Clinton Rogers column: Why this World Cup lacked magic

As our national interest in the 2026 World Cup comes to an end, I have to say that what should have been a major sporting spectacle has left a distinctly sour taste in my mouth.

The football itself has produced moments of genuine quality, but they have been overshadowed by everything happening around it.

The price of tickets has been astonishing – up to $11,000 for the final.

For many working families, attending even a single match has been little more than a dream.

Flights, accommodation and eye-watering admission prices have combined to turn what should be the 'people’s game' into a luxury product.

Football built its reputation in industrial towns and working-class communities.

It belonged to people who saved all week for a Saturday afternoon on the terraces.

That connection seems weaker every year.

Looking around the World Cup stadiums, there has been no shortage of celebrities, influencers and wealthy VIPs posing for the cameras.

Good luck to them if they enjoy football, but too often they appear to be there because it is a fashionable place to be.

Seeing tennis star Venus Williams drinking champagne in her front row padded seat summed it up for me.

Meanwhile, lifelong supporters are watching from their sofas because they simply cannot afford to be there.

Politics has also refused to stay out of the tournament.

Donald Trump's intervention after a USA player was suspended added another unnecessary distraction to an event that should have been about football.

Once again, the headlines shifted away from the sport itself.

Then came the deeply offensive scenes after Argentina's victory over England, with Argentine players unfurling a banner referring to the Falkland Islands and the war between the two countries.

For many people in Britain, the Falklands remain an understandably emotional and sensitive subject.

Whatever anyone's political views, using a football celebration to make a geopolitical statement felt ugly and distasteful.

Perhaps football has always reflected the wider world, and maybe expecting politics to disappear from major tournaments is unrealistic.

But there comes a point when supporters simply want ninety minutes (or more) where the game takes centre stage.

England's exit hurts, as it always does, even if we are used to it by now.

Yet the disappointment runs deeper than another defeat.

This World Cup has too often been about money, celebrity and political theatre instead of supporters, passion and football.

For me, this is a tournament that will live in memory for all the wrong reasons.

I love football, but I fell out of love with this tournament long before our exit.

Let’s hope for better things, in every respect, in 2030.