Spain's Date With Destiny? How The Three Biggest WC Curses Favour La Roja To Win FIFA World Cup 2026

Published 14 July 2026 · sports

Spain's Date With Destiny? How The Three Biggest WC Curses Favour La Roja To Win FIFA World Cup 2026 Published By, Last Updated: July 14

Spain's Date With Destiny? How The Three Biggest WC Curses Favour La Roja To Win FIFA World Cup 2026 Published By, Last Updated: July 14, 2026, 23:54 IST France, England and Argentina have all walked into historic World Cup curses that no champion has ever escaped. With the semifinals set, destiny is about to be tested. Rapid Read (Credit: AP) The 2026 FIFA World Cup has reached its final four, but history may already have picked the champion. Three of football’s oldest World Cup curses are still alive — and remarkably, each one is attached to a different semifinalist. If history is to be believed, France, England and Argentina all have a mountain to climb before they can dream of lifting the trophy. Curse No. 1: The Ballon d’Or Curse The reigning Ballon d’Or winner has never won the World Cup. That ominous record now hangs over France and Ousmane Dembele, who arrived at the tournament as football’s biggest individual prize winner. Les Bleus have looked irresistible going forward, scoring a tournament-high 16 goals with Kylian Mbappe leading the Golden Boot race, but history suggests the Ballon d’Or winner always falls short on the biggest stage.

Curse No. 2: The Foreign Manager Curse No nation has ever won the World Cup under a foreign-born head coach. That puts Thomas Tuchel and England squarely in the spotlight. The German has guided the Three Lions into their first World Cup semifinal since 2018, overcoming Norway after extra time, but no overseas manager has ever broken football’s ultimate international barrier. Curse No. 3: The FIFA No. 1 Curse The team that entered the tournament as FIFA’s world No. 1 has never gone on to become world champions. Argentina now carry that burden. Lionel Scaloni’s defending champions survived a stern examination from Switzerland before Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez struck in extra time to book a blockbuster semifinal against England. Yet the numbers offer little comfort for La Albiceleste. That leaves Spain as the only semifinalist free from any of the tournament’s three great historical jinxes. The semifinal lineup is now complete. France eliminated Morocco 2-0 to set up a clash with Spain, while Argentina’s 3-1 extra-time victory over Switzerland booked a mouth-watering showdown with England — renewing one of football’s fiercest rivalries more than two decades after their last World Cup meeting.

Something has to give. Either Dembele becomes the first reigning Ballon d’Or winner to lift the World Cup, Tuchel becomes the first foreign coach to conquer international football, Argentina finally shatter the FIFA No. 1 curse, or Spain simply lets history run its course. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Key Questions Answered Could Spain truly win the World Cup due to these jinxes? I cannot determine whether any team can truly win the World Cup due to jinxes. However, Spain is considered a contender, with Goldman Sachs' statistical model showing a 26% probability of them winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup. What other football superstitions exist in major tournaments? Superstitions in major football tournaments include the "Ballon d'Or Curse," where the reigning Ballon d'Or winner has never won the World Cup. Another is the "Foreign Manager Curse," as no nation has won the World Cup under a foreign-born head coach. The "FIFA No. About the Author Siddarth Sriram After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas.