From Mexico’s heartwarming reaction to England’s Azteca triumph to the ‘awful’ city with a ‘soulless’ stadium – and the night a shooting was witnessed: Our experts look back at their World Cup highs and lows

Spain lifted the World Cup in dramatic fashion in New Jersey on Sunday night to bring the curtain down on a memorable tournament.

Over 104 games across 16 host cities in five-and-a-half weeks, we’ve seen the likes of Cape Verde and Norway capture the hearts of the footballing public.

There was also another heartbreaking semi-final exit for England at the hands of Argentina, while fellow heavyweights Germany, the Netherlands and Brazil will rue disappointing campaigns.

So, in light of the World Cup coming to a close, our Daily Mail Sport experts have reflected on their highlights – and lowlights – from the tournament. 

BEST MOMENT

Ian Herbert: Being in the New Jersey Stadium when Norway had just beaten Brazil and Erling Haaland took up the drum to lead the travelling red and blue army in another rendition of ‘Vikingblod’ – their incredible mass rowing movement. Norway were the story of the tournament, for me, and their fans were peerless.

Mike Keegan: The scenes in Mexico City after England had won. Shame on me, but I’d wondered if things might get a little ugly. Instead it was beautiful. Locals went out of their way to congratulate anyone in a white (or red) shirt and wish them well for the rest of the tournament. I hope the mooted England v Mexico friendly becomes reality.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Cape Verde’s Sidny Cabral making it 2-2 against Argentina. Great goal, tremendous moment, the stuff of sporting legend. A perfect story, if only for a while.

Jack Gaughan: It has to be the scenes at the Azteca after the final whistle. A special event for anybody following England and one that still deserves to go down in history – even if the tournament ended as it did.

Ian Ladyman: Watching the grace with which Japan took their defeat to Brazil in the knockout stage. They were a good side and had just seen opportunity slip away in the final moments but the reaction was so dignified and laced with respect that it was profoundly moving. Other nations could learn.

Craig Hope: The last 10 minutes at the Azteca. It was pure theatre in the most dramatic and storied of settings. To feel the energy from the pitch, in the stands and in a press box where the match reports lived as dangerously as England’s lead was perhaps the most exhilarating experience I’ve had as a journalist.

Oliver Holt: Being in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for the opening game of the tournament, seeing the best football stadium in the world for the first time, experiencing the fervour of the Mexican crowd and feeling that, despite everything, this would still be a wonderful World Cup.

Dan Matthews: Spending an hour with Mauricio Pochettino one evening at the USA’s team hotel on the coast of California. It was a rare opportunity to interview a manager midway through a World Cup and fascinating to see inside the war room during a major tournament.

WORST MOMENT

Ian Herbert: Being in a hire car on a remote road on the flat, empty oil fields of West Texas with no sign of life, habitation or other vehicles across the vast wilderness when a hazard light went on signalling my hire car’s oil levels were low. I could hardly tap into the oil rigs.

Mike Keegan: The walk from the press box to the conference room through the concourse after Argentina had defeated England in the semi-final. The aggressive and taunting behaviour of many of their fans was deplorable. I saw one remove his shirt and try to rub it in the face of an England fan who was there with his son. It was amazing there wasn’t more trouble than there was. And the press conference afterwards wasn’t much better…

Riath Al-Samarrai: Witnessing a shooting in Boston after Paraguay had knocked out Germany. A scarring episode that is all too common in the US.

Jack Gaughan: Watching Valentin Barco rush on to the pitch goading England players immediately after Enzo Fernandez’s equaliser. You knew Argentina knew they had England and Thomas Tuchel’s side were cooked. 

Ian Ladyman: The USA Balogun affair was thoroughly depressing and all the more so given that Mauricio Pochettino should have had the courage and dignity to push back and not pick him. More widely, there has clearly been no effort to ensure match tickets reached some of USA’s more deprived communities. 

Craig Hope: When the taco bar outside the Azteca explained they could not serve beer because of a matchday ban around the stadium! Myself, my colleague Jack Gaughan and our friends from the Press Association were the last ones to leave the ground, hungry and very much in need a post-match settler! Alas, beef tacos and Coca-Cola were the accompaniment to our debrief.

Oliver Holt: The suspension of Folarin Balogun’s automatic one-match ban after the USA forward got a red card during the game against Bosnia-Herzegovina. FIFA’s unprecedented move cast a giant pall over this World Cup, especially when it became clear it had come about as a result of a telephone call placed by Donald Trump to Gianni Infantino. It brought both the credibility and the integrity of the tournament into question.

