Spain have triumphed at the World Cup, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final to win their second gold star, following their win in 2010.
Their victory has also fuelled the Trump Curse theory, as he revealed he was backing Argentina to win, saying: “It’s hard to bet against Messi.”
Speaking to Fox ahead of the match, Trump described Argentinian president Javier Milei as a “friend of mine” who has done a “terrific job”, and joined Benjamin Netanyahu in backing Argentina.
But it wasn't to be. As we explained, Trump's sports team endorsements – or even his presence at games – has frequently resulted in losses for his preferred side. This bad omen theory was revived during the World Cup, especially following the US’ humiliating defeat against Belgium – a match overshadowed by the tournament's biggest scandal.
As soon as Spain won, the term "Trump curse" started trending online once more.
Trump has also been trending online following the final, after he seemingly refused to leave the stage after presenting Spain with the World Cup.
Trump is the first sitting US president to attend a World Cup final on home soil and handed the World Cup trophy to the winners. Having done so, he hovered close to the team.
This led FIFA president Gianni Infantino to run over to Trump and actively attempt to usher him away from the team.
However, Trump continued to stay in the winning photo, standing on the side of the stage.
Check out the moment below:
The rather awkward moment led many online to call out Trump for attempting to steal Spain's thunder, with users calling Trump's lingering presence "inappropriate", "beyond pathetic" and "embarrassing", while some commented on how this was a repeat of Trump crashing Chelsea's Club World Cup win last year – during which Trump stayed front and centre as the team held the trophy aloft.
Check out some of the reactions below:
When asked about the World Cup returning to the US, Trump said he had “an idea” for Infantino.
“I had a great idea for Gianni. I said: ‘You have to do two countries. So announce us for next time, and then announce another country after that and it’ll take out some of the anger and the shock!’ Now I think it’s a great idea,” Trump said. “Based on the numbers, we will be requesting it again immediately. I said, to take out the shock, you could announce another country for the next one... but we have to do this again.”
The numbers Trump refers to could be the $15bn FIFA is reportedly planning to announce as revenues from this year's World Cup.
As reported by the Guardian, FIFA’s member associations were informed of the record boost in income by Infantino on Saturday, with the governing body originally projecting $11bn in earnings.
