For FIFA, the tournament represented far more than football. The governing body is expected to end its current four-year commercial cycle with revenues approaching $15 billion, nearly double the $7.6 billion generated from the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

Tonight’s final caps a World Cup where fans were willing to shell out more than ever for a seat at the quadrennial showpiece, as ticket buyers confounded even the greatest cynics in the face of sky-high prices.

Football's global governing body FIFA will assess match reports before deciding if they take any action over Argentina's players holding up a banner reading "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" (The Falklands are Argentine) following their 2-1 victory over England.

Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime cast a long shadow over the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, while Argentina's military junta used the country's 1978 triumph as propaganda.

The quality of football has rarely dipped. Every match seemed to offer something worth watching -- tactical masterclasses, stunning goals, dramatic comebacks, controversial refereeing decisions or stories that extended well beyond the pitch.

Infantino told Bluewin, a Swiss media outlet, that growing from 48 to 64 teams could make sense.

Lionel Messi was involved in a heated exchange with Portuguese referee Joao Pedro Pinheiro during Argentina's 3-1 extra-time victory over Switzerland in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinal on Sunday.

Sport thrives on uncertainty. Fans cherish the underdogs who topple heavyweights. But while upsets are priceless for supporters, they can be painfully expensive for those who stage them.

"There have been a lot of things to be questioned on and off the pitch."

Belgium did not spend the night trying to revisit those debates. They simply demonstrated that while power can influence headlines, it cannot guarantee outcomes.

“Like I said, I think there was always a justice somewhere in life and the fact that something can happen like that, you can put it all you want, but we don't think that was fair,” Raskin told reporters.

President Donald Trump confirmed Monday he asked FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to review the "horrible" decision to hand a red card to star US striker Folarin Balogun, but said he did not request it be overturned.

FIFA's ruling, which came after the intervention of Donald Trump, permits Balogun to play in the co-hosts' World Cup last 16 match with Belgium later on Monday.

The rescinding of USA forward Folarin Balogun's suspension on US president Donald Trump's request shows how much corruption and greed has eaten into the sport's showpiece event.

FIFA is considering bringing forward the kick-off time for Mexico's World Cup last-16 match against England at the Estadio Azteca on Sunday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, in a move that would transform the conditions for one of the tournament’s biggest ties.

The year 1982 gave football the infamous ‘Disgrace of Gijon,’ a match so transparently engineered by West Germany and Austria that FIFA rightfully decreed final group fixtures must henceforth kick off simultaneously.

More than four years after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, FIFA on Thursday indicated that it was opening the way for Russia to enter an international youth competition.

Unofficially, it also could be a nod to the most well-known MLS club side outfitted by Adidas, the same manufacturer of referee uniforms at this year's tournament.

Celebrate the historic inclusion of the Bangladesh national football jersey in Zurich’s FIFA Museum. Designed by Tasmit Afiyat Arny, this vibrant kit weaves Jamdani patterns, heritage art, and national pride into global sports history.

While more than 80,000 squeezed into the Azteca stadium to watch the opener, the optics of unoccupied rows at the 46,000-seat stadium in Guadalajara have intensified criticism of FIFA's commercial strategy for the first 48-team World Cup.