Dan Matthews: Donald Trump’s decision to intervene in the fallout from Folarin Balogun’s red card. With one phone call, the President turned the world against a promising, likeable team and raised worrying questions about the integrity of this entire tournament. 

BEST GOAL

Ian Herbert: Ousmane Dembele for France v Morocco. A strike of exquisite beauty, threaded 15 yards flat and straight through the eye of a needle, to extinguish a robust opposition. It was a shame that Dembele did not demonstrate more of his genius.

Mike Keegan: Jude Bellingham’s first against Mexico. An electric, breakaway bullet befitting with the surroundings and the history. Iconic.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Cabral. See above.

Jack Gaughan: Julian Alvarez against Switzerland. Huge moment in the context of the game and Argentina’s tournament and sublime technique to execute.

Ian Ladyman: Marcus Rashford against Croatia. It capped a fabulous second half England performance and was scored and created by four Thomas Tuchel substitutes. It seemed to send a message about what this England team was going to be about in America. Talented, entertaining and reliant on a deep well of talent. Then we drew 0-0 against Ghana and we retreated back into the worst version of ourselves. What a shame.

Craig Hope: Harry Kane’s second versus DR Congo stands out. The power of his right-footed lash and the celebrations which followed were, like Mexico, a moment of pure drama. It was a classic Kane strike just when his team needed it.

Oliver Holt: Sidny Lopes Cabral for Cape Verde against Argentina in the Round of 32. Maybe I’m biased because I was at the game and I could see the arc of Lopes Cabral’s shot from my vantage point in the press box but it was an absolute beauty. It helped that it was a fantastic game where Cape Verde threatened the greatest shock in World Cup history and Lopes Cabral’s shot, a curling thunderbolt from the left-hand edge of the box that brought the scores level at 2-2, gave Emiliano Martinez no chance.

Dan Matthews: Of those I witnessed live: Julian Alvarez’s extra-time stunner against Switzerland. It bent so perfectly into the top corner. Delightful. A shout out, too, to Gio Reyna, for his outside-of-the-boot finish against Paraguay.

BEST FOOD

Ian Herbert: My friend Les, also covering the tournament, aimed to eat food of all 48 nations and I joined him at a little Uzbek diner in Seattle for a bowl of Boso Lagman. Pasta with various Uzbek additions. Brilliant hospitality and a beautiful lunch.

Mike Keegan: La Famiglia Giorgio, in Boston’s Italian North End, was incredible. From the wily matriarch on the doorstep to the waitressing niece, a proper family affair and delicious taste of traditional Italy.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Chicken shawarma on the top floor of the Hardrock Stadium in Miami. Even at $23 (£17) I’d pay for it again.

Jack Gaughan: Comfortably the barbecue in Kansas City, where England were based. I’m not ashamed to say I went out for it on three separate sittings. Unbelievable ribs on offer and one of the restaurants was in an old gas station. It’s helping Manchester’s local economy too: I’m going home in need of a PT.

Ian Ladyman: The shrimp spaghettini at the Light Horse Tavern in Jersey City. Best eaten sitting at the bar with the football on while the barman – who says he is from Napoli and ‘once met’ Maradona – tells you stories that you know aren’t really true. The IPA on draught is also super but like all American craft beers comes in at about 7 per cent. So any more than a couple and you are walking home with somebody else’s dog by mistake.

Craig Hope: America is a difficult country in which to eat healthily. The food, especially when on the go like we were, is almost exclusively yellow. So, when we discovered a restaurant in Kansas City that showed the football and served a firecracker shrimp stir fry as one of its specialities, it soon became a favourite haunt.

Oliver Holt: Miami. I enjoyed the chicken tenders in Boston but the chicken shawarma at the Hard Rock Stadium, which I had on two separate visits, is the clear winner.

Dan Matthews: The crème brûlée at Yard House in Irvine, California, which became base camp for watching England games after covering another day of USMNT training. It hasn’t done wonders for my body fat percentage but was a treat every single time.

WORST FOOD

Ian Herbert: Though the salads in the Bread Zeppelin salad bar (genius name) in Dallas felt too healthy, the vast Philly Cheesesteak in Philadelphia (unidentified meat, with onion and peppers wrapped into a roll) felt very bad for my health.

Mike Keegan: Any of the overpriced, beige c*** FIFA polluted many of the press boxes with.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Stale sandwich in the Hardrock Stadium in Miami.

