Updated ,first published
New York New Jersey Stadium: He couldn’t help himself. And we probably should have known.
Donald Trump, invited by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to present the World Cup trophy to the 2026 champions, Spain, wasn’t going to just vacate the stage and leave the limelight to the winners.
Like last year, when he hung around awkwardly after presenting the trophy to Chelsea at the FIFA Club World Cup, the US president hogged the stage – and ended up crashing the jubilation photos accompanying the traditional trophy lift.
Spain’s captain, Rodri, tried to subtly gesture to Trump that he ought not wear out his welcome. But Infantino had to gently steer the president off to the side and away from the ensuing celebrations.
The pictures have the trappings of an instant meme: Trump, 80, hanging around like a bad smell while the World Cup champs go crazy, and the FIFA boss ever-so-slightly tugging him by the arm.
There was little harm done with the crowd, though – they had already made their feelings known, booing Trump and Infantino heartily when they walked on the field for the ceremony.
We know Trump loves a winner – look how quickly he softened on democratic socialist New York mayor Zohran Mamdani – but it’s a wonder he was so determined absorb this particular sheen.
Spain is well and truly in the Trump doghouse. Only two weeks ago, he was labelling the country a “terrible partner” of the US and NATO, reprising his long-held complaint about Madrid refusing to increase its defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product.
The president told his treasury boss, Scott Bessent, to cut all trade with Spain and complained to NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte: “Spain doesn’t agree to anything, and you shouldn’t carry them.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez – who, unlike Milei, attended the World Cup final – is a left-wing leader who heads the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party and is also the president of Socialist International.
He has recognised a Palestinian state, described Israel’s campaign in Gaza as “genocide”, and denounced Trump’s capture of then-Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro as a violation of international law.
In short, Sánchez is something of an anti-Trump. No doubt the president was quietly rooting for Argentina, whose right-wing president Javier Milei is a friend and fellow traveller, ideologically.
“He’s MAGA all the way,” Trump said he met Milei at the White House last year, just days before Anthony Albanese’s visit.
Milei has been something of a regular in Washington, too – he joined Elon Musk on stage at a conservative conference last April, where he gifted the world’s richest man a chainsaw for use in cutting government largesse.
Before the match, Trump tried to remain neutral. “I hate to get involved, even though politically it doesn’t matter so much,” he told Fox.
“The president of Argentina’s a friend of mine, he’s done a terrific job … I won’t pick sides, I just think it’s hard to bet against Messi.”
It was not Messi’s night, though. The Argentine was visibly distraught after falling short in what will be his last World Cup.
Inside the stadium, Argentina comfortably commanded the majority of fans, and they sang, jumped, cheered and chanted to the full extent of their reputation. But by the end, with Argentina lacking a single shot on goal that was on-target, even their steam had begun to run low.
Instead, Trump had to shake hands with the Spanish players, including Borja Iglesias, who joked before the match that he would only shake Trump’s hand because: “I don’t want to go to prison.”
One by one, the team lined up to have their medals hung around their necks by either Trump or Infantino, and in the end they all clasped the president’s hand – briefly, in most cases, as they hurried down the line of dignitaries. Trump slapped some on the shoulder as they passed.
Perhaps he patched things up with Spain in the VVIP box during the match. Sánchez was one of several world leaders present, alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the other World Cup co-hosts.
Also in the suite: King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain, White House FIFA Taskforce executive director Andrew Giuliani (Rudy Giuliani’s son), first lady Melania Trump and a slew of US cabinet secretaries.
Those without the luxury of VIP transport – or the Marine One helicopter – had to pay $US98 for the train and bus to New York New Jersey Stadium – usually called MetLife Stadium, home to New York’s Giants and Jets.
Most didn’t seem to mind: as one local said, it was better paying $US225 for a parking spot over at the nearby American Dream mall.
Complaints about transport prices (and half-time shows) aside, the sun has now set on what was ostensibly a successful World Cup in the US and its neighbours.
Even the weather gods looked kindly on the final, bathing the New York area in uninterrupted sunshine, and dispersing the Canadian bushfire smoke that had befouled the air days earlier.
Trump says that when Infantino first pitched him the idea of a North American World Cup, he thought it was crazy because “we’re not a soccer country”. “And it turns out we are a soccer country,” he says now.
The tournament’s lowest moment, arguably, was Trump’s intervention on behalf of a US player issued a red card – which amounted to nought when the USA was blown away 4-1 by Belgium.
Apart from affirming the idea that FIFA is susceptible to undue influence, it demonstrated that not even the World Cup was not immune to the president’s tendency to insert himself into all aspects of American life – especially if he believes there’s a victory to be claimed.
We saw that again at Sunday’s ceremony.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.