KUALA LUMPUR: Argentine fans could only watch in disbelief as their national team produced a lifeless display in the 2026 Fifa World Cup final.
Lionel Messi lasted the full 120 minutes but barely influenced proceedings. The numbers were damning. Spain registered 11 shots on target while Argentina failed to muster even one. Possession was equally lopsided, with Spain controlling 68 per cent of the ball to Argentina’s 32 per cent. Their trademark tiki-taka football was just as dominant, producing 803 passes compared to Argentina’s 445.
Ferran Torres’ solitary strike in the 106th minute sealed a thoroughly deserved Spanish triumph.
The final brought the curtain down on a messy tournament that will be remembered as much for controversy as football.
The United States, one of three host nations alongside Mexico and Canada, came under scrutiny over its immigration policies, including denying entry to Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan and imposing strict travel restrictions on the Iran team amid geopolitical tensions involving the US, Israel and Iran.
The controversies did not end there. US President Donald Trump admitted contacting Fifa president Gianni Infantino to complain about a red card shown to US striker Folarin Balogun. Fifa only deepened the controversy by overturning the automatic one-match suspension, prompting accusations of political interference.
While the final unfolded in New York, another messy episode played out some 15,000 kilometres away in Kuala Lumpur.
Dataran Merdeka, where Malaysians commemorate the nation’s independence, was strewn with rubbish after football fans failed to clean up following an early morning public viewing of the final.
The spectacle prompted Kuala Lumpur City Hall to issue a stinging rebuke on social media: “We can celebrate vibrantly. We can cheer to our heart’s content, but the freedom to enjoy ourselves never means the freedom to litter shared public spaces.”
The irony was hard to miss. Malaysians routinely praise Japanese supporters for cleaning stadiums after matches, hailing them as a model of civic responsibility. Yet at home, many appeared perfectly content to leave behind a trail of rubbish.
As if the occasion needed another twist, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi declared his hope that Malaysia would one day host the World Cup.
“Hopefully, by then, the Malaysian team will be among the World Cup participants representing Southeast Asia,” he was quoted as saying.
Ahmad Zahid made the remarks during another giant-screen viewing of the final held alongside the Semarak Subuh programme in Bangi, about 30 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur.
The aspiration sounds noble. The timing, however, could hardly have been more misplaced.
Ahmad Zahid should instead demand that Malaysian football clean up its own house, particularly the unresolved scandal over forged documentation involving seven footballers.
Despite a police report being lodged, no one has been held accountable for the international embarrassment, which resulted in sanctions against both the Football Association of Malaysia and the seven players.
If Ahmad Zahid is serious about elevating Malaysian football, the priority should be restoring governance, accountability, and public confidence before entertaining dreams of staging mega-events that promise little beyond temporary bragging rights.
Perhaps, though, he believes such lofty rhetoric will resonate with football supporters ahead of what promises to be equally messy state elections in Negeri Sembilan and Melaka, where parties allied at the federal level remain more than willing to trade blows on the campaign trail.
Image: Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
