{"id":6562,"date":"2026-07-20T19:37:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6562"},"modified":"2026-07-20T19:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:37:35","slug":"best-moments-of-the-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6562","title":{"rendered":"Best moments of the 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The World Cup produced hundreds of spectacular moments and The Associated Press covered all 104 games over 39 days in the United States, Canada and Mexico from every angle.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6560\">Tornado warning issued for parts of Edgecombe, Halifax counties: NWS<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Goal of the tournament<\/h3>\n<p>Sidny Lopes Cabral stunned defending champion Argentina with a tying goal in extra time of their round of 32 match at Miami Gardens, Florida, on July 3. The Blue Sharks, who entered the tournament ranked 67th, trailed 2-1 in the 103rd minute when Cabral settled a long pass from Yannick Semedo near the left flank with his left foot. The 23-year-old, who plays in Turkey for Trabzonspor, cut past Alexis Mac Allister while playing the ball onto his right foot and from just inside the penalty area curled a shot past goalkeeper Emiliano Mart\u00ednez and into the upper corner at the far post for his fourth goal in 14 international appearances. Argentina went on to win on an own goal.<\/p>\n<h3>Upset of the tournament<\/h3>\n<p>Eliminated in consecutive group stages following its fourth World Cup title in 2014, Germany clinched its group title with wins over Cura\u00e7ao and Ivory Coast before losing its first-round finale against Ecuador. Paraguay was in its first World Cup since 2010, began the tournament ranked 41st and advanced as a third-place team, opening with a 4-1 loss to the U.S., beating Turkey 1-0 and playing a 0-0 draw against Australia. Julio Enciso put Paraguay ahead in the 42nd minute of the round of 32 match at Foxborough, Massachusetts, on June 29 but Kai Havertz tied the score 12 minutes later. Germany, which began the World Cup ranked No. 10, appeared to go ahead on Jonathan Tah\u2019s header of a corner kick in the 102nd minute but a video review concluded the goal should be disallowed because of a foul by Waldemar Anton on goalkeeper Orlando Gill. Germany won all four of its previous World Cup penalty kick shootouts, succeeding on 17 of 18 kicks \u2014 including 15 in a row. Havertz\u2019s attempt on the opening kick was saved by Gill, who also batted away Nick Woltemade\u2019s effort on Germany\u2019s fourth kick. Tah skied Germany\u2019s sixth kick over the crossbar, Jos\u00e9 Canale beat Manuel Neuer and Paraguay won the shootout 4-3 after the 1-1 draw only to lose 1-0 to France in the round of 16.<\/p>\n<h3>Breakout player<\/h3>\n<p>Pau Cubars\u00ed, a 19-year-old Barcelona defender, played every minute of every match as Spain won its second title and first since 2010. He had 668 successful passes in 690 attempts, a 96.8% rate that was the second best in the tournament among players with 400 or more attempts, just behind Norway\u2019s Sander Berge at 96.9%. Cubars\u00ed\u2019s total was second to teammate Rodri\u2019s 747. Cubars\u00ed\u2019s 750 minutes tied teammate Marc Cucurella and Mac Allister for the tournament high among outfield players. At 19 years, 178 days he became the seventh youngest to win a World Cup, trailing Pel\u00e9 (17-249), Ronaldo (17-298), Giuseppe Bergomi (18-174), teammate Lamine Yamal and Coutinho (both 19-6) and Marco Antonio (19-135).<\/p>\n<h3>Save of the tournament<\/h3>\n<p>Vozinha, Cape Verde\u2019s 40-year-old goalkeeper, leapt to his left to slap away Lionel Messi\u2019s quick free kick in the 73rd minute that was headed to the upper corner, keeping the score 1-1.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6557\">WNBA All-Star weekend clouded by 2 injuries as Paige Bueckers sits and Angel Reese limps off<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Blunder of the tournament<\/h3>\n<p>Matt Freese had a howler in the United States\u2019 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16 that will long be replayed among goalkeeper lowlights. Brandon Mechele played a long ball from deep in his own end and when Charles De Ketelaere burst past American defender Chris Richards, Freese came off his line and about 5 yards outside the penalty area chested the ball, which had taken two hops. The 27-year-old, who became the No. 1 U.S. goalkeeper last year, was about to clear the ball with his left foot, hesitated and tried to pass to his left only for the ball to deflect off a leg of De Ketelaere toward midfield. Hans Vanaken scored from about 30 yards as defender Tim Ream missed his attempt to block the ball.<\/p>\n<h3>Worst foul<\/h3>\n<p>Qatari midfielder Assim Madibo broke the left tibia and fibula of Canadian midfielder Isma\u00ebl Kon\u00e9 with a tackle from behind in the 51st minute of a June 18 group stage match at Vancouver, British Columbia. Madibo received a red card and a five-game suspension. Kon\u00e9 had surgery and Madibo visited Kon\u00e9 at the hospital.<\/p>\n<h3>Fan base of the tournament<\/h3>\n<p>Norway\u2019s fans charmed fellow spectators and television viewers when they performed the Viking Ro, chanting \u201cRo!\u201d while mimicking oarsmen in stadiums and even in the bleachers above the TKTS booth selling Broadway theater tickets in New York\u2019s Times Square. Martin \u00d8degaard and Erling Haaland led the row celebration on the field following wins. Scotland\u2019s Tartan Army also left indelible memories, depleting Boston\u2019s beer supply and taking an excursion to a baseball games at Fenway Park and in Miami.<\/p>\n<h3>Best photo<\/h3>\n<p>Rau\u0301l Jime\u0301nez scored Mexico\u2019s second goal in the tournament-opening 2-0 win over South Africa on June 11. An image from Associated Press photographer Natacha Pisarenko captured the joy of a player who scored on a header, six years after his career was endangered when he fractured his skull while playing for Wolverhampton in a clash of heads with Arsenal\u2019s David Luiz.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6555\">Nearly 80% of former landfills in NC were never properly investigated; Wake County has riskiest site: Auditor<\/a><\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>AP World Cup coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The World Cup produced hundreds of spectacular moments and The Associated Press covered all 104&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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