GOM World Cup Diary #41 That’s All Folks…

Whatever Happened To Enjoying The Ride?

Well…

That’s it.

The flags have been folded away.

The shirts have gone back into wardrobes.

The television crews have packed up.

The stadiums have fallen quiet.

World Cup 2026 is over.

Five weeks ago, we couldn’t wait for it to begin.

Now I’m wondering where the time went.

It’s been a tournament of surprises.

Cape Verde refusing to know their place.

Morocco upsetting the favourites.

Norway reminding everyone there’s more to football than one superstar.

England giving us hope…

…before reminding us what supporting England usually feels like.

Spain quietly ignoring the headlines and ending up with the biggest prize of them all.

We’ve had brilliant goals.

Questionable refereeing.

VAR decisions that took longer than some house purchases.

Managers who looked as though they’d aged ten years in a fortnight.

Supporters travelling thousands of miles just to sing for ninety minutes.

And enough drama to keep football phone-ins going until Christmas.

Not all of it has been good.

There were moments when the football took second place to everything surrounding it.

There were times when discipline disappeared.

There were moments during the trophy presentation when I couldn’t help thinking the spotlight should always belong to the players who earned it.

That’s football.

Or perhaps that’s modern life.

Sometimes we all need reminding that the greatest sign of respect is knowing when somebody else’s moment has arrived.

But if there’s one thing this tournament has reminded me, it’s that football has an extraordinary ability to bring people together.

For a few weeks, complete strangers became friends.

Families gathered around televisions.

Pubs became living rooms.

Living rooms became miniature stadiums.

Every nation believed.

Most of them went home disappointed.

Yet four years from now, they’ll all believe again.

That’s the magic of football.

Hope has an incredible memory.

Disappointment doesn’t.

And perhaps that’s the biggest lesson I’ve taken from these past few weeks.

Life isn’t really about the destination.

It’s about the journey.

The conversations.

The laughter.

The arguments with the referee who couldn’t hear me.

The Football Gods quietly tearing up the script whenever we thought we’d worked everything out.

I’ve spent the last month or so grumbling about almost everything.

VAR.

Referees.

FIFA.

Kick-off times.

Pundits.

Modern football.

The truth is…

I’ve loved every minute of it.

Now it’s time to put the notebook away for a while.

The Premier League will be back soon enough.

Spurs will undoubtedly find a brand-new way to test my blood pressure.

Social media will continue to invent new reasons for me to shake my head.

Modern life will carry on providing enough material to keep a Grumpy Old Man busy for years.

So this isn’t really goodbye.

It’s simply the end of one chapter.

Thank you for coming along on the journey.

It’s been ridiculous.

Infuriating.

Occasionally magical.

Entirely unforgettable.

And despite everything…

I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Anyway…

What do I know?

I’m just a grumpy old man.

Your thoughts below — unless you’re in a good mood, in which case keep them to yourself.