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England\u2019s Jude Bellingham celebrates after scoring his side\u2019s first goal during the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Norway and England in Miami Gardens, Fla., Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)<\/p>\nThe ongoing World Cup is a behemoth of a sporting event that\u2019s subjected to numerous irritants.<\/p>\n
Such as: sweltering heat and weather-unfriendly kickoffs mandated by the TV gods; uneven officiating and replay-judge rulings; politicians from several countries injecting themselves into the headlines; and price gouging across several sectors.<\/p>\n
The players have transcended the whole affair.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve delivered the goods, on balance.<\/p>\n
Pulling off a huge lift in a sport that doesn\u2019t readily lend itself to taking flight, they\u2019ve held our attention across four weeks.<\/p>\n
Now, this World Cup that\u2019s being staged (mostly) in America for the first time since 1994 appears set up to finish well.<\/p>\n
As if served up by FIFA itself, a pair of semifinal matches this week will ensure a record-setting global audience.<\/p>\n
The first match boasts two masters of the beautiful game in France and Spain, who\u2019ll meet on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.<\/p>\n
Wednesday in Atlanta, it\u2019ll be defending champ Argentina and formidable England.<\/p>\n
FIFA\u2019s top four-ranked clubs are filling out a World Cup semifinal for the first time.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s a summer treat. Though internationals visiting Philadelphia in the group stage flocked to the Rocky Balboa stairs and statue \u2026 and Belgium gave a good show in exposing the U.S. and overcoming numerous injuries to scare Spain \u2026 and Egypt made dazzling plays in its cruel loss to Argentina in the last 16s \u2026 the four teams still playing provide the best potential for memorable soccer.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no guarantee the soccer will soar now or in Sunday\u2019s final in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s never assumed that officials, players and coaches can find the balance between \u201clet \u2019em play\u201d and rewarding goon tactics.<\/p>\n
Summer heat will test each team, despite air conditioning at the two NFL venues.<\/p>\n
Did you see the quarterfinals match played Saturday in steamy Miami Gardens?<\/p>\n
Far from its northern latitude, Norway rationed fuel more than it would have otherwise against a favored English team that also picked its spots with more care.<\/p>\n
England\u2019s Jude Bellingham, take note, once again bounded about the massive pitch \u2014 and beyond.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old midfielder tied Norway near halftime by capping a powerful drive in the box. Minutes later, he blazed off the pitch, then up a tunnel. Behind him, players from both teams plodded toward the sideline.<\/p>\n
Bellingham buzzed around for another half hour in thick heat.<\/p>\n
England\u2019s Jude Bellingham celebrates after scoring his side\u2019s first goal during the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Norway and England in Miami Gardens, Fla., Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)<\/p>\n
And in staking England to the lead in the 93rd minute, the Real Madrid star achieved a brace in the tropics just six days after he scored twice against Mexico at Estadio Azteca, elevation 7,300 feet.<\/p>\n
Croatia couldn\u2019t hold him off, either.\u00a0His goal off a two-man attack that spanned over half the field unlocked a 4-2 win, charting England\u2019s course.<\/p>\n
So with Bellingham able also to tilt games with his passing, defense and decoy runs that defenses must respect, while growing in his knack for meshing with striker Harry Kane, I\u2019m feeling daring here.<\/p>\n
England, I say, overcomes Lionel Messi and friends to book the men\u2019s team\u2019s first World Cup final since 1966 as\u00a0the host country.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not inclined to pick either France or Spain.\u00a0In a perfect world, the two would play a best-of-three World Series.<\/p>\n
If any team can out-f\u00fatbol a talent-rich French team that has seen both Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 and Michael Olise approach peak form in this World Cup, it\u2019s a Spanish side that may feel unburdened by its status as a clear underdog.<\/p>\n
The easy forecast is this one:<\/p>\n
Many fans will again tune in from San Diego, a market that has placed sixth nationally in viewership of Fox Sports\u2019 telecasts through the Cup\u2019s round of 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The ongoing World Cup is a behemoth of a sporting event that\u2019s subjected to numerous irritants. Such as:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,74,76,75,1083,127,47118],"class_list":["post-397455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-latest-headlines","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}