Reuters Rounds Up the Ten Stories That Defined 2026

With the tournament now over, Reuters has published its ten key takeaways from the 2026 World Cup, looking beyond the final to reflect on a competition that broke records and occasionally surprised.

The expanded 48-team format produced more matches and more goals, Reuters notes, but the business end was dominated by the expected powers: all four semi-finalists, Argentina, Spain, France and England, were FIFA's top four ranked nations going in.

The real warmth in Reuters' review is reserved for the underdogs. Cape Verde, competing at their first World Cup, drew with Spain and Uruguay and pushed Argentina to extra time in a run that won hearts worldwide. Norway, meanwhile, reached the quarter-finals for the first time in their history, lighting up the tournament with their famous Viking Row celebrations.

The piece is a useful reminder that even a 48-team, commercially vast tournament still finds room for the stories nobody scripted.