World Cup recap: Six key moments before Argentina-Spain final

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The first 48-team World Cup has provided a thrilling spectacle and a string of compelling storylines.

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AFP Sport picks out some of the key talking points after more than five weeks of action in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

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Hotshots

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The race for the Golden Boot caught fire early and has remained absorbing until the final weekend.

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The names at the top of the charts are a who’s who of the world’s top marksmen — including Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane.

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Mbappe, who scored twice in France’s 6-4 defeat by England in Saturday’s third-place playoff, leads Messi by two goals with just Sunday’s final to come.

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The Frenchman is also now the top goalscorer in World Cup history — with 22 to his name across three tournaments, one ahead of Messi.

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Minnows sparkle

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Debutants Cape Verde finished the group stage unbeaten and advanced from a section that included former champions Spain and Uruguay.

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“To be honest, it feels like I’m living in a fairytale,” said Deroy Duarte after his team set up a last-32 match against defending champions Argentina.

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The African nation pushed Lionel Messi’s men to the brink, twice coming from behind, before a winner for Argentina in extra-time.

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Caribbean island Curacao — the smallest country to compete at a World Cup by both population — also had their moment of glory, holding Ecuador to a goalless draw after an opening 7-1 hammering by Germany.

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Argentina comebacks

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Time and again Argentina have appeared vulnerable at the 2026 World Cup, but they have always found a way.

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The defending champions cruised through their group but were taken to extra-time by Cape Verde and recovered from 2-0 down late in the game against Egypt.

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They needed extra-time again to beat Switzerland in the quarter-finals and were staring at defeat against England in the semi-finals before a late double.

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Argentina have not played the silkiest football but their never-say-die attitude is their superpower.

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Balogun row

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The World Cup was remarkably free of off-field controversy until Folarin Balogun found himself at the centre of a political storm.

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The US forward, who scored three goals, was sent off in his team’s last-32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina, ruling him out of the next game.

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But FIFA stepped in and suspended his ban, leading to widespread condemnation, especially when it emerged that US President Donald Trump had intervened.

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The host nation were outclassed 4-1 by Belgium in the last 16, with Balogun making little impact.

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Afterwards, the 25-year-old admitted the episode had put extra pressure on the team.

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Haaland goes viral

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Erling Haaland fired Norway to their best-ever World Cup finish—and also became a social media sensation with his quirky posts.

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The towering Manchester City forward has gained 30 million Instagram followers since the start of the tournament to move to more than 71 million.

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Haaland, 25, whose team were beaten by England in the quarter-finals, now has far more Instagram followers than City’s official account.

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One of his posts featured the “Viking row”, which will be one of the abiding images of the tournament.

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The ritual featured players leading Norway fans in a rhythmic row in a pretend Viking boat.

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He also shared a picture of himself arriving back in Norway accompanied by a stuffed raccoon, explaining: “It followed me home.”

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Falklands dispute

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The build-up to the semi-final between Argentina and England was dominated by talk over the contested Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as the Malvinas.

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Argentina recovered from a goal down to win 2-1 and reach their third final in four World Cups.

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After the final whistle the players held a banner that read: “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (The Falklands are Argentine).

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Britain called for FIFA to look into the incident and the governing body put out a statement saying it was “assessing the match reports”.

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AFP

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