Why this World Cup has been a success despite Trump, Infantino and Paraguay's thugs – Stephen Jardine

They think it’s all over, well it will be tomorrow evening. The biggest-ever World Cup comes to an end with an absolutely mouth-watering clash in New York between Spain and Argentina. Given the way both teams have been playing in this competition, it has the potential to be an absolutely spectacular final.

The Tartan Army did Scotland proud but these final stages showed just how far away we are from being able to compete at that level. Putting Scottish football on a world stage is still very much a work in progress but at least in our fans we have the best-possible ambassadors for our country.

Tourism businesses are already reporting early signs that affection they built up in the States is translating into bookings by Americans keen to experience more of it here.

READ MORE: Argentinian politicians' strident claims about the Falklands are offensive and cruel

Spain's Mikel Merino celebrates after their semi-final victory over France. They now play Argentina in the final (Picture: Carl Recine) | Getty Images

Trump’s skulduggery

Now a trigger warning. The following sentence contains content some readers may find upsetting. Commiserations to England. I wasn’t blowing a vuvuzela for them but I was genuinely sad to see our nearest and oldest footballing rivals pushed out of the tournament by Argentina.

They played well throughout the competition and, with more belief and attacking spirit, they could have gone further. Unlike host nation the United States. Donald Trump’s disgraceful skulduggery in getting a red card overturned for an American player earned him a special reward – karma.

Belgium’s 4-1 thrashing of the USA was an abject lesson in fairness and propriety, delivered by one of the smallest nations to one of the biggest.

It was especially nice to see Trump’s useful idiot Gianni Infantino in his VIP seat to watch events unfold. The Fifa president is a kind of Poundshop Bond villain, the unlikely progeny of Austin Powers’ Dr Evil and one of the gnomes of Zurich. Who thought the world could get a worse football administration than Sepp Blatter? Infantino did.

Paraguay also fully deserved an early bath following their ugly performance against France. “Paraguay's players were an absolute disgrace,” former England goalkeeper Joe Hart told the BBC. Their hacking, pushing and punching would have made Maradona blush and earned them the special ‘louts of the tournament’ award.

American razzamatazz

Some of the refereeing was also highly questionable and the use of VAR remains highly contentious, cropping up neither when you need it nor want it. I’ll also quite happily never hear the Killers song ‘Mr Brightside’ again after being subjected to it during every single hydration break.

And let’s just be honest about what they were. The stoppages were more about making space for TV commercials than anything else. If marathon runners can manage 26 miles, then surely highly paid footballers can cope with 45 minutes?

These quibbles aside, it has been a fantastic tournament with American razzamatazz lifting proceedings to the next level. Stateside, they sure know how to put on a show.

No matter who lifts the trophy in New York tomorrow night, the fans have been the real winners of this tournament. In an increasingly divided, fragmented and angry world, football brought 48 countries together in a way even the United Nations struggles to do.

That’s worth remembering the next time someone tries to stoke division. If a football can bring us all together, then anything is possible.