Serhii Baranovskyi

There was probably no striker among the tournament favourites whom fewer people believed in before this World Cup than Ferran Torres. That was despite the Barcelona forward winning the battle for a starting place over Robert Lewandowski and despite already ranking among Spain's top 10 all-time goalscorers. Even so, things rarely seemed to go his way, while criticism from fans was relentless. Back in 2023, Torres revealed that he had sought help from a psychologist for the first time.

When talking about Como's breakthrough in Serie A, Nico Paz is immediately mentioned as well. The young leader of the Blue-and-Whites has become one of the main revelations of the season, and now he could win the World Cup title with the Argentina national team. While Nico was playing in the stadiums of North America, Como bought him from Real Madrid for a second time. How did this happen? We will explain everything now.

The list of World Cup 2026 semi-finalists may disappoint fans hoping for surprise packages, but instead the final four features the four highest-ranked national teams in the FIFA rankings. It is the first time this has happened since the rankings were introduced in 1992. In previous World Cups, teams from the top four of the FIFA rankings could face each other in the earlier knockout rounds.