can handle a bit of shithousery, but this bunch of arseholes take the piss. I thought they were bad against England in the semi finals, but in the final they were just dreadful. It seemed as though they didn't want to even play football, it was almost as if their only tactic was to foul, moan, cheat and and try to get the opposition sent off, the thing is despite not having a shot until the 120th minute they nearly took it to penalty's. Thank good for Ferran Torres and his 106th minute winner, otherwise, I would be sitting here writing about how the most nasty, horrible and disgusting pieces of shit had just shithoused their way to retaining the World Cup. It was an awful final and one that will not live long in the memory, but luckily the only team who bothered to turn up and play some football were crowned as winners of a footballing tournament. Some might say I am being harsh on Argentina and I'm being nasty about them because they knocked out England in the semi final, that isn't the case, I was obviously gutted that they beat us but that wasn't directly because of the Argentinians Shenanigans, we didn't hold on to 1-0 lead and they scored one more goal than us, however last night they were twice as nasty as they were against us and what made it worse was their bad loser attitude at the final whistle when they wanted to fight everyone just because they lost. I'm sorry but this behaviour is appalling, it is scumbag behaviour which I believe should be punished. As I said, I can take a bit of gamesmanship and the dark arts, but what I saw in that final just proves to me that what Sir Alf Ramsey said after the 1966 quarter finals was absolutely fair, 60 years on and they're even more like animals. In the end though football won the day and probably the best team in the competition were victorious.
As for England in this campaign, It will probably be looked at as a missed opportunity given that we should've beaten Argentina, the 3rd place finish is the best finish in a World Cup since we won it, and although it was a nothing game to both teams, it was good to see 6 goals and some good attacking football that we are obviously capable of and that Tommy Tickles believes we should have showed more of this Summer. Hopefully we will take the positives and use the negatives to improve us. I still think Tickles is the right man for the job, lots will not agree and and will see this as failure but considering the adverse heat and the altitude, amongst other things. I think we can look back on it as a bit of success. I think Tickles deserves another tournament, because lets be honest Roy Hodgeson was given 3 tournaments, he finished bottom of the Group in the World Cup and they kept him on, before he was eventually sacked at the Euros after losing to a supermarket, so bearing that in mind I think another tournament is the least he should be given, and with a bit of luck the Euros in 2 years will be ours and Tickles time to shine.
As this will be the final blog of this World Cup, I thought I would end it with a tribute to Kevin Keegan who passed away today 20/7/2026.
Kevin Keegan was probably my first football hero when I was growing up, I remember him on many occasions wheeling away in delight after scoring yet another goal, whether it was for Southampton, Newcastle or of course England. He was one of the most talented footballers of the 70's and early 80's, and by all accounts a lovely man. I still remember that overhead kick goal he scored for Southampton that was disallowed because David Armstrong was offside, so unfortunate that goal as good as that could be chalked off. I remember many a performance for England in the Home Internationals in his iconic red, white and blue kit and his curly perm, celebrating scoring again against Northern Ireland, and the infamous header he put wide in the 1982 World Cup against Spain as he slumped to his knees, his performances for Newcastle alongside Terry MacDermott and Peter Beardsley, and of course his managerial career making his Newcastle team such a joy to watch as they came so close to winning the Premier League. It didn't quite work out for him as England manager, when he resigned straight after the last game at the old Wembley, losing 1-0 to Germany, but he was always honest and knew his time was up. Keegan managed just like he played the game with his heart on his sleeve, he gave everything to his profession and can probably feel a bit hard done by that he didn't have as many winners medals as some of his peers in the game. He was of course crowned World footballer of the year back to back in 1978 and 1979 a much deserved honour for such a talented footballer. He played for his country 63 times and scored 21 goals between 1972 and 1982, he should and probably would have had more appearances if it wasn't for injuries, he captained his country on 31 occasions.
Kevin Keegan a true legend of our beautiful game and an exceptional footballer.
R.I.P. King Kev!!
