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The World Cup Final Wasn’t Any More Boring Than Super Bowl 60

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jul 20th, 2026 · 4:27 PM EDT

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Noted soccer expert Skip Bayless:

I was so excited for yesterday's World Cup final – which left me flat. 1 goal in 120 minutes. Spain won with suffocating defense that rendered the GOAT just another player. More stars in the stands than on the pitch. Soccer turned back into what it mostly always has been – boring

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 20, 2026

Not that we care what Skip thinks, but his tweet is a setup for a counterargument.

It seemed like plenty of people were underwhelmed by the World Cup final, and it’s hard to argue against that because Spain completely dominated Argentina. As much as you appreciate and respect what the Spanish did out there on Sunday afternoon, with their suffocating defense and wearying ball control, the matchup itself wasn’t very entertaining, nor was it competitive. It was always a matter of time until they finally broke through with the game-winning goal.

But championship games don’t always deliver.

Look no further than Super Bowl 60, in which the New England Patriots scored 0 points through the first three quarters. The Pats punted nine times in a row before fumbling on their own 37 yard line. Seattle then went up 19-0, New England connected to Mack Hollins on a heave, and then Drake Maye threw an interception followed by a pick-six, and that was all she wrote.

So that was a boring game unless you were a Seahawks fan or a Pats hater, but for neutrals it stunk out loud.

Presumably, those neutrals felt the same way when the Eagles were going to belt-to-ass on the Chiefs in Super Bowl 59. The score was 40 to 6 after the DeVonta Smith dagger, and the game was barely competitive from the jump. Super Bowls 58, 57, and 56 were tight games and exciting, while 55 was a blowout, 54 was competitive, and 53 was horrendous – just a total disaster of a game.

The thing about soccer finals is that they’re oftentimes cagey and low-scoring affairs. The 2022 and 2018 World Cup really were outliers, with six goals each, while the scores of the previous seven World Cup finals were 1-0 (AET), 1-0 (AET), 2-0, 3-0, 0-0, and 1-0. And this past UEFA Champions League final was a 1-1 draw that went to penalties while the previous seven UCL finals were won by scores of 5-0, 2-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, and 1-0.

Teams typically play conservative and defensive and try not to make mistakes, which can be boring.

Oh well.

It’s a bummer that we didn’t get a good final, but the tournament itself was great.