Jack Gaughan: Grits. Grizzly, unappealing look. Texture awful. No idea why it’s a delicacy.

Ian Ladyman: Anything from a stadium media centre. I don’t want to see a $5 (£3.72) muffin ever again.

Craig Hope: Listen, I like McDonalds. I’ve got three kids, I’ve got no choice. But after one late arrival in New York and realising everywhere near my hotel had stopped serving, standing in a queue for some McNuggets at 1am felt like a tournament low. Still, I did enjoy them, you should just be doing better in NYC.

Oliver Holt: The MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. I had a hot dog there and it was okay but only okay. The food was a bit like the stadium – grey and uninspiring. 

Dan Matthews: A jumbo hotdog at midnight after Iran’s dramatic draw with Egypt in Seattle. A bad call. 

BEST STADIUM

Ian Herbert: Boston. The only stadium without a roof in which the press seats were not behind glass. A gorgeous afternoon where France beat Morocco under a brilliant blue sky. Even though the 20-mile bus trip out of Boston took two and a half hours in a traffic jam.

Mike Keegan: Toss-up between Atlanta and Dallas. Both modern architecture at its best. I’d say, despite the gut-wrenching memory from the semi-final, Atlanta shades it thanks to brilliant owner Arthur Blank, who ensures fans don’t pay the stupid prices for food and drink they endure elsewhere.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Foxborough, home of the New England Patriots. Hideous for getting in and out, but stunning and vast and loaded with NFL history. Never did understand the lighthouse-like structure at one end of the stadium, but it looked nice.

Jack Gaughan: I went to the Mercedes-Benz in Atlanta for last year’s Club World Cup and was blown away by it. An exceptional dome, facilities are top notch. But. And it’s a big but. A complete wifi outage at the semi-final – making it almost impossible to send in copy, in the single worst experience of 13 years in this job – relegates that now. Sorry for being boring but it has to be the Azteca.

Ian Ladyman: Atlanta. In the city, stunningly designed and with a roof on to keep out the Georgia humidity. I saw three games there – England v Congo, Argentina v Egypt and of course England v Argentina – and they were all impossible to take your eyes off. The acoustics in the place are also off the scale. The last of those three games is the only one I have ever attended where it was impossible to hear the anthems before kick-off, such was the noise from both sets of supporters. I loved the stadium outside of Boston, too, but it was simply too hard to get to.

Craig Hope: The Azteca. It was a childhood ambition to get there after watching All the Goals of Mexico 86 on VHS almost daily as a kid. To be there for a game none of us will ever forget made it all the sweeter. The Atlanta Stadium is also awesome.

Oliver Holt: The Azteca in Mexico City. It has long been a stadium on my bucket list of places to visit and it did not disappoint. It’s a magical place, a magnificent football stadium, bathed in the history of the game. Its scale, its sweep, the fervour of the crowd, the altitude grabbing at your chest, the memory of Carlos Alberto scoring the greatest goal of all time on the pitch below you, all make it an unmatchable experience.

Dan Matthews: An important caveat: I didn’t go to the Azteca. So, in terms of architecture and wonder, it is hard to top SoFi. What a place. But the atmosphere and downtown location of Seattle’s Lumen Field made for some special days. 

WORST STADIUM

Ian Herbert: MetLife, New Jersey. A rather artificial and soulless place. Its vastness meant a lack of atmosphere, even with Norwegian fans present on the afternoon they beat Brazil. And given the outrageous price hikes for public transport out there, it entailed a two-hour drive.

Mike Keegan: New York/New Jersey. A dump built on a dump in a dump, although nearby Hoboken and Weehawken, complete with incredible views of Manhattan, were lovely.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Didn’t visit a bad one but size and soul are not the same thing. Some of these massive monuments, Houston in particular, were instantly forgettable.

Jack Gaughan: The MetLife. No soul, no feel for the game, out in the sticks. It looks miles better on television than the reality inside the ground.

Ian Ladyman: Miami. Too hot, too far away from Miami and, when you do get there, it’s not much to look at either. A dump.

Craig Hope: I don’t like the word ‘worst’ because I loved them all in different ways. But if I was ranking the stadiums I’ve been to here, I’d probably put the Dallas Stadium bottom. It just felt too much like a spaceship and a bit artificial. Also, we were behind glass in the press box and had no feel for the atmosphere.

Oliver Holt: MetLife in New Jersey. A grim, grey bowl in an urban wasteland, you walk into this place and it feels like it has Sick Building Syndrome. It’s big, sure, but it has a miserable, joyless design. A terrible choice for the final.

