2 days ago
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Key events
Alexander Abnos is at the stadium for us, and has some team news (sort of):
Spain have just entered the stadium and are wandering around in the center of the field. A team of Fifa volunteers are gathered holding what looks to be a very large tarp, which presumably will be a key part of the closing ceremony. I think Spain team may have to move....
And here comes the tarp! It’s an artistic and frankly kinda tacky composite of a number of New York City landmarks. Clockwise from bottom left on your TV screens: The new Calatrava train hub at World Trade Center, 1 World Trade, The Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, The Vessel, some building I don’t recognize, the Guggenheim, the Chrysler Building, the Statue of Liberty, 30 Rock, the Washington Square arch, the Flatiron building.
Good news from Fifa! There will be a “fan-centric pre-match ceremony” today, which means “an immersive, 360-degree concept that transforms the stadium into a shared stage. No matter where supporters are seated, each will have a distinct and engaging perspective, with extra-large country flag banners and on-pitch elements carefully positioned to involve the crowd in an authentic and meaningful way.”
I bet there’s a hologram. There is always a hologram. It gets better though. At long last, Fifa is going to pay attention to its poor, neglected sponsors: “the youth programme and players’ tunnel will feature both traditional and new integrations of FIFA’s Commercial Partners, thanks to the involvement of adidas, Coca-Cola, Kia, Mengniu, Qatar Airways and Quaker.” At first, I read that as “quakers” and I was expecting a silent prayer meeting, which would have been quite nice.
The pre-match ceremony will also include “additional elements such as coloured smoke or pyrotechnics.” Coloured smoke OR pyrotechnics? $5,000 a ticket and you don’t even get both? This better be a good game.
Kevin Hart is required by federal law to attend any event in the US that draws a crowd of more than 598 people. Therefore, Kevin Hart is at today’s final.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says the World Cup has generated around $20bn of economic activity in the US, roughly the equivalent of the price of three tickets to today’s final. It should be noted that the figures sporting events generate are often dubious at best:
Preamble
Hello. And welcome to our Everything But The Football liveblog of the World Cup final, which suddenly becomes a little more relevant now that Fifa has decided to turn the World Cup final into a Super Bowl (allegedly one of 104 Super Bowls at this year’s tournament!).
What has Gianni and Co got lined up for you? Well, we’ll have:
1) Very popular and smart and eloquent president Donald Trump turning up to be booed by people who have paid good money to do so (see also: the 2026 NBA finals, the 2017 World Series, the 2025 Ryder Cup, the 2025 US Open tennis men’s final and a random Washington Commanders game last season):
We’ll also have a half-time show, featuring BTS, Shakira, Madonna, Burna Boy and Justin Bieber all watched over by curator of loving grace, Chris Martin.
But first! We’ll have a closing ceremony starting 90 minutes before kickoff, starring streamer IShowSpeed and various celebrities who were last cutting edge at least 25 years ago, including Nicole Scherzinger; Robbie Williams and Tom Cruise. There is a 90% chance Cruise will jump off something high (Gianni’s forehead?).