Dan Matthews: MetLife. Soulless, grey and plonked in a nondescript corner of New Jersey.

BEST CITY

Ian Herbert: Seattle. A gorgeous place, with such history, in the most beautiful setting with a very fine stadium at a walkable distance of downtown. The sun setting over Elliott Bay, viewed from Pike Place Market was serene after the wildness of Egypt v Iran.

Mike Keegan: Kansas City won’t be on most people’s bucket lists but what it lacks in natural beauty it makes up for in its incredible hospitality. A warm welcome, the likes of which I’ve never experienced before, greeted us wherever we went. This is a place where even going for a coffee leaves you with a smile on your face. It embraced the World Cup like no other.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Boston. It’s beautiful and just the right size – the World Cup seemed to pass New York by at times but not Boston, especially when the Scots were staying.

Jack Gaughan: Mexico City. I was fortunate to spend five nights there and it encapsulated what has been a super World Cup. And the food isn’t bad either.

Ian Ladyman: Jersey City. Across the water from Manhattan and ‘relatively’ close to the World Cup final stadium. Cheaper than New York, friendlier than New York, cleaner than New York. Views of Manhattan across the water and a train that takes you there within 15 minutes.

Craig Hope: New York. It’s a real-life movie set and I will never not feel privileged with every step I ever take there. A mention for Mexico City, too. It is a cocktail of colour, energy and noise. I loved it. Oh, and Dallas, if only for the JFK experience.

Oliver Holt: Atlanta. I loved the positive energy of the city. I enjoyed running, and walking, in the beauty of Piedmont Park and along the Beltline, the track that curls around the margins of the city. I liked being able to get to the stadium on the public transport system (MARTA) and the local people were the friendliest in America. 

Dan Matthews: Seattle. A proper football town where – on the waterfront – fans could watch on floating screens, march to Lumen Field and then spill into the bars of downtown.  

WORST CITY

Ian Herbert: ‘Worst’ is a harsh word. I enjoyed the experience in every one, though Houston was the least fascinating, with a downtown the size of Market Harborough. Strange that that Texas had two venues when Chicago had none and a venue away from the vast cities might have provided a different dimension.

Mike Keegan: Dallas. It’s a fascinating place and I’d recommend the Sixth Floor Museum to anyone. However, it won’t win any beauty contests and FIFA’s decision to house the media next to a homeless refuge meant we got to see first-hand the stark inequality that appears to be on the charge across the US.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Houston. I was only there for 36 hours and admittedly saw very little, so would caveat this as a very flawed judgement.

Jack Gaughan: New Jersey. Just awful. Barely anything there, even if New York is a short hop on the train.

Ian Ladyman: Miami. Never again.

Craig Hope: Again, I enjoyed them all in different ways. But I’m still not sure what Atlanta is. There is downtown and midtown but seemingly no real central area that felt like a big American city. A strange place.

Oliver Holt: Dallas. I enjoyed every city I went to but I suppose the one I enjoyed least was Dallas. Even in that context, one of the non-football highlights of my trip was going to Dealey Plaza for the first time and walking on the grassy knoll. But I was staying in a bad part of the city and the whole place felt like an urban jungle and the stadium was a bloated monument to the meretricious. Now, I’ve wandered round the museum in the old Book Depository, I have no particular desire to go back.

Dan Matthews: Los Angeles. It is so sprawling and so hard to get around that any sense of being in a World Cup host city quickly disappeared.

BEST PLAYER

Ian Herbert: Kylian Mbappe. I watched a lot of France and he was a joy to behold because of his radiance, the way he led and because of the sheer quality of the goals. It’s been a Messi love-in, hasn’t it? Well, I’m sorry but Mbappe lit things up more for me.

Mike Keegan: Jude Bellingham. In my eyes the greatest player this country has ever produced. Given he’s only 23, I hope that one day we get to see him lift the trophy. Seven goals from midfield was incredible. Lionel Messi’s not had a bad tournament, either.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Lionel Messi. I never attended any of his matches, but what a privilege we have had to watch this little genius for two decades. Still weaving his devilish patterns at 39 – the greatest of all time.

Jack Gaughan: Lionel Messi. Phenomenal achievement to still be acting as such a decisive match winner at 39. A lesson to players on how to manage your physical limitations and retain brilliance.

Ian Ladyman: Jude Bellingham. Arrived with question marks hanging over him and leaves as the one England player who delivered time and time again. Despite England’s failure to get where we hope they would, Bellingham has established himself as a true great of the game. He hardly put a foot wrong here and gave everything. A future England captain.

Craig Hope: My podium would be Messi, Mbappe, Bellingham. But Messi has to be the pick, in part because I did not expect him to be this good. To see him live against England was a joy.

Oliver Holt: Jude Bellingham. It’s okay to talk the talk if you can walk the walk as well. And at this World Cup, in an average England side, Bellingham walked the walk. To score six goals from midfield and produce a series of heroic performances to bail out Thomas Tuchel and get England to the semi-finals was seriously impressive.

Dan Matthews: Jude Bellingham. Titanic all tournament for England. That performance in Mexico City will live long in the memory. Played with a swagger and drive that should have taken England to the final. 

BEST MANAGER 

Ian Herbert: Luis de la Fuente, Spain. The undemonstrative, owlish Spaniard does not talk so much or give much away but Spain’s win over France was one of the best international performances I’ve seen and a tactical masterclass.

Mike Keegan: While the antics of some of his players and fans have left a bitter taste, Lionel Scaloni was always mature, calm and impressive. Back-to-back finals, albeit with the little magician in the ranks, is seriously impressive.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Pedro Leitao Brito, Cape Verde. Drew with Spain, took Argentina to extra-time, stole a million hearts and wildly exceeded expectations. Cape Verde were the best story of the World Cup.

Jack Gaughan: Luis de la Fuente. He’s got Spain playing in his image again and shows just how valuable it is having a coach who’s come through the pathway and has the country’s principles embedded in his work.

Ian Ladyman: Javier Aguirre – Mexico. There was huge pressure on the Mexico boss to give his football-mad nation the World Cup they wanted. Three group wins ensured that they stayed at the Azteca for the knockouts where they did for Ecuador and then played that game for the ages against England. It could gone the hosts’ way but it didn’t quite. Aguirre has left his post now but not without due gratitude. ‘His legacy will remain forever in our history,’ the Mexican federation stated on social media. Correct.

Craig Hope: Luis de la Fuente. This was a World Cup like no other in terms of travel and intensity. To negotiate all of that and take your team to gold makes you the best.

Oliver Holt: Lionel Scaloni – Argentina. Yes, he has Lionel Messi but other Argentina managers had Messi and did not succeed. The way Scaloni managed his side against England was a masterclass that taught Thomas Tuchel a painful lesson. 

Dan Matthews: It is hard to look beyond Luis de la Fuente. Rarely has a coach won so much and built such a formidable team with so little fuss or fanfare. Just gets on with the job. 

BEST MATCH

Ian Herbert: Egypt 1 Iran 1. Such an extraordinary finish. Iran, treated disgracefully by the USA authorities, seemed destined for the knockout stage, but had a goal ruled out for offside and hit the crossbar in the final moments in Seattle. Heartbroken but heroes one and all.

Mike Keegan: Spain 2-0 France. A midfield masterclass, led by Rodri, which somehow few saw coming despite the fact Spain are European champions and had gone into it having not lost in 36 matches. An almost complete nullification of the finest frontline in world football. Brilliant.

Riath Al-Samarrai: England v Mexico.

Jack Gaughan: Well, you’d probably have to say the third-place game but that was too much of an exhibition, a kickabout, for it to take the gong. So the drama of Argentina beating Egypt from two goals down with 11 minutes left has to be the one for me.

Ian Ladyman: Argentina v Egypt was just captivating and impossible to take your eyes off. But watching the denouement of the Croatia/Portugal game in a bar in Atlanta was sporting drama at its peak. Just when we all thought Croatia had rescued the game, a chip in the FIFA match ball told us otherwise. It was farewell to Luka Modric and what a way to go.

Craig Hope: England 3 Mexico 2. Truly iconic. It had everything.

Oliver Holt: Mexico 2-3 England. Round of 16. In the great football temple of the Azteca, in the midst of the chaotic, untrammelled fervour that football unleashes in Mexico, battered by the din, electrical storms raging around the stadium, reduced to 10 men for 40 minutes, up at an altitude of 7220ft, in the thin air that makes your heart race and your lungs gasp, England defied it all. It was an epic. It wasn’t the best game in a classic sense but the occasion was astonishing. I’ll never forget it.

Dan Matthews: USA 4-1 Paraguay. A win and a performance that set this World Cup ablaze in the United States. Pochettino’s team- led by Balogun and Christian Pulisic – were terrific and immediately captured hearts across